rDan's Garage Detailing

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1996 Ferrari F355 Spider – Rosso Corsa

TREATMENT

Wash & Decontamination
Interior Restoration
Engine Bay Detail
Multi-Stage Paint Correction
Kamikaze ISM Paint Protection

DESCRIPTION

This Ferrari F355 was recently purchased by a client of mine. Having always wanted one it is the realisation of a goal for him. He has spent the last few months getting the car back up to a solid standard, part of which would involve a decent detail.

When we chatted about the best way to approach detailing it, he was happy to defer to me in terms of what to do. He left the car with me for three weeks while he went overseas, which gave me ample time to go over it while he was away.

It was decided an engine bay detail would also be needed as the car had recently had a full engine-out service. The interior also needed work as it had been years since the leather had been cleaned and it was somewhat shiny from human use.

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Here it is as presented

Engine bay looking a bit tired

I started with a good engine degrease and brush down to knock off the bulk of the muck. Then low pressure rinse.

Then onto the decontamination wash

Brushwork around the external nooks and crannies

Before starting work on the paint I went to task on the interior. As mentioned there was a lot of shine on the leather from human oils as well as in-grained dirt etc which had to be cleaned off to get it back to a nice clean matte factory look. Due to the age of the leather steam was eschewed in favour of chemical cleaning. For this I used Angelwax Heaven for Leather, lightly scrubbing with a leather brush and wiping with a damp microfibre. A couple of areas too more than one round of this but I felt it a safer option in the long run. Befores and afters

Nice clean finish

50/50 of the seat, You can see the top section has been cleaned and is back to a supple matte

Closer view

On to the external areas a reasonable amount of time was spent cleaning build-up out from various spots. From around badges

As well as other areas

On to the paint. Being single stage paint it was slower going in order to work as cleanly as possible. There was a fair bit of cleaning up as I went to manage the red paint transfer whilst working (residue management).

50/50 of the 1st compounding stage

Here is a before and after of the engine bay after it received a further clean and dress

For the LSP, the owner wanted a coating as he lives by the beach and wanted a decent level of chemical protection. It was decided to go with Kamikaze ISM as the wax-style look of ISM would bring a richness to the Rosso Corsa red as well as accentuate the overall lines of the car. Here are a few shots immediately after ISM was applied

The richness already coming through

The car was then tucked away until a few days before it was due to be picked up. It was then pulled back out to do the finishing touches and take final photos. The ISM had had some time on the panel and had deepend up further in that time to give a beautiful warm glow, perfectly complimenting the Rosso Corsa.