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Oakes Detailed: Ferrari F430 Spider - Project from Hell!

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Old May 22, 2012 | 01:47 PM
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From: West Chester, PA
Whatever it is, it's probably dirty.
Exclamation Oakes Detailed: Ferrari F430 Spider - Project from Hell!

In a word, this car was a nightmare. After sitting in the corner of a body shop for nearly 14 months, the car suffered quite a bit of damage. Other factors contributed to the condition, but this sub 3k mile Spider looked aged in the least. After a total of 56 working hours removing layers and layers of over spray, and then defects in the actual paint, followed with multiple steps of polishing, the Nero Black came out better than new. The pics easily do the talking for this beautiful car, so I will let them tell the story!

This is certainly one of my bigger projects to date, both conditon and time wise! Still not sure how I managed to use only 40 photos to document the work, but none the less, it's story time! Also, the fun game of "wheres the logo" is back in these pictures as well.

Condition as she arrived, as you can see the paint wasn't showing the depth and gloss it should, especially for under 3k miles.



After prep, which consisted of TAW, two passes of ClayMagic Red, re-citrus wash and alcohol wipe down, this was the condition of the paint....




5.




You would have thought I didn't even touch the car yet! Moving onwards, I performed a test panel on the front fender...this small portion alone took me approximately 20 minutes...still wasn't perfect but you can clearly see the difference being made.


10.

So with that done and a clear understanding what I was up against, it was time to get to work...first removed the Ferrari Badge, as you can see there was a party underneath



So I had to play the responsible role and shut the party down and clear everyone out...still left their mark though!



All cleaned up and replaced, no more hologram of its previous location.



Now was time to get heavy into the paint work, and when I say I spent days on this car, I literally mean days. I even had to take a day off out of strain and frustration, but these 50/50 photos show the progress better than any 50/50s I've taken!


15.

I think those two photos alone can visually sum up this project by themselves, regardless, I didn't spend 56 hours to not take anymore photos! So here is the corrected paint under halogen lights!





20.


Now for my favorite set of photos from this project...the reflection and gloss set! You could have taken a dip in the hood of this thing afterwords....see for yourself!




25.




30.



Last but certainly not least, full profile photos of the vehicle completed.



35.





And a shot from the day she left, next to my next F-Car project, the 360 in the photos is still undergoing it's full overhaul!

40.

Feedback always welcome and appreciated! Thanks for looking!

Nick Oakes
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Old May 22, 2012 | 02:59 PM
  #2  
kustom2k1's Avatar
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Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Florida
03SL55
Do/did you use glaze? Great job. I recently went over my SL55 and 2 weeks later have some swirl again. You just cant help it no matter how gentle you are wiping the car down.
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Old May 22, 2012 | 03:00 PM
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From: St. Paul, MN
2013 E350 Wagon, prev 2005 ML 500 SE
OMG, what a transformation. Nice work!!!
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