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This detail came to us at AMDetails through the websites contact us tab. The client was looking to prep his vehicle for the show season. The problem was that his started in just 7 days and the AMDetails diary was pretty full. Luckily after some juggling of the dates, The AMDetails hit bus was packed, B&B booked and off we went on another trip in to the Highlands of Scotland.

2 days we had with this vehicle at the client’s premises. The work was carried out in a car port just in front the clients’ garage which was lucky really as the ‘Fine Scottish Weather’ was upon us of ’4 seasons in one day’.

So here it is Looks fairly clean and shiny?

The client has only ever hand washed and polished this vehicle but was fighting a losing battle due to poor wash technique and product selection. So time to get it restored and teach the client the aftercare required to maintain the Ferrari

Wheels

• Wheels cleaned with AMDetails acid free wheel cleaner & fine hair brushes
• Wheels tar and iron deposits removed
• Wheels faces polished, alloy wheels sealed, tyres dressed

Paint work

Cleaning

• Lower area of vehicle given citrus wash to break down road grime
• Door shuts and boot shuts cleaned with AMDetails APC and brushes
• Rinse
• Whole vehicle snow foamed with AMFoam to loosen and break down dirt deposits
• All the finer details paid attention to with soft hair brushes & AMDetails APC
• Rinse
• 2 bucket method with AMBubbles & AM Genuine Lamb’s Wool ‘T’ Mitt
• Rinse
• Tar and iron deposits removed
• Rinse
• All paint work and windows clayed to remove further contaminations
• Another application of AMFoam
• Full vehicle rinse paying attention to panel gaps and trims
• Vehicle padded dry with AMDetails Fluffy Drying Towel

Preparation

• Full paint work assessment carried out with paint depth gauges
• All delicate areas and trims masked up
• Multistage cutting machine polish to remove the defects
• Single stage refining polish to increase depth, gloss and clarity
• Head & tail lights corrected
• IPA wipe down between each stage
• Vehicle washed with AMFoam
• Full vehicle rinse to remove all polishing dust and residue
• Vehicle dried with AMDetails Fluffy Drying Towel

Protection

• Final IPA wipe down to prepare panels for protection
• Protection applied to vehicle
• Exterior trims dressed and protected
• Chromes polished and protected

Windows

• Windows cleaned inside and out
• Windscreen polished
• Windscreen treated with our water repellent formula

Finish

• Exhaust tip polished
• Final inspection carried out
• Detailing spray wipe down in preparation for customer collection

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Looks fairly clean ?

Polish residue.

General road grime & bugs.

As always we sprayed the vehicle with AMDetails APC whilst it worked its magic we began to tackle the alloys and arches. AMDetails Orange Wheel cleaner was used, sprayed on and left to dwell, then worked in with various 1” detailing brushes and a wheel brush we are testing out before supplying it to our customers. This was then rinsed off to leave reasonably clean alloys ready to be de-tarred, the excess weight glue was removed and alloy faces polished.

We then moved on to a nice coating of AMDetails Mango Snow Foam, whilst it was working its magic. I went around with AMDetails All Purpose Cleaner and a 1” Detailing brush paying attention to all the finer details, panel gaps, door shuts, grills and any areas the wash mitt would not reach.

The door shuts look reasonably clean. Just a little polish residue and the usual dirt.

Well after getting in there with the detailing brush this was what we found.

The dirty residue must be from mechanics hands etc opening up the engine bay. Once all these areas were rinsed down we then moved on to the two bucket method to remove any final pieces of dirt. The two bucket method is my favourite part of the wash process as you get to inspect each little area of the paint work.

With the paint work now starting to look clean we turned to tackling the lovely 400+ bhp V8 of the Modena. As the pictures show the engine bay was quite grubby but only with general road use. No signs of oil leaks or any other nasties.

First of all we started with AMDetails All Purpose Cleaner on a dilution of 1:5 sprayed liberally all over the engine bay and its shuts. We then began to work in the product with some engine dedicated AMDetails 1” Detailing brushes. Once the entire product was agitated and we managed to work it in to all the tight areas we then rinsed the product off with a low pressure wash.

Some tougher staining was left on the drive shaft and rocker covers so we repeated the above process till our desired results were achieved.

Chemical decontamination was next, for this we used Autosmart Tardis. The Ferrari 360 was actually not too bad for tar on the paint work. With only a few noticeable traces found. Most of which were on the alloys and in the rear light cluster. This could be due to a previous de-tarring effort but without as much attention to detail.

Due to the chemical decontamination stages another full rinse was carried out. Next up was the AMDetails Mild Clay Bar.

The Clay Bar Process we like to follow is to half the AMDetails Clay Bar in to 2 small 50g pieces. After carrying out the 2 bucket method we plop the 2 pieces in the wash bucket. This allows them to warm up. Then come clay bar time we remove one chunk. Lubricate the panel and then gently run the clay bar on the panel till the decontamination is removed leaving a silky smooth finish. After each panel or when we feel the clay bar is clogging up we simply fold the clay bar to reveal a clean surface. Once the bar begins to cool down we swap it out for the piece still sat in the wash bucket. This means there is always a usable piece and a piece sat in the wash bucket waiting to be used.

The Ferrari was pretty clean to be fair. The most contaminated areas were the roof and intakes.

After the decontamination stages it was time for one last snow foam of the whole vehicle. This is to help remove any residual lubricants and chemicals that may be left from the decontamination stages on this Ferrari. After allowing it to dwell a full rise was carried out. This time as it is the last rinse, we pay extra attention to gaps and seals to make sure that all dirt and chemical is removed from the bodywork.

The Ferrari was then treated to a pampered drying session with an AMDetails Fluffy Drying Towel.

Once dried, we got the car under cover in the customers’ carport. A full paint work survey was carried out using the paint detective, with healthy readings between 260 and 300 um. I would love to say there was a simple pad and polish combo. So that other Ferrari owners knew what to head for but like many details. Every panel was different. Most were corrected with the full 3M system; others only required a simple hit with Ultrafina.

The problem was the Ferrari had a lot of Random Deep Scratches (RDS) so ideally an extra day would of seen most of these disappear. So we stuck to a swirl removal and gloss enhancement till the whole vehicle was done. Then before refining it down, we would use the remaining time to start tackling some of the more obvious blemishes.

After finally refining down the finish it was time to clean up the mess that is left from cutting compounds and get the Ferrari clean again.

The process was remove the masking tape, spray in snow foam, use detailing brushes to remove residue in door shuts and panel gaps then give a really good rinse. Then the Ferrari was again padded dry with AMDetails Drying Towels. Then given an IPA wipe down to get each panel squeaky clean ready for sealing.

The Protection for the Ferrari 360 was then chosen to be Dodo Juice Orange Crush due to the Ferraris warm red the owner wished to enhance it as far as possible. We also used Dodo Juice Need for Speed to help mask the last of the RDS and prepare the paint work for waxing. Three thin layers of Orange Crush were then applied to seal in the finish.

In between drying times of the Need for Speed and Orange Crush we began to tackle the interior. Which didn’t look to bad on initial inspection, but all that leather needed deep cleaning and conditioning. Plus you will be amazed what dirt and grime a cotton bud can find. The carpets were treated to some AMDetails interior cleaner for a deep clean through the George extractor and then protected with 303 Fabric Guard.

The luggage bay was also given a deep cleaning with various attachments and a good scrubbing with AMDetails interior cleaner before the plastics got treated to 303 Aerospace Protectant and again the carpets with 303 Fabric Guard.

The Ferrari tool kits and fire bottle were also removed to be leather conditioned and cleaned. After all it is about the finer details. After cleaning them they made a huge difference to the appearance of the car.

The last finishing touches were to seal the alloys, treat the tyres, polish the exhaust tips and then begin on dressing the engine in 303 Aerospace Protectant, hand polishing the engine bay panels with Need for Speed and use the dual action polisher (DA) to polish the exhaust with metal polish. After a final inspection the customer and I, these were the finishing shots.

Thank you for reading

AMDetails Team