Operation Back in Black!

Sizzle Chest

Sizzle Chest

Well-known member
OPERATION BACK IN BLACK
1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello
Nero Daytona/Nero
22K miles
5.5 liter V12
485HP/419TQ
Gated 6 speed manual
0-60: 4.1 sec
Top Speed: 199MPH



​

Client recently added this to his collection. Car is all original except the wheels on it now, he has the originals. Car has all the paperwork, records and the factory luggage.
Car was FULL of swirls. I mean covered. Had a few heavier scratches and holograms, and a lot of hazy paint.
Car looked ok until it was in the sun or under the lights…then it became less black…and more gray. Operation back in black has commenced! I heard AC/DC’s song while correcting this Italian beauty and figured it was a good project name! LOL
Paint was SOFT. Finicky, but a pleasure to work with. I enjoyed it.
The ‘details’:
Gary Dean shampoo.
McKee’s37 Iron remover.
Adam’s wheel cleaner.
Adam’s tire and rubber.
Hydes serum.
Adam’s rinse and coat.
Medium clay mitt.
Master Blaster to dry.
Scan Grip lighting.
DeFelsko PTG.
Flex 3401.
Flex pixie.
Rupes iBrid.
Griot’s Fast Correcting Cream.
Griot’s Perfecting Cream.
Optimum panel wipe.
22ple Mistico Elemento Forte.
Carpro PERL tire dressing.
Pinnacle exhaust cleaner/brightener.
Auto finesse glass cleaner.
Metro vacuum.
Adam’s interior detailer.
Pinnacle leather cleaner/conditioner.

Thanks for looking!!





















After the first hit:


















 
Heck, from the title of the thread I thought we’d be talking about a trim restorer. Beautiful work Sizzle Chest.
 
Sizzle Chest:
Somehow a FRONT engine Ferrari seems like an oxymoron from what I associate Ferrari with. That, and the LONG front nose to accommodate the big V12. I gotta give kudos to the Italian engineers and designers for making it look good. (No comment from the peanut gallery about its Corvette-like side profile silhouette.)

I also find it paradoxical that you called the paint SOFT and yet found it a "joy to work with". Most times soft paint is "difficult" to perfect without inducing micro-marring, as Accumulator calls it. Does this soft Ferrari paint or any soft paint require a special wipe-off process by you?
IE, is there a certain wiping technique or specific microfiber cloth that you use for such types of paints?
(Yes, I am ALWAYS asking Autopians about specific microfibers manufacturer`s and type for detailing tasks they encounter.)

I gotta ask about cleaning the interior-side glass in the rear lift hatch. Do you open the hatch and cleaning the inside standing on the outside OR do you leave it closed and contort yourself and wipe it from the inside OR do you do the upper half from the inside with the hatch being closed and the lower half from the outside with the hatch being opened (the latter being my approach to cleaning this glass-cleaning challenge conundrum).

Excellent work on this black stallion beauty. It will definitely turn heads without the visual detraction of swirls or buffer trails so prominent in the sun on many clean, shiny-looking black vehicles on the road today.
 
Sizzle Chest said:
I heard AC/DC’s song while correcting this Italian beauty​
Click to expand...

Ha! For you my friend, I paused reading at this point. Opened up my iTunes and played this song (well, Spotify, cuz iTunes wanted me to log in)

So the song played while I read and looked at the great work on this nice car.

Gated 6 speed. NICE

GearHead_1 said:
Heck, I thought we’d be talking about a trim restorer. Beautiful SC.
Click to expand...

Haha. Yeah, same here. I almost skipped over it til I saw Sizzle Chest`s name.

Now, back to AC/DC and some work
 
Thanks everyone!! And glad one of the all time great bands is getting some air time! LOL

AMP: grazie siete più gentile


Lonnie: Yeah, most of the time soft paint can be a pain in the tail to work with due to it being so fussy. I really enjoyed this though, it wasn`t horrendous like some other (tesla) paint I`ve run across.

I use Adam`s single soft towels for compound/polish removal. I coated this stallion, so I used a low nap coating removal towel from the Rag Company if I remember. It wasn`t so bad that I had to be super sensitive in the coating wipe off.

There is no hatch! It`s a trunk only....and a big ole chunk of glass that is only accessible from the inside! So I climbed on it and spent about half an hour; in and out, checking for streaks/missed spots, etc. Was a PIA!


Thanks again everyone!
 
My lord. Paint looked like it got hit by a cyclone! Amazing recovery on 22 yr old paint. Great job on the old plastics too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
One of my favorite Ferrari designs. I was so excited I missed the bold gated shifter in your intro and scrolled right to the interior photos. Awesome, just awesome.

Great work on a classic. You have to feel pretty excited walking into the garage in the morning, being greeted by the beautiful cars that are entrusted to you.
 
By the look of the condition of paint and your readings.Pretty easy to say your the only one to have ever polished the paint.Kinda of nice to car that actually has paint on it.Compared to the standards these days.My first thought was V12 with low HP and fairly slow on 0-60 but then the age of the car comes into play.In it’s day it was probably one of the fastest cars around.Nice to see that actually someone enjoyed that car and drove it.Nice job as always on the revive of the paint.Probably the best that car ever looked since it rolled off line.
 
Thanks T! Yep, I believe I am the only one to work on the paint! It had to have been a rocket when new!!

Thanks again!
 
Scott, FWIW, you know that you’re doing something right when I came back not to only check for new comments in the thread, but to look at the pictures again:)

I’m pretty confident Brian Johnson would approve of the car and the thread title.

Thanks again for taking the time to photograph and post your work!
 
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