MirrorDetailing
New member
Did this F430 a few weeks ago. Owner was wanting to bring back the shine and really give the red the glow and gloss it deserved. Also told him about Opti-Guard and the benefits of it. After a little researching on his part, he was more than willing to have it done. Figured when your getting this level of work done, might as well go for the 110% mark and Opti-Guard the car. The Opti-Guard really helped bring the red and the gloss out. It was a night and day difference when it was completed.
Unfortunately, this Ferrari was a victim of Solvent pop, so some of the panels show solvent pop real well. Nothing could be done about that, but removing the scratches and giving the paint a whole new level of gloss will more than make up for it.
Here is how the Ferrari looked when it was first dropped off...
After getting the Ferrari inside, washed it with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash to remove any waxes/sealants/fillers that might be on the surface so I could see the real quality of the paint. Here are some shots inside under an LED light too see how bad the paint really was...
Started with a test area on the bonnet too figure out my process. Since Ferrari's paint is not extremely hard, I opted to start with M205 and a Meguiars MF Finishing Disc too see the level of cut I would get...
Test area before...
Test area after 205/MF Finishing Disc. Pretty high % of correction.
After finishing it down with HD Polish and a Hydrotech Tangerine Pad, here are the afters of the test area...
Other side of the test area...
Now out into the sun after an Eraser wipe down to make sure it looked just as good in the sun...
Top of the picture is uncorrected, bottom is the corrected area..
Test area that was corrected fully in the sun...
Got kind of rushed to get the car finished up a day ahead of scheduled, so had to work late into the morning. Here was a quick shot of the front end after it was completed and wiped down with Eraser. Red is really starting to show the level of gloss it needed.
After getting completely done with the body, I had the top down which gave me some half and halfs from the top area compared to the completed body.
One the body was completeled, next was the engine. Gave the engine a good wipe down and cleaning and like most Ferrari's, the exhaust box needed a good polishing.
Here is a half and half of the exhaust box. This was after polishing it with Optimum Metal Polish. I was not happy with the results and went a step further and polished it with M105/HD Polish. Those results can be seen in the completed engine bay pictures.
Engine bay was cleaned and dressed. Exhaust box was cleaned and sealed with a metal wax.
After everything was done, paint was wiped down with Eraser and then coated with Opti-Guard. These afters are from the car sitting for 24 hours for the Opti-Guard too cure. The level of gloss compared to when I started is amazing. Car looks 100x better.
Unfortunately, this Ferrari was a victim of Solvent pop, so some of the panels show solvent pop real well. Nothing could be done about that, but removing the scratches and giving the paint a whole new level of gloss will more than make up for it.
Here is how the Ferrari looked when it was first dropped off...
After getting the Ferrari inside, washed it with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash to remove any waxes/sealants/fillers that might be on the surface so I could see the real quality of the paint. Here are some shots inside under an LED light too see how bad the paint really was...
Started with a test area on the bonnet too figure out my process. Since Ferrari's paint is not extremely hard, I opted to start with M205 and a Meguiars MF Finishing Disc too see the level of cut I would get...
Test area before...
Test area after 205/MF Finishing Disc. Pretty high % of correction.
After finishing it down with HD Polish and a Hydrotech Tangerine Pad, here are the afters of the test area...
Other side of the test area...
Now out into the sun after an Eraser wipe down to make sure it looked just as good in the sun...
Top of the picture is uncorrected, bottom is the corrected area..
Test area that was corrected fully in the sun...
Got kind of rushed to get the car finished up a day ahead of scheduled, so had to work late into the morning. Here was a quick shot of the front end after it was completed and wiped down with Eraser. Red is really starting to show the level of gloss it needed.
After getting completely done with the body, I had the top down which gave me some half and halfs from the top area compared to the completed body.
One the body was completeled, next was the engine. Gave the engine a good wipe down and cleaning and like most Ferrari's, the exhaust box needed a good polishing.
Here is a half and half of the exhaust box. This was after polishing it with Optimum Metal Polish. I was not happy with the results and went a step further and polished it with M105/HD Polish. Those results can be seen in the completed engine bay pictures.
Engine bay was cleaned and dressed. Exhaust box was cleaned and sealed with a metal wax.
After everything was done, paint was wiped down with Eraser and then coated with Opti-Guard. These afters are from the car sitting for 24 hours for the Opti-Guard too cure. The level of gloss compared to when I started is amazing. Car looks 100x better.
