A six day, concourse preparation, full paint corrective detail performed by myself on this 2009 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, dressed in Grigio Silverstone.

A frequently driven vehicle, seeing almost 5,000 miles in the warm months of 2010 alone, was in need of a proper refreshing detail. We took on this car as a double project: being a full paint corrective, concours ready detail, as well as filming the process. This added a great deal of time to the whole task, but that was expected and most of it's purpose.

With that said, the video results should be shared in the near future as it is all being pieced together. For the time being, the photo documentation will serve as a perfectly fine example of the work done.

The list of products used on these level details is rather immense, for those interested, I'd be more than happy to share! I will hint at the products used in the descriptions of the pictures below, so be sure to pay attention!

Without further aideu!

The Scuderia as it arrived, after our trailer pick up.



The car was not by any means dirty, or appearing in desperate shape, so the pre-prep/wash pictures serve little purpose this time around. While driven frequently, it is kept exceptionally well!

As with any driven vehicle, contaminents make their way onto the paint. Clay after prepping the vehicle



Once the vehicle was dry, after using pressurized air and microfiber drying towels, it was masked off with protective tape on all non-painted surfaces. In this photo, seen with an older brother!



We started with the engine bay work, which you will see the results of in the next group of photos, all metal and carbon fiber pieces were polished and sealed using appropriate products. Here you will see the Exhaust Muffler polishing both before, and it's 50/50 progress.


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Driver side air box polished, passenger side airbox unpolished



Finished Engine bay photos



Hard water spots on rear engine divider glass before/after

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Hand polishing and sealing the rear underbody diffuser



Shortly after completing the engine bay, the interior was tended to, in the same fashion in regards to the carbon fiber pieces, which are abundant in the Scuderia.

Carbon fiber seat back, Before and After polishing.




Seat Back 50/50

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50/50 photo of carbon fiber door polishing



With the interior, engine bay and wheels tended to, we moved on to the biggest part of the project. The Paint Correction. After analyzing the paint with Halogen, LED and flourescent lighting, we "read" the vehicle in approximately 200 locations. A labeled image will be included in the videos to come of the exact readings throughout. Our findings are shown below:

Inspection photos, before correction:



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Our inspection concluded that a lot of light surface marring and swirling were evident, we also discovered some heavier damage, shown in the following images.



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Unfinished Wetsand marks, most likely left by the factory



Preparation and inspection completed, the correction was underway, after our test panels with Menzerna polishes. From a very non-aggressive combo, we worked our way up until the desired results were achieved. Which we captured in the following group of photos, in a 50/50 format.



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The finished results of the paint, which we photographed Before sealant, or wax are shown here.




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The final pictures are the final photos of the detail process, you can clearly see the depth and gloss of this deep metallic gray. The images speak for themselves, capturing the results of a true detail.




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Now for some overall photos of the vehicle!





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Thank you for reading, feedback and comments are welcome!

-Oakes

 

These kinda threads are always fun to read/look at! You made some nice before/after photos.

nr 5. is a shokking difference, looking good!

 

Wow! Amazing work! I can't believe how much better the exhaust looked!

 

unbelieveable

 

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words

 

Great jobs Oakes! World of turnaround, only critique wouldve been to use a softer (blue) claybar and maybe go over the vehicle twice to avoid some of the heavier clay scratches (less work for you overall in the end) as illustrated in this image:


I always tell my guys, sometimes you gotta claybar a car twice to make sure its contam-free, but Atleast you shouldnt have to spend extra time buffing and polishing those extra stages, when you didnt need to in the beginning. Keeping your focus on the other areas with deeper isolated scratches. Just my $.02. Again, great work.

 

We used the fine green clay on the rest of the vehicle, the white was used on the rear bumper as it had the most contamination. A lot of those defects were present when we picked up the vehicle, from improper wash techniques. I agree with you on the effects of the clay, however its also the reason that we use the clay vertically so we can see what damage we left and what damage was already there. I appreciate the input!!

 

That's something to remember for when I'll give my car it's once a year treatment!

 

Also a great process for cleaning both sides of your windows. Use one direction on the outside, and a opposite direction on the inside. This way you can see which side any streaks may be on!