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  1. #1
    Nth Degree's Avatar
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    Ferrari F355 GTS

    This write up has been a long time coming. This detail was almost a year ago. After a hard drive crash and then getting married, all on top of normal day to day life, I haven’t had much time to do write ups.





    The owner of this car had purchased it about six months prior. He knew that it had been detailed prior to his purchase but didn’t know to what extent. Based upon some of the issues I discovered I would say it had been detailed a few times in the past and at least a few of them had been less than quality.


    Let’s get started with the initial inspection.


    Greasy dressing all over the leather was the first indicator of the low quality of the previous detail.




    More greasy dressing.





    Dirt in the cracks of leather seats works like sandpaper every time you get in and out of the car.




    Wax residue in the screen of the engine cover was lots of fun eradicating.




    That was a lot of screen and required a lot of tape to allow me to polish all the bevels.




    The ridges on the inner edge of the passenger C pillar had been burned through and touched up.




    It is very important to do a thorough inspection before starting work. This issue was not immediately obvious. As you can see the light tends to reflect off the rounded edge so any change in color is hard to see. I had actually uncovered another area on the windshield frame that had been thinned. I made it slightly worse before I caught it since the light reflecting off the ridge camouflaged it. This is a before shot.




    Notice how the light creates a white line along the top edge near the roof? The damage was about where the right edge of the light fixture appears.
    My heart sank to my stomach. I went back to the video I had taken as I did my initial paint measurements and was able to see the pre-existing damage, so I felt a little better. Since the owner had recently acquired the car I doubted he was aware of it. Ultimately, I showed him the issue, told him the situation and told him that since I was responsible for making it more noticeable I was willing to pay to fix it. I am fortunate he was understanding and told me not to worry about it. The car is a driver and not a show car. There were other paint repairs I discovered on the hood and front bumper also but not necessarily detailing related.


    I started with a thorough cleaning of the interior. OPC, Woolite and lots of various brushes and tools were used to rid the interior of dirt, grime and greasy dressing. The leather of the seats was like cardboard so Leatherique was then applied to the leather and allowed to sit for a few days to penetrate while the rest of the detail was done.

    From dirty windows and greasy dressing to clean glass & a natural finish on the leather. (That was a fun window to clean with the curve and narrowing angle.)









    I then moved on to the engine bay. It was dirty, but not bad.




    Normally I don’t worry about water on an engine. In 20 Years of working with cars I have only ever had one issue and it was on my own car and it was minor. Of course having someone diagnose a Ferrari electrical issue is a little more expensive than a Ford or Honda issue.



    Once the engine bay was clean I covered the engine with an old beach towel and a plastic trash bag to protect it from water entering the vented cover.


    And on to the wash.


    Foam bath of CGCW&G. Then a two bucket wash. A few areas needed a little coaxing with Stoner’s Tarminator.




    A little extra attention with some ONR for the front grill and all the cracks and crevices.




    A few other areas of focus:




    I wish I had gotten a before of this one. So much dirt and grime rested on those angle supports of the door air scoops it took as many as 3 applications of OPC @3:1 to get rid of it all.




    The emblem on the engine cover was loose and had rattled and caused a lot of marring. The emblem was removed to deal with the issue.




    Then on to the claying.




    Paint inspection time. (I can never seem to photograph red very well.)










    Then it was lots of tape and on to the compounding. M105 & D300, 5.5” yellow LC pad, PC7424.




  2. #2
    Nth Degree's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    I didn’t capture any true 50/50s. Here the C pillar has been compounded and the quarter panel has not. The second one should be obvious.







    Wheels were removed for complete cleaning. Barrels were Opti-Coated. The faces were pitted and scratched and were being debated about refinishing so I simply sealed them with BFWD. Tires were eventually dressed with Opti-Bond.






    That also allowed for easy access to the calipers and wheel wells.




    Tail lights polished with Menzerna Power finish.



    I’m not even sure what this piece on the door is called but it looked a lot better after.






    Of course the prancing horse got some attention. Hand polished with Menzerna Power Finish. Screen protected with BlackFire Crystal Seal.






    Testing 3 different possibilities for dressing the black of the engine vents. On the left: UTTG. Middle: 303AP. Barely visible on the right: Collinite 845. Went with 303.





    Tips were in bad shape. Don’t recall the product but it did involve steel wool.






    The marring under the emblem came out well.




    The emblem was reapplied with a little 3M emblem tape to hold it still.




    LSP was BFWD followed by 3 coats of BFMS. Finally time to pull it out for the sun shots.




    The pictures don’t do it justice. One day I’ll invest in a good camera. (These photos were taken the day before delivery (7:30 the next morning) and still awaiting a 2nd & 3rd coat of BFMS. Engine cover & hood were left slightly open as I was still working on finishing touches.)













    In total there was between 20 and 25 hours put in over the course of a week.


    Thanks for looking.



  3. #3
    My name is Mike mjlinane's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Great work!

  4. #4
    Custom Care's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Great job, definitely reminds me of the importance of thorough initial walkthroughs and evaluations.

  5. #5
    Wax Waster Ronkh's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Great work on a great car
    Formerly the "Best Detailer", now just Super Wax Waster Man. Not necessarily tactful, but normally right. It`s good to be da King !!!

  6. #6
    Opti Coat Pro Certified Orinda Auto Detail's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    WOW bro! I was waiting on this one, I liked the pic on FB a year ago lol.

  7. #7
    Nth Degree's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Thanks, guys.

    Quote Originally Posted by Custom Care View Post
    Great job, definitely reminds me of the importance of thorough initial walkthroughs and evaluations.
    Absolutely! And even with that you may not catch it all. I`m not really sure I would have noticed that part I uncovered by accident without an inch by inch inspection.


    Quote Originally Posted by Jsmooth View Post
    WOW bro! I was waiting on this one, I liked the pic on FB a year ago lol.
    Not only the issues I mentioned, but I had a lot of photos to sort through, trying to match up before and afters, marking them and then just writing. I also tried procrastinating, but kept putting that off too. I was contacted about another 355, possibly coming in May, that inspired me to finish. That and I haven`t posted any work recently and it`s just the right time of year. A rain day didn`t hurt either.

  8. #8
    Super Moderator Pats300zx's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Amazing work Chris. I am sure the client was blown away with the turnaround.
    Only Z Best Detailing-Automotive Concours Detailing Services
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  9. #9
    loves rubbing paint MrCLRider's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Damn that looks great! Admirable attention to detail.
    Fergy-

    Your only as good as your last detail

  10. #10
    tropicsteve's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    great attention to detail chris. a finish worthy of such an awesome car.

  11. #11
    Swirl Slayer Camron882's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    i love the 355....detailed my first one at 14, it was my buddy`s....great work man

  12. #12
    Just a regular guy Todd@RUPES's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    One of the classiest looking sports cars in the last 30 years. The first Ferrari I ever road in, and who can forget the scene in The Rock. Great job!

  13. #13
    Detailing Gnosis Bunky's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Wow. 20+ hours is a good amount of time.

    Al
    The Need to Bead


  14. #14
    Auto Detail & Restoration Concours.John's Avatar
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    Very nice! Sadly you`ll see more than a few cars that get over polished. It`s a good opportunity to take over maintenance to cut down on future marring though. Glad you mentioned the importance of a thorough inspection.
    One day I`ll get to do my own car.
    Concours.John Facebook

  15. #15
    AMG Classic Car Detailing Old Pirate's Avatar
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    Re: Ferrari F355 GTS

    Great turnaroumd there Chris. Now it screams FERRARI.....

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