Wes_R

Hey 5Seriesers,

Here is a new write up on a black on black on black F430 lol. A long time e46 M3 client referred this gentleman to me and after exchanging a few emails back and forth and a phone call we finally got the Ferrari in the shop.



Here is the Prancing Horse on arrival












Starting with the wheels was the usual prep routine




We used our angle brush to reach into the wheel well


And clean the tire wall


Cleaning inside the lugnut area


The calipers


And finally rinsing everything off with our angled power washer extension




The exhaust was cleaned as well

First outside the pipe with our Mini Ez Brush


Then inside with 0000 steel wool


Here is a before and after shot

Before


After




Finally we can wash the car

Starting with a rinse


Two bucket method always used


Washing with a natural sea sponge


Rinsing off the dirt in the water only bucket before putting it back in the soap bucket


Taking care of the little details


Door jambs




And before drying off the paint was clayed to remove embedded dirt in the clearcoat


Pretty dirty




After drying measurements of the paint thickness were taken to ensure we had healthy levels to work with










Everything was looking good and there were no signs of repaint



Next was to mask off the rubber trim to protect it from staining or being burnt by our buffer






The paint was in fairly rough condition and after a few test sections I decided to go with Meguiars Microfiber cutting pad and compound


Here is a shot of me polishing


And the befores and afters

Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After


Here is a quick 50/50 on the passenger's door with the right polished and the left side untouched


Also the taillights were polished as well

Before


After




The 2nd stage was carried out with a light cutting pad and polish and the whole car was polished again for the 2nd stage to refine the finish and bring out the deep gloss



After the 2 stages of polishing were completed the masking tape was removed


And the paint alcohol wiped to remove the polishing oils






I double checked the paint with my Infratech which produces the same color light as the sun


No more swirls





Here is a teaser of the shine achieved




Opti Coat was used to protect the paint. If you are not familiar with Opti Coat, it is something different from a wax or sealant. It is actually a coating and to be more exact a resin based coating that behaves like a wax and is permanent. What's great about the protection that it offers is, it is chemical resistant which means things like bird droppings will no longer burn into your paint and leave that nasty staining. Also it is very hard, on the pencil hardness scale it is 9H which doesn't mean it is invincible but if you maintain your car properly you can keep it swirl free for life!

There are many other great features about Opti Coat but those are the main selling points. If you google it and do a little research you will see quite a few extensive test on Youtube and other forums.

The Diablo in the background was just Opti Coated as well.




While the Opti Coat was curing other areas were attended too

Like the windows


And dressing the tires




Finally with everything completed, the finished pictures.

First off a shot in the sun to show no swirls in the paint.
















A little sun flare in this shot










I love the reflections in this pic




And finally the last pic of the walkaround





I hope you guys enjoyed reading through the documentation as much as I enjoyed working on this Prancing Horse.

*wave*

E60I

Good job! Where are the pictures of the owner's face reaction(s) upon delivery?

Wes_R

This is the best pic I could find