CMC Detailing & Friends- Ferrari 328 Cavallino Platinum Winner

[mikenap]

Earlier this year, I had the distinct pleasure to work alongside two very good friends prepping a Ferrari 328 GTS for the 2014 Cavallino Classic. I also was lucky enough to have Tyler Cauley ready and willing to come out and snap his usual top-quality pics of the stunning finished product. Not a bad way to spend a cold January weekend! I`d like to thank "Detail" Dave Eller for introducing us to the client and his beautiful Ferrari, and also thank David Strum ("weekendwarrior" on many detail forums) for helping Dave with the initial inspection process and for offering us the use of his well-appointed garage for the actual detail work and storage of the car until it could be trailered down to Florida. And of course, thank you to Tyler Cauley (silverbullet) for his camera skills and renting some special lenses and equipment for this shoot.

This detail was performed by the three of us over the course of one long weekend, with a total of 40+ man hours put into all cleaning, wheel removal, paint correction and interior work. As such, this write-up isn`t as pic-heavy with in-process, before and after shots as I`d normally like, so hopefully the pro-quality after pics will make up for that oversight!


With an older car like this that may be prone to rust, sometimes it`s best to err on the side of caution. Standing water from the normal foam bath and two bucket wash may end up trapped in places that lead to corrosion down the road. We opted to wash with Optimum No Rinse to reduce the amount of water used and to minimize the chances of water getting introduced somewhere it shouldn`t.


After the wash and clay, the first order of business was to remove the wheels so they could be cleaned inside and out. David Strum handled wheel cleaning duties while Dave Eller and myself proceeded to detail the wheel wells and suspension.







It looks like these wheels hadn`t had a true deep cleaning probably ever. After using several applications of ph-neutral 1Z Colortec Wheel Cleaner, followed by Stoner`s Tarminator for tar specks, these wheels came out looking incredible. David finished off the look with Giovanna Tire Gel.







The wheel wells and suspension created a bit of a challenge. Vinatge Ferraris come with factory markings in grease pen on many parts, and we didn`t want to lose the originality by removing these marks. So we carefully used a combination of degreasers, solvents and steam along with brushes and LOADS of microfiber towels to clean the wheel wells without risking removing these marks.



The buildup of gunk on these links was heavy....and bothering me. In the above picture you can see the process has begun.



Sorry for the blurry pic, but you can see that even though it took a while to get through it all, eventually I won!












Here you can see the starting condition of the wells and suspension, along with the factory markings.






I`m lost in a cloud of steam...but getting work done! Also, check out the swirls in the camera flash...paint correction was definitely next on the list.














Suspension cleaned as far back as could be reached.







Dave doing some finishing touches on the engine.





David cleaning the interior. Dirt accumulates in the little valleys of the leather texture, and towels won`t get down to clean it out. A gentle, soft bristled brush will remove that last bit of grime that keeps an interior from truly being "detailed".




And finally, a little bit of paint correction.





Before.




After. Although the swirls are gone, there is a bit of pitting/sandblasting in the finish. But this Ferrari is a driver, so that`s to be expected!





David taping edges and delicate areas to prevent damage while polishing.

[mikenap]

Unfortunately, that`s all the pictures of the paint correction itself. The three of us were too busy working for any more pics. But Tyler`s pictures should make up for it.





















































And.....




Detail Dave Eller, myself and David Strum at the end of a loooong weekend.















Oh yeah, I forgot a couple of pictures.








Thanks for looking!

[Stokdgs]

Mike !

Wow !!!!!
You and your Team Killed It !!!!!

Congratulations on an incredibly perfect, job for The Win !!!!

Even before I got to the end of the pics, I was saying to myself that this work was easily at the highest level for the event - and he won !!!!!

I am so proud of you and the awesome Team you had !!!

Thanks so much for the beautiful car, work, pics, and editing, etc., that went into this !

This, my friends, is how you Detail a Classic Ferrari !
Dan F

[TacoHerder]

Man, stunning work! That car truly is a work of art and a piece of treasured history. Must have been a pleasure to sit back and see the progress in action.

[Pats300zx]

Beautiful work Mike !!! Based on the outcome from your hard work the award is so well deserved.

[mikenap]

Mike !

Wow !!!!!
You and your Team Killed It !!!!!

Congratulations on an incredibly perfect, job for The Win !!!!

Even before I got to the end of the pics, I was saying to myself that this work was easily at the highest level for the event - and he won !!!!!

I am so proud of you and the awesome Team you had !!!

Thanks so much for the beautiful car, work, pics, and editing, etc., that went into this !

This, my friends, is how you Detail a Classic Ferrari !
Dan F

Wow Dan, thank you so much for the kind words! As much as the three of us put into it, Cavallino is a car show and not a detail contest. Without such a pristine example of a 328 to work with, all this work still wouldn`t bring a trophy on its own. That car was a stellar example, and IIRC scored out around 97!

Man, stunning work! That car truly is a work of art and a piece of treasured history. Must have been a pleasure to sit back and see the progress in action.

Thank you! It was definitely a great time. Just wish I`d taken more pics during the correction phase, but we were really crunched for time.

Beautiful work Mike !!! Based on the outcome from your hard work the award is so well deserved.

Thank you Pat! Working on such an iconic car alongside two good friends...this may be as good as it gets for me!

[Ronkh]

Putting the word "detail" back in detailing

Great work

[Klock]

Stunning work! That is an amazing job! Congrats on the win!

[broker99]

Great work mike.

[Orinda Auto Detail]

Awesome work! Seeing stuff like this makes me think I suck You guys killed it!

[RaysWay]

I know how much work goes into a regular detail, so seeing the level of detail like this just makes my body hurt. Awesome job! Shared on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutopiaCarC...3?notif_t=like

[mikenap]

Putting the word "detail" back in detailing

Great work

Thank you!

Stunning work! That is an amazing job! Congrats on the win!

Appreciate that!

Great work mike.

Thanks Chad!

Awesome work! Seeing stuff like this makes me think I suck You guys killed it!

Jsmooooth! Thank you Joe, it was a fun time and a great experience!

I know how much work goes into a regular detail, so seeing the level of detail like this just makes my body hurt. Awesome job! Shared on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutopiaCarC...3?notif_t=like

Appreciate the share! Thanks!

[sprocketser]

Top job on the Ferrari mate !

[Todd@RUPES]

Wow, berry nice!!!

[Reddwarf]

Such a beautiful car and you guys did a fantastic job detailing that prancing horse!

The before and after of the wheel is amazing!