Nero Mondial Cab: Classic Ferrari Detailing in Michigan

[MarcHarris]

Classic cars pose various challenges for detailers and owners alike. Proper maintenance means the car will hold value, and potentially appreciate, better than other vehicles of its make and model. Subsequently, vehicles not properly cared for may actually lose value.
While many people have grown to understand paint care and have a decent understanding of some "do`s" and "do not`s" with touching their paint, washing it, and applying wax, one area that still has a long way to go is proper leather care. This particular 1983 Nero Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet had both paint and leather issues that would need to be addressed.



We started off as we usually do: removing the license plate which allowed thorough cleaning behind the plate bracket.



Next, we addressed the door handles. A light bit of cleaning can make these classy and beautiful door handles look truly proper.



The wheels weren`t horrible, but certainly could use a thorough cleaning.








Using various size brushes, the wheel faces, lug nut cut-outs, and inside of the wheels were cared for; leaving the wheels completely clean and truly in mint condition.






A condition we`ve found to be present on many cars lately is heavy build-up of dressings, leaving the tires nasty looking. Tim used a Tuf Shine tire brush with Optimum Power Clean to thoroughly scrub the tires.








Pre-treatment of old residue, to include wax build-up, was a real issue on a classic Ferrari like this. P21S Total Auto Wash combined with a soft brush allowed for thorough agitation.








A foam bath allows for plenty of cleaning and lubricating agents to be applied to the paint work. This helps to break down dirt and grime while making the wash process a bit more gentle; lowering risk to the vehicle`s surface.





After being carefully washed, the Mondial was dried with microfiber towels and an electric leaf blower, then pulled back into the garage where we could give attention to other aspects of the vehicle.

One of the biggest issues with this particular car was significant build-up on the leather. While not an unusual problem, cars with 20k miles don`t normally look this bad. An issue with many exotic cars like the Ferrari is giving the car too much attention. Too many wipe-downs mean the paint has a large amount of scratches and swirls. Too many sloppy waxing sessions and you have wax build up on panel edges, around emblems, and on trim. And finally, many owners want to make sure they continously "treat" the leather with "conditioning" products which actually make the leather wear out faster. This Ferrari Mondial doesn`t have semi-aniline leather like I`ve seen on some newer Ferraris, but rather has fully coated leather (like the overwhelming majority of automotive leather is). The actual leather surface has a urethane coating over it to help protect it from wear. By using bogus "leather care" products, residue builds up on the surface which attracts additional dirt and grime, making the leather wear, crease, tear, rip, and fail much quicker.

Take a look at the large amount of shine and gloss on the seats. These seats should have a silky / sheen look, NOT a glossy appearance.



Pay special attention to the seat bottoms, where cracks and creases have started to form.




The first step to treat these seats was to completely remove all dirt, grime, oils, sweat, and old product build-up. Leather Master Strong Cleaner was used with toothbrushes to thoroughly clean every square inch.










Residue was wiped off with a soft clean microfiber towel.



The difference was remarkable!









Even the seat bottoms responded well to a thorough and proper cleaning.






With the leather purged of the unusually large amount of build up, the surface looked and felt MUCH better. The leather had a subtle sheen and truly looked like new. Still, we weren`t finished. An ultra thin coat of Leather Master Vital was applied to the hides, and over a day later, Leather Master Protection Cream was applied. While Vital is designed to give a softer feel and more uniform look to the surface, Protection Cream is a water-based product made for protecting leather much like wax protects paint; by being a sacrificial barrier to contamination and potential damage. The product makes the surface less "grabby" so that wear is lowered on the urethane coating, and the Protection Cream acts as a breathable (to the leather) barrier to contamination.

The following pictures shows me applying a thin layer of Vital which would dry and matte down.

[MarcHarris]

Finally done, the twenty-eight year old seats were in much better condition.





Five hours of cleaning was well worth the outstanding results.

The next step we took was caring for the cloth soft top. Spot cleaning was first done on any areas that needed it...




Followed by a thorough vacuuming of the surface with a soft brush attachment. The amout of light dust and dirt lifted was surprising.








Finally RaggTopp Protectant was used to treat the cloth.




With the top finished, we could move onto taping off delicate trim and exposed edges that could potentially be harmed from the edge of a polishing pad. By far, taping is the cheapest insurance you can offer any vehicle new or old. No detailer`s ego should be larger than the thought of making a costly mistake of subjecting an owner`s vehicle to damage.
With paint thickness measured and carefully assessed, the hardships laid out before us were very apparent: thin spots, areas that were repainted (still in single-stage black), burned edges (especially on the front louvers and on a door edge), heavy swirling, and evidence of rotary polishing with a contaminated pad. Not good. We`d need to be on top of our game while maintaining a high level of concentration and attention to detail to bring the best out of this 28 year old lady.


The ultra soft single-stage enamel paintwork was very outgoing and expressive. If you failed to remove defects, she was the first to let you know as nothing was concealed against the sea of black. Failure to finish down properly would be immediately pointed out, while other paints I`ve worked on required more lighting sources from different angles. At the same time, if you massaged her skin the right way, she would shape back up in the exact manner that was the end goal.
This paint`s original condition reminded me of cars in Afghanistan.



A thorough pass of Meguiar`s 105 on a Surbuf pad acted as a true compounding step. The soft paint was quickly releveled leaving the finish with a uniform "haze" which are actually ultra tiny DA marks in all directions. This was exactly what we wanted after the first step.





50/50 of the first two steps, with two more refining steps remaining to bring out absolute clarity.



Zoomed in:



Another angle:





We were able to remove one horrible defect most likely caused by the use of a rotary polisher with a dirty pad. With uniform circular type deep scratches, you can see that the lower left (where the half circles all touch) has an apex that was likely a pivot point created when the "other guy" moved the machine in an arching manner.



Three polishing steps later:




With the deep scratches completely gone, the paint would only need refining to look proper. Still, at every point we carefully reassessed the finish to ensure all was going to plan, taking more thickness readings, and constantly evaluating our work.
We are always our own worst critics.






Following the use of 105 and a Surbuf pad, we further worked the paint with D300 on a microfiber pad. This combination removed more defects and left a more refined finish than using 105 alone. After alcohol and glass cleaner wipe-downs to remove polishing oils, we could properly assess the finish which was beginning to take form. This important step insures that "what you see is what you get" as you`re looking at the actual paint finish, not a finish being concealed by oils. When we look at the finish and no longer see swirls, scratches, and other defects, we then know they`re truly gone, having been completely removed.







Black paint residue was turning our white microfiber towels black.



...and turning my hand black too!



Polishing the louvers took patience, but Tim conquered them by hand: a tiring feat!

[MarcHarris]

The true beauty was revealed after the next two steps: Meguiar`s 205 and 3M Ultrafine Machine Polish.



The front fender is refined, the hazy door panel is not:




With machine polishing completed, we moved onto our last wash process. This final wash is a vital step for us as a way to oust the car`s surface and crevices of polishing dust, paint residue that was removed, and polishing oils that were still on the surface.



Rainbow colors from polish residue:




After the final wash and blow dry, the windows and trim were cleaned and treated with Klasse All In One.





Beautiful door handle now perfectly clean:



With a setting sun and a recently applied carnauba wax still releasing solvents, getting great after shots was an issue; but we tried anyway.



With the sun low in the sky, the light is hitting the perfect angle to see the slight difference in color from the repainted driver`s front fender.




Now the classic Ferrari had mint wheels and beautiful silky black tires. Optimum Tire Shine is our go-to tire dressing on black cars for a reason!









The very last step for us was to capture the beauty that this twenty-eight year old lady possesed. To do so, we were lucky enough to bring in the incredibly talented Matt Trombley. He`s well connected in the SE Michigan car scene having done photography work for places like the Ice Nine Group, which specializes in custom automotive work like frabrication, painting, and transportation. Aside from a recently finished Ducati 1098, my favorite work Matt shot for them was this Camaro:




Matt has also done a lot of work with talented artist Josh Welton, who is the man behind Detroit`s Brown Dog Welding; a company known for their custom metal crafting. While many auto enthusiasts have had Josh frabricate a replica bike or car that they own (or dream of owning) out of nuts and bolts, he`s also made pets, wine racks, belt buckles, and other pieces owners love to show-off.




Inclimate weather lead to one reschedule for the photoshoot, but in the end, it was all worth it and Matt was able to get some killer pictures.




















Thanks for taking a look and reading through the transformation!
-Marc, Tim, and guest photographer Matt

[C. Charles Hahn]

Another amazing transformation from the crew at AutoLAVISH! Excellent work as always guys.

[RaskyR1]

Top notch work and write up, just as always Marc! Those leather seats we pretty cool looking! Weird seeing 1st gear in that shift pattern too!

[Concours.John]

Awesome work! Great attention to detail!

[AndrewBigA]

very nice work & nice pics as always. good to see im not the only one that likes to finish off with 3M UF. when used the right way its the tits! nice work fellas!

[Todd@RUPES]

Marc that is INCREDIBLE work. Seriously amazing amigo, that looks amazing! I am in awe of your work!

[Fast Eddie]

Unbelievable work and excellent write up. Great job.

[Old Pirate]

Always a pleasure to see you`re all work here at AF. Awesome finish on the Mondial!

[Eric_Witt]

Great work Marc and Mystery man helping him? BTW who is the new guy and how is Jacob doing?


Are you going to be at SEMA this year?

[polisher]

nice..u guys are pro

[Pats300zx]

Beautiful work Marc...

[juliom2]

What a Beautiful car...Amaizing work restoring those fine lines!!!!!!
Pictures are dead on....
Great Job!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!

[MarcHarris]

Another amazing transformation from the crew at AutoLAVISH! Excellent work as always guys.

Charlie you`re the man! Thanks again for selling me some 101

Top notch work and write up, just as always Marc! Those leather seats we pretty cool looking! Weird seeing 1st gear in that shift pattern too!

Chad what`s happening man. The seats were REAL bad and the owner was thrilled.

Awesome work! Great attention to detail!

Thank you John!

very nice work & nice pics as always. good to see im not the only one that likes to finish off with 3M UF. when used the right way its the tits! nice work fellas!

I still love Ultrafine Machine Polish. Between it and 85rd/106fa, I feel I can finish down fine on anything. Especially with a DA.

Marc that is INCREDIBLE work. Seriously amazing amigo, that looks amazing! I am in awe of your work!

Much appreciated. Time for me to start posting more now that I`m not swamped! Before I start making new posts, I better get to my old ones!