Tropically Detailed: Ferrari F40 (40 pics)

Todd@RUPES

Just a regular guy
The Ferrari F40 was an evolution of the 308/328/288GTO and was the last Ferrari comissioned by Enzo Ferrari himself. The F40 put race car performance into the hands of lucky individuals through out the world. The idea was performance through good power and very light weight. The body was made from a mixture of kevlar, carbon fiber, and aluminum, and the absense of sound deadening, radio, and even door handles led to a low weight of only 2450 lbs, or about 50 more then the MUCH smaller Lotus Elise. Coupled with a 2.9 liter V-8 boosted by twin turbocharges and developing 471 horsepower (many people report then engine developed closer to 490), the F40 was an amazing performer (even compared to modern supercars 20 years later) reaching 62MPH from a stand in about 3.5 seconds and being the first production car to top 200 miles per hour.



Even though car only required very light polishing (the paint was soft and VERY thing, with the kevlar weave apparent in certain areas), the paint cleaned up very nicely, knocking out 90 percent of the swirls with a Z-PC and a portercable! And even then, only about 50 percent of the body had swirl marks, so the polishing portion took less then 45 minutes! The rest of the detail (over two days) was cleaning and detailing every nook and cranny and making sure the car was ready for the Winter Park Concours show.



Products/Procedure Outline



Wash with Zaino Z7 and foam gun

Clay with Zaino Z18 clay using dilluted Z7 lube

Lightly polish with Z-PC using a White CCS pad and Zaino Z-PC

DeepFinish Deep SWAX x 3 (two coats on the first day, 1 coat on the second day)

Meg's APC in a sprayer (10:1) on suspension and engine components

Meg's #39 on faded plastics, #40 to protect

303 Aerospace protectant on rubber

Meg's Hypershine 3:1 on spark plug wires, frame rails..

Zaino AIO on glass, rims, door jambs, ect..

Plexus Plastic Polish on Lexan rear windowns and trunk window

Mothers Syn FX on tires



Overall about 12 hours where spent detailing the car, and getting into every area accessiable to clean. Lots of qtips and Megs APC later...



a002.jpg




The Z7 was allowed to dwell for 5 minutes...



a004.jpg




After rinsing and sheeting the water off, the car was dried with a highspeed leaf blower to remove water from the various areas...



You can see how low the F40 really is...



a006.jpg




Opened up and getting detailed to the wee hours of the morning...



a007.jpg




a009.jpg




Many hours where spent detailing the engine, suspension, trunk, ect...



a010.jpg




a011.jpg




a012.jpg




a013.jpg




a015.jpg




I am really enjoying the show car aspect of detailing (focusing less on paint correct, though that is still vital, but finding the dirty areas and making them perfect). One of the things I have realized is that you are never done. Sometimes you have to take the car to a very high level to see the little things that need work. Here, some compound residue from a previous detailer was sticking out like a sore thumb in the door handle.



a016.jpg




Much better (megs APC and qtips)

a017.jpg




The second day of detailing consisted of more of the same, with an additonal layer of SWAX, and more q-tipping and tire/rim/wheel/suspension/brakes/ect detailing :D



a018.jpg




a019.jpg




a021.jpg




a022.jpg




About 3 hours where spent cleaning each vent (this car has a lot of them) and dressing them with the correct products)...



a023.jpg




Outside with the third coat of SWAX applied...



a024.jpg




a026.jpg




a030.jpg




a031.jpg




Ready for the show!!!



a027.jpg




a025.jpg
 
Pictures from the show (I know a couple are blurry sorry)!!!



b001.jpg




b002.jpg




b003.jpg




b006.jpg




b009.jpg




b014.jpg




Here is a picture from the Ferrari Boxer BBi I detailed, refecting on the F40 as it was being judged...



b015.jpg




Here are two of the several cars I had at the show (the BBi is on the left with the front cover open and the F40 is on the right with the same open)...



b016.jpg




During judging, the F40 started on the first try and passed all the tests :D



b018.jpg




Sun shot (kinda, it was so over cast yesterday that I was very bummed out)



b019.jpg




b021.jpg




b023.jpg




b024.jpg
 
Very nice man.



Show car detailing is very different from normal stuff. The focus is significantly less on paint correction and basic cleaning, and much more on attention to detail and perfection everywhere you look. You really have to take some steps back and look at the things that only a detailer and a judge would really look at.



It is a totally different challenge.
 
Damn that F40 looks good! Awesome job todd!:woot:



Are these all cars you are prepping for Winter Park from the same owner? If so, I must congratulate him on his collection.:dance
 
AP2TUDE said:
Very nice man.



Show car detailing is very different from normal stuff. The focus is significantly less on paint correction and basic cleaning, and much more on attention to detail and perfection everywhere you look. You really have to take some steps back and look at the things that only a detailer and a judge would really look at.



It is a totally different challenge.



A few fun challenge and and a nicer paying one at that. Thanks for the kind words :D



stiffdogg06 said:
Damn that F40 looks good! Awesome job todd!



Are these all cars you are prepping for Winter Park from the same owner? If so, I must congratulate him on his collection.



Thanks! No, each car is owned by a different owner, but someday I will get a big collector :D
 
Awesome work as always Todd. It looks like you have hit it big in the "Concours de Elegance" market in Florida. Concours detailing is so different than normal detailing. It honestly gives you a feeling of "never being done". There is always something that can be tweaked.



You are certainly taking things to a new level...:2thumbs:
 
"third coat of SWAX applied" Is this a wipe on walk away product? Went to their web site and there's no clue on how this is applied.
 
Todd, excellent work. You continue to amaze me with your attention to detail and thoroughness.



Your threads always challenge me to be a better detailer. I am going to start Q-tipping more and next time I have my web designer update my site, I'm going to have him include a "show car" detail package into the price list section as that is something I really want to start doing.



Thanks for the great write up, I continue to learn a lot from them. I will be stepping up my detailing to another level.
 
Todd what product do you use on the head lamp covers. Can't ever get my customers looking like that? They have this faded almost smoky look to them? Any help would be great!
 
That looks amazing and it is just barely off the ground! I'd be scared to drive it for risk of scraping lol:nervous2:
 
Back
Top