Ferrari F430, Scuderia, California, F355, 599GTB, 360 CS, Lambo Gallardo by Esoteric

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A bunch of Ferraris and a Lamborghini by Esoteric Auto Detail from Columbus, Ohio



I've been keeping myself extremely busy over the winter, and in the process have accumulated many photos that I would have liked to share, but didn't have the time to do the level of writeup that everybody has become accustomed to see from me.



I always try to make my posts as educational as possible, and on occasion I get lucky and make them somewhat entertaining as well to keep people reading. With that I always make sure to throw in plenty of eye candy to make the write-up well balanced.



If I were to do full write-ups on all of these cars the way I normally do I'd be sitting here typing away at this keyboard for days. Unfortunately I've got a busy schedule as normal, and therefore will provide you with the CliffsNotes version. There are plenty of juicy photos to savor, so don't spin that scroll wheel on your mouse too fast...take your time and enjoy since you don't have to do as much reading this time. :)



And for the legal disclaimer...other than resizing and adding a border, as always my photographs are straight from my camera to your screen. No enhancements, no tweaking, no pumping up of colors. WYSIWYG.



First up is a brand new yellow F430. As with pretty much all of these cars listed below, it came from the factory in less than stellar shape. On the rear bumper of this one, it looked like a lot of heavy sanding had been done, but they completely forgot to go back and buff it out. Being yellow, it was much harder to see. This one got M105 on the heavier defects, M205 on the entire car, then it was sealed with Optimum Opti-Seal, and topped with Optimum Car Wax (gasp...a $200K car with a $17 wax!...say it isn't so!)



Engine was cleaned with P21S TAW

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Be careful polishing around that lip!

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Full Leatherique treatment in process

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Interior all tidied up:

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Final engine shot

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That's some serious gloss out of the Optimum Opti-Seal / Optimum Car Wax combo.

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Next up is the incredible Ferrari F430 Scuderia. Low, lots of carbon fiber and alcantara, sounds incredible, carbon brakes, and generally a wicked car. This one was brand new, yet had already seen some track time. I cleaned up the factory installed defects, polished out the interior carbon fiber, and made it look the way it should. M105/M205 for polishing, and Blackfire Wet Diamond for protection.



Engine compartment getting completely cleaned with P21S TAW

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The interior carbon fiber had a severe case of holograms.

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They were polished with M205

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After

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All dressed up for surgery

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Interior all finished

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Carbon fiber polished and sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond

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Now time to show off a little bit of gloss

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Here we have a 599 GTB with a monster V-12. This one had even more bumps and bruises, but looked incredible once fully corrected. M105/M205 were used for correction, followed by a coat of Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze, and then sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond.



Full Leatherique application in process

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First you have swirls and scuffs

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Then you add Megs 105, Makita rotary, and Lake Country Cyan Hydro Tech pads...mix them up at the proper ratios



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And then bake at 350 for 40 minutes to reveal your new finish!

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Completely finished interior

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The obligatory testosterone enhancer shot

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No swirls here

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Sweet!

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Speaking of sweet, here we have a beautiful California. Now some have “mixed reactions” to the California, but personally I think it has stunning lines and style. I really enjoyed working with this one. M105/M205 for correction, CG Vertua-Bond as a bonding agent, and then topped with a buttery layer of CG Ezyme Natura wax.



Leatherique is a must-have for convertibles in particular. Yeah...I like this stuff if you haven't figured it out yet.

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Finished Interior (notice the yellow F430 in the mirror reflection)

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Getting artsy with the camera

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Interior is protected while polishing

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Yes, that's the black 599 in the background that you just looked at

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Blatant product placement shot

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For some reason, I just really like this simple shot!

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There was some serious gloss and depth on this one when I was finished

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For this '98 F355, it was a full-on mini-restoration. I spent about a day doing a full write-up on the processes involved on this car, and without trying to get my wrists slapped for spamming, the (very) long article can be found over at DI. I'll try not to strain my shoulder from patting myself on the back, but it's a really good article! This car is being entered in the Keeneland Concours d'Elegence in Lexington, KY this summer.



This one had just about everything going on...dashboard removal, hood removal, wetsanding, you name it. There are too many products and processes to list here, so I'll just include a few of the photos.



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Before

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After

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My neck hurts just looking at this picture

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A little bit of wetsanding

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Getting that level of gloss and depth in such tight quarters is not an easy task...many hours were spent on the engine cover!

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Re-wrapping the dash in leather, Leatherique, restoring the sticky plastic components, and extracting the carpets made a big difference.

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This one received a photo DVD documenting the entire process, and a limited edition Esoteric t-shirt!

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I threw this one in just to quickly show that you don't have to spend 20+ hours to make a car look fantastic. Take one very dirty Lamborghini Gallardo, wash with the 2x4 method, clean out the interior, and do a quick polish with Optimum Poli-Seal, and you end up with a 3 hour job that will look fantastic and make the customer very happy.



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The last one on today's installment is an incredible 360 Challenge Stradale. Despite the fact that the body style is twice removed now, this is one of my favorite Ferraris. It just has a certain attitude about it that I really enjoy. And when started, the sound is very intoxicating. This was just purchased from the west coast...it was put on a semi truck, driven across country and delivered to us to perform a full detail and belt service before it even made its way to the owner's garage. M105/M205 were used for correction, and it was sealed with Optimum Opti-Seal. I just finished this one last week, and have another Stradale (with stripes) that I'm working on this next weekend.



I think you get the point by now...if they have leather, they get Leatherique!

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Swirlies

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After just compounding stage

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Blatant self-promotion shot

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More carbon fiber polishing with M205

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Wheels were removed, deep cleaned, and sealed

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The suspension was fully detailed

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No more swirlies

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Carbon fiber after polishing and sealing

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Light of truth

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The entire front end, even the A-pillars, was covered in protective film so the reflections aren't quite as sharp as the rest of the car...still pretty darn good though.

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OK, so that's it for now. I want to thank everybody for taking the time to “read” through my post, I want to thank NJB Automotive here in Columbus (they provide the mechanical work and facilities...I provide the detailing services), and I want thank all of your employers for allowing you to surf the internet and look through all of these juicy Ferrari (and Lambo) photos while they pay you!



Have a wonderful day...
 
Wow Todd. Impeccable work.



I'm still jealous of your shop so I won't be speaking to you for a while lol.



j/k. Great work!!! Did you have to do any hand polishing on the engine cover of the 355? You're right very cramped area as were the side intakes.



Cheers!
 
One follow-up question, which pads are you using with the M105/M205? I'm going to be adding this to my arsenal and love the results you have achieved.
 
Holy Ferrari-HOTNESS Todd. What a collection of work. I guess you have been super busy. I have some of the CG E-Zyme and can't wait to give it a try this spring on my red 300ZX. It looks like it's a great wax.
 
Anthrassat1.8T said:
Great Job Todd! Stellar work as usual on a phenomenal arrangement of metal.



Thank you!



Nikku said:
Wow Todd. Impeccable work.



I'm still jealous of your shop so I won't be speaking to you for a while lol.



j/k. Great work!!! Did you have to do any hand polishing on the engine cover of the 355? You're right very cramped area as were the side intakes.



Cheers!



Thanks Nick, and sorry to hear that you won't be speaking to me. :)



No hand polishing on the engine cover. The small areas were polished with a PC and a 4" spot pad. The intakes on the other hand are a different story!



Anthrassat1.8T said:
One follow-up question, which pads are you using with the M105/M205? I'm going to be adding this to my arsenal and love the results you have achieved.



For the harder ceramic clears I'm typically using Cyan and Tangerine Hydro Tech pads. For the softer paints it's usually orange and black.



Pats300zx said:
Holy Ferrari-HOTNESS Todd. What a collection of work. I guess you have been super busy. I have some of the CG E-Zyme and can't wait to give it a try this spring on my red 300ZX. It looks like it's a great wax.



Thanks Pat. I'm pretty confident you're going to like the E-Zyme!
 
As always, superior work, photos, and write up Todd! Seeing your threads really motivates me to go do some work on a car! :thx
 
Fantastic work! Do you have any before/after pics of the leatherique treatment? The after pics look amazing. Not shiny at all. And do you put the cars in the sun to let the leaterique get absorbed by the leather?
 
RaskyR1 said:
As always, superior work, photos, and write up Todd! Seeing your threads really motivates me to go do some work on a car! :thx



Thanks Rasky...now get to work! :)



maarten22 said:
Fantastic work! Do you have any before/after pics of the leatherique treatment? The after pics look amazing. Not shiny at all. And do you put the cars in the sun to let the leaterique get absorbed by the leather?



Most of these were new leather treatments, so no "wow" factor before and after transformation shots. Until this past week we hadn't seen the sun here in Ohio in about 5 months, plus it's been very cold so no outside time for the Leatherique. I let it sit for about 24 hours in a climate controlled environment and it does very well. It doesn't have to be in the sun to work, but in the summer it definitely helps it work more quickly simply because of the amount of heat inside a closed-up vehicle.



D Tailor said:
And a hush came over the crowd. That's how you do it.



What did you use on the Alcantara?



Thanks David. As for the Alcantara, I simply hit it with compressed air, and gently wipe it down with a damp mf towel as necessary.
 
wow, I had to turn down the brightness of my monitor for this post :)



amazing inspirational work.



You're the reason why I tried opti-seal and its well worth it.
 
As usual Todd, you upped the ante. Once I get this bear of a thesis off my back I'll have to made the hour and a half drive down to see you do your magic in person and try out my new XSi! Great work once again, they picked the right guy for the job for sure!
 
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