Detailer's Domain - Ferrari 458 Challenge - Paint Correction - Opti Coat

Hope you are all doing well. I apologize for not posting more often this season, we have been quite busy over the last few months. Many new things around the corner.
This Ferrari 458 Challenge required some work to get it to tip top shape. Imperfections that were spotted were swirls, sand scratches, and holograms. A nice mix of issues to take care of on this Ferrari 458 Challenge.

Exterior
- Wheels were cleaned and prepped for Opti Coat
- Tires were cleaned and dressed up with Adam's Super VRT
- Wheel wells were cleaned up
- Washed with Optimum No Rinse
- NanoSkin AutoScrub Mitt
- Clay
- Door jambs were cleaned up
- Dried
- Masking
- Paint Measurement
- Compound - Menzerna FG400
- Final Polish - Sonax Perfect Finish 4/6
- Cleaned paint with Menzerna Top Inspection
- Last step - Opticoat
- Inspection with Fenix, Brinkmann, and natural sunlight
- Rubber and Plastics Treated
- Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned
- Exhaust tips cleaned

Products used:
Optimum No Rinse
Uber Clay Bar
Auto Finesse Oblitarate
NanoSkin AutoScrub Mitt
Menzerna FG400
Sonax Perfect Finish
Opti Coat
Adam's Super VRT
Menzerna Top Inspection
Auto Finesse Crystal Glass Cleaner

Tools used
Uber Quick Detail MF Towels
Uber All Purpose MF Towels
Griot's 3 inch Random Orbital Polisher
Rupes BigFoot LHR 21ES Random Orbital Polisher
Rupes BigFoot LHR 15ES Random Orbital Polisher
Uber Buffing Pads
Meg's MF Cutting Pad
Defelsko Paint Meter
Fenix TK35
2 Grit Guard Buckets with Caddies
Adam's Firehose Nozzle
Metro Air Force Blaster

A brief overview of the 458 Challenge

The new 4499 cc V8 is the first Ferrari direct injection engine to be mid-rear-mounted.

Compared to the 458 Italia, the direct injection 4499 cc V8 remains strictly in production tune, with an output of 570 hp at 9,000 rpm. That said, modifications have been made to the gear ratios and calibration of its dual-clutch F1 gearbox to guarantee higher torque at lower revs. The 458 Challenge is also equipped with the E-Diff electronic differential already employed on the road-going version, a first for Ferrari’s track-only cars.

Significant weight reductions were achieved both in the car interior and externally:

- The Prancing Horse engineers focused in particular on the thickness of the bodyshell and the materials used, making extensive use of Lexan.
- The 458 Challenge also has a specific set-up thanks to modifications made to its suspensions which now include solid steel racing bushings, stiffer springs, single-rate aluminium dampers, 19’’ centre-lock forged wheel rims, larger Pirelli slicks and a ride height that’s lower by 50 mm.
- New generation CCM2 Brembo brakes are also integrated with the evolved ABS debuted on the 599XX laboratory car.
- Also new is the use of the F1-Trac traction control system. This Ferrari-developed piece of kit continuously estimates grip and uses that information to boost performance.

Two track-specific calibrations were developed with logics and control strategies evolved from the F1 and GT racing worlds and fully integrated with the E-Diff to maximise performance both entering and exiting corners.

The ABS/EBD, E-Diff and F1-Trac calibrations are controlled via a steering wheel-mounted manettino, another first for a Ferrari Challenge-dedicated model. The driver has a choice of 3 settings: OFF position (traction control deactivated), position 1 and position 2. The latter two settings progressively increase the amount of control exerted by the aforementioned systems and can be selected to suit grip conditions. The 458 Challenge also has extraordinary lateral acceleration of 1.6 G when cornering, an essential factor in its superior performance.

The 458 Challenge guarantees the Ferrari Challenge drivers blistering performance and driving pleasure in the spirit of a championship designed to allow clients enjoy themselves and their cars in a professional and exclusive environment.

Ferrari Challenge Series

Established in 1993 and now in its twenty-second year, this year the Ferrari Challenge sees the new 458 Challenge EVO car line up, organized in three series, engaging four regions – Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
The large hospitality area offers all the right facilities and it provides a nerve centre where drivers and the teams can welcome their guests and sponsors in an environment that lives up to their expectations. The facilities are also available to the sponsors of the Challenge, some attracted by the series itself and others who prefer to have a tie-in with specific drivers. They are keen to be associated with a prestige marque and also enjoy the media coverage on TV, radio, print media and Internet. In the Challenge, everything is done to put drivers at their ease, with rules ensuring that Dealers and official preparation companies are the only ones authorised to enter cars. This rule has been in place since the very beginning of the Trofeo and allows for greater transparency in the running of the series, which would not be possible with entries from outside the organisation. Events are often held at prestigious race circuits as part of a special event also run by Ferrari - Ferrari Racing Days - with the exception of a few that are run alongside top international events, such as the very first event staged at the French Le Mans circuit at the legendary 24 Hours meeting.

The classification features the two categories for the Trofeo Pirelli and the Coppa Shell for drivers running the 458 Challenge EVO. 2014 sees a change in the format of the weekend, featuring qualifying 1st session and race 1 on Saturday and qualifying 2nd session and race 2 on Sunday. On Friday testing and free driving sessions will be organized.

At each race, an extra point will be given for pole position, and one for the fastest race lap.
All drivers still face a sporting contest that has always operated at a very high standard, with the races proving to be closely contested from start to finish.

(information pulled from Ferrari.com)


Before

For a few feet the car looked great.



Upon closer inspection we found a lot of paint imperfections. - Swirls, holograms, sand scratches were all visible




















Prep - wash - clay - wheels - tires

The car was just delivered so instead of doing a traditional wash we decided to do use Optimum No Rinse for this one.


After the complete wash was done including wheels, tires, and claying. We moved on to masking the vehicle. (reasons for masking - protect the trim from damage and to reduce the amount of dust getting caked up in crevices and tight spots, reducing clean up)




Compound and Polishing - Paint Correction
Various machines were used to bring the paint back up - Rupes LHR15, Rupes LHR21, Griot's 3 inch DA.
Menzerna FG400 and Sonax Perfect Finish were used to achieve the results that were desired.



50/50 shot of the correction done - more of these in the video


After shots - for the last step Opti Coat was applied













I hope you enjoyed this one as much as we did.

Thanks!

 

Always love to see the staggering before/after shots. Nice work!

What kind of methods were employed to ensure minimal surfacing on this paint? If I understand correctly, the paint is intentionally thin from the factory.

Also, where does this type of pitting come from? Acid rain?

 

Great work as always Phill.
You still have pictures of my G when it was there?

 

I should have them and will post them up as soon as we free up.

 

Outstanding work as always.

 

Nice work Phil - I just purchased some new OZ wheels I need to clean up on my ML. Can you send me a nice package quote for wheel and tire products. I can swing by the shop this weekend. Sonax/Brushes/ Etc.