FERRARI 575M

This beautiful Ferrari 575M was brought to us as a very close perfect car with typically only the paintworks finish, most probably many years of incorrect washing, drying and wiping down, letting it down. Our task was simply to repair the paint with the minimum of overall paint removal. After physically and chemically decontaminating the priority was to assess the severity of the defects and the overall thickness of the paint on each panel as we worked. The limiting factor for safe and sensible repair is always the amount of paint left on a panel and many years of experience have taught us when and when not to go for complete repair, always bearing in mind that the minimum of paint removal for maximum effect is the best option especially on classic, original finishes. All too often do we see cars that have had all of their paint removed by in experienced detailers trying to remove every last defect. Each panel had varying levels and types of defects with the most severe being on the flat surfaces, bonnet, roof and boot lid, very common as these are the areas that are most exposed. Section by section each panel was measured and carefully polished with repair coming in at around 75%-90% with less than 5% overall paint removal, not bad considering we were removing nearly 15 years of damage and leaving plenty of paint for further polishing in years to come.

The roof was very similar to the bonnet in terms of defect and paint thickness..

The boot lid or trunk had less paint and more severe defects so we aimed for big improvements but left any deeper scratches in-situ as they would be barely visible in normal light and we wanted to preserve as much of the original paint as possible.

Both the front and rear bumpers had low levels of paint and showed the importance of having the right tools for the job. One of our thickness gauges is specifically designed to measure over fibre glass or carbon fibre and weighing in at over £2000 the vast majority of detailers we know of do not carry one, simply guessing on the thickness of paint, to us a frightening prospect. These low levels are very common with most manufacturers and would mean that the heavier defects would have to remain. The finish obtained still looked amazing considering less than 2 microns from a total of 60 had been removed.

We made our way around the rest of the car carefully restoring the dull and flat pinkish red finish into an extremely glossy and extremely deep red, the colour and finish that all Ferraris should have.

With the polishing work complete the paintwork looked completely different to when it had arrived and to further enhance its new look a layer of Swissvax's very best wax, Crystal Rock, 76% carnauba wax was applied. This not only added more gloss but would protect the finish should the cars owner decide to use it. Swissvax products were then used for the rest of the exterior and interior surfaces leaving the car as an excellent example of its model and year and a guaranteed future classic.

Thanks for reading

Jonathan