Detailed Ferrari 348 Spider

Nickc0844

Nickc0844

Owner and Tech. Rep
Been awhile since I last posted. Detailing has been great. Here is one example of what I've been up to.

1994 Ferrari 348 Spider Convertible, single Stage red. I would consider it a yellow light condition.

Here was the general regimen:
-Washed with Hi-Temp's Prep Wash
-Wheels washed with TOL's Power Wheel Wash, tires dressed with Poorboy's Bold n' Bright
-Clay with Adam's Polishes Clay and Detail Spray
-Polished with Makita Rotary on 1500rpms, Edge2000 Blue Pad side, and Menzerna Light cut
-Liquid carnauba was with PC on 3.5 and Adam's Butter Wax and Edge White finishing pad
-For the heck of it, I topped it off with Poorboy's Natty's Paste Wax.
-Interior dressing was with Adam's VRT and Adam's Leather Conditioner

The car was bought used 2 weeks ago from a Porsche dealership. Used Prep Wash to remove any silicones/wax on there. They must have used something with a ton of fillers into it because they all were revealed after stripping them. Paint was extremely rough with surface contamination, and the clay worked very well. The polishing combination worked out fantastic, and there was no need for a 2-step polishing stage. This was in due part for the single stage paint process. I then applied Butter Wax via the PC as the main means of protection, and for the heck of it, I listened to Steve and put some Natty's on. The combo was quite a different look on red. The Butter Wax made is really wet and deep, and the Natty's just brightened it all up.

The few miles I drove it after were a breeze. The horn on this thing sounds so ree-ree, but it was funny. With the top down, we definitely got some looks as we pulled up to Baskin Robins :D

Here is a picture of the minor swirls when I got it. This picture was taken in the overcast weather we had that morning, but once it cleared up, more swirls did as well.

The next is at the same angle with the sun out fully.
 
Here are some more. Sorry for not many befores, as it was really overcast out.

The interior was very nice, as the car has ONLY 15,000 miles on it. Not bad for a 10-11 year old ride. Minor stains on the leather of which the Adam's took care of. Vinyl really soaked up the conditioner and looked great afterwards.
 
That looks great!! :headbang Must've been a real treat!

Is TOL's Prep Wash a wipe on/wipe off product?
 
Nick, welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good work! Smooth, nice classic Ferrari red.
Did you try to close the top? One of the most awful mechanisms ever made. Needs two people.
 
Bill,
Prep Wash is AWESOME stuff. It eliminates the huge Dawn debate since it can remove waxes AND polymers. You can use it between buffing stages. Also you can clean residue out of buffer equipment such as pads. And it smells pretty cool. I'm definitely going to grab a gallon next time I order from TOL
 
Hey Bill,

You have the ability to use it either way. For the beginning of full details, I bucket wash it. Wash the whole car without spraying off, then spray off all at the same time. It does a good job of removing bugs and stuff before claying. When I am doing a multi-step polishing process, I use it diluted 5:1 in a 32oz bottle. I spray onto a terry applicator after compounding, then wipe on. I go back with a MF to remove the rest. That has cut some time off, buffing wise. It's inexpensive as well.

Hey Bence,

I purposely left the top open, as I wasn't using products that dusted at all. It looked like a pain, and the owner said, "This is a fair weather car anyhow, so don't worry about putting the top up." I just kept it at that :)
 
Outstanding work :cool:

You are too funny with your bucket :)

I have the same horn in my Integra as that Ferrari...Scares a lot of people but sounds "Oh so cool"

How did you work around those fins?
 
The fins were a bit of a pain. I forgot to mention that the fins on both sides and in the rear were done by hand. I only wiped the engine down and sprayed it with Adam's Polishes In and Out spray. Nothing major though.

Sean,
That's a cool little mod. I couldn't see it on a jacked up F-250 though :nono

I love that dang bucket!
 
Nick...great work, I detailed a 348TS earlier this year and must say that it's quite a beautiful car but a pain in the rear to detail!!!...not to mention that my particular example looked like it had been washed with a scotchbright pad on a regular basis. I was SOOOO concerned with the single stage paint that I went particularly slow to correct all of the defectsand spent WAY too much time on the car in general.

Not to mention that all of the scoops and slats (particularly the ones above the engine) made the car a real pain in the rear to detail. All in all I still made money but 6+ hours I was finally done with something that should have only taken about 4 hours to complete.
 
Audi,

You are right for sure. With the caliber of this car and how intricate it is, you have to bank on spending a bit more time on it.
 
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