Todd@RUPES
Just a regular guy
Updated 10/21 30 new pics on post 5
This weekend, I had the chance to spend three long days (about 28 hours total) preparing a 1984 Ferrari BBi for the Cavallino Concours show in south Florida in January. The goal was to get it about 90 percent done (minus the under carriage, which will be done a little later) for the Winter Park Concours show in a couple weeks. This way, the owner and I will know what we need to work on for Cavallino. I am very excited by this opportunity. The only road block has been the owner, because we would chitchat about cars for a couple hours at a time!!! VERY COOL.
The 1984 Ferrari BBi (Berlinetta Boxer injection) was the last year for the style, which started as the 365 GT4 in 1973. This car was Ferrari's first mid engine road car, and featured a flat twelve cylinder (taken from the F1 cars of the time). It took a while to convince Enzo Ferrari to built a mid engine car, but with the success of the Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari had to fight back. This particular 1984 was a "grey market" car, imported from Europe, so doesn't have the awkward American bumpers.
The '84 Ferrari BBi was also the last of hand built bodies, which adds to the romance of the car. The bodies where shaped and sculpted by artists, using metal working tools to hammer perfection into existence. Amazing and completely hand built! The engine is a fast (very fast for 1984) 5 liter, full injected flat twelve, developing 340 horsepower (back when a Corvette made about 220), pushing the BBi to 60 in under six seconds and to top speed close to 180. Back when this car was built, its easy to imagine Enzo Ferrari in all his fury screaming at his workings, making sure everything was to his specs and perfect. My goal was simple, to make Enzo proud.
Over the course of 3 days, I was able to spend a lot of time working towards that goal. I will update this thread later (and ask a mod to change the title) as I get pictures from the Winter Park Show, then the undercarriage detailing, and finally in January, from the Cavallino Concours, where we (the owner and myself) plan on taking platinum!
Day One, October 4th, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Process and Product Outline
Wipe car with Zaino Z6 to clean off any dust and dirt from the body
Tape car with 3M Blue Painter's Tape
Polish with
3M Extra Cut Compound on a Lake Country Orange CCS 7 1/2 inch pad on the
Hitachi at 1800 RPM
Menzerna SIP on a Lake Country Orange CCS 7 1/2 pad on the Hitachi at 1200 RPM
3M UltraFina on a Lake Country White CCS 7 1/2 pad at 1800 RPM, brough down to
1000 RPM to refine the polish
*after each pass, the paint was inspected with Xenon light, and additional passes where
made to ensure all defects where removed
Hand Polish all impossible to reach areas with
Menzerna SIP using a terry cloth
Zaino Z-PC using a Meg's FoamApplicator Pad
Headlights/Tailights polished with SIP/Orange, Plasticx with PC/White
50/50 wipedown
Wash with Zaino Z7, using a two bucket method
Inspect in direct sunlight for any remaining marring
This Ferrari was still had the original single stage Rosso Corsa lacquer, which polished beautifully, but was SUPER thin on some edges. Some edges didn't even have paint! There are also some runs in the paint that the owner and I decided to leave be, as they are there from the factory, and as such, add the absolute charm of this car.
Some pictures from in the early morning sun. The soft lacquer paint mars easily, and despite showing only 4000 miles on the odometer, the Ferrari had moderate to heavy swirling in places.
Under the halogens...
After one pass of 3M Extra Cut...
Polishing by hand in the numerous creases, crevices, and hard to reach spots found on the gorgeous hand scuplted Italian body.
Polishing with SIP on the Hitachi. Care was taken to tape off all creases and edges, to avoid polishing thru the thin, soft laqcuer.
Inspecting the finish with a Brinkman Xenon
Back to work! When I tell you every square inch of the Ferrari was polished swirl free, I'm not kidding
The air conditioned garage I had the pleasure of working in....
Under the halogens and perfect!
These next two shots cleary show the amazing correction ability of 3M Extra Cut 3000, but also the limitations. The swirls where blasted away, but the paint still had micro marring (compound hazing) that needed to be dealt with.
I was constantly checking my work in the sun light as well, checking and rechecking areas and truly aiming for a perfect finish. Since the sun was overhead, it did give a better account how truly marred the finish was to begin with.
Here is the side of the hood after being polished with Extra Cut and SIP. Because of the soft lacquer and moderate cut of the Orange Pad (used with SIP) there was some faint micro marring, though the surface did appear hologram free. I would follow with UltraFina to ensure that all micromarring was removed and the car was 100 percent hologram free.
And finally a 50/50 shot of the sorts, as the left side has been polished the right side hasn't...
My son stopped by to make sure his daddy was doing a good job (and to bring me burger king as well!)
He also checked out the owners 328 (which will get the full treatement next year for Cavallino)
Here are the products that where used. What isn't shown is about 10 other orange pads, as lacquer seems to "gum" up the pads much quicker.
I pulled the BBi back out of the garage to wash it, and also inspect for any swirling in the paint.
A couple pictures after washing with Z7 to remove any dust and polishing residue.
