Thanks for the kind words everyone. It's very much appreciated. He's read this thread and he gets a bit embarresed about it. A very nice chap and a total gentleman. Nothing is too much hassle for him. Don't I know it!!! I bet I get a stonechip on the way home. One of the original reasons for not wanting the straight black was that it's harder to look after than the metallic black. After Al's finished everything, my friend Dave who's a professional detailer will be coming over to finish the car off. He reckons it will take him 2 to 4 days to do. He's going to machine polish the car and them apply the Zymol Royale ($8,000 for the pot of wax!!!). He's also going to redye/clean/condition the leather interior. Once finished, I drive the car 200 miles back to my home. Dave's coming round and will give it a wax top up and show me how to use a machine polisher to apply the wax and what to do to prevent swrl marks. Basically, he's going to teach me how to look after the paintwork. I've got a pot of the vintage zymol, so will use that. I'm hoping to add 10 coats of it over 10 days so as to build up a strong layer of the stuff. Well...that's the plan anyway.
Fortunatly, I work from home. Covering the 348 in zymol by hand takes me 90 minutes. With a machine polish, it should only take me 45 minutes. As I'll be doing it every day, I won't be driving the car and it will stay covered in my garage. So no washing etc. Just cover off, wax, cover on, wax, cover off, wax etc
Sy: That is magnificent! There is absolutely NO color that looks better than black when it is a perfect, show-quality paint job. One thing though, do you really want to have a carnauba-based wax put on the car so soon? I think that Zymol Royale is approximately 35% virgin, white carnauba wax by volume. There is usually solvent evaporation for up to 7-10 days, before the paint is completely "cured". Talk to Al about it.
About the wax. I have heard that you should not wax a car until at least a month has gone buy. The reason being is so that all the chemical drying agents in the paint can fully evaporate. Now I don't know how true or untrue this is but I just though I would share that with you. I'm sure the gentleman doing the bang up job on your paint can fill you in better on that than I can.
Sy, just finished up your defrost vents - I will post them to Alun tomorrow--they turned out great!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Awesome Robbie!!!! Very impressed. I'll be sending you the other bits towards the end of the year. Thanks very much. You've saved me a load of $$$$$.
All paint needs time to CURE... you need to determine the amount, usually 30 days depending the millage and the # of coats... I would not wax it until spring (since it will be inside the whole time anyway) Even if the enamel is baked on it still needs a curing period before the wax... You better check with Al and then check the paint cans clear and black and add all the times to cure together... You don't want to ruin a great job by being nuts here...
Day 30 Rockys nearly ready now. Two friends of mine, Hazy and Jules will be visiting Al on Saturday so I'm sure they'll report back on how it looks. Al says..... "Polishing finished. New door check straps fitted" Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For a while now, the drivers door made a loud clicking noise when I opened it. This was due to a broken screw in the door strap. It wasn't an easy fix so I left it as it was. Until a few montsh ago when the door pin on the drivers door broke. I had to do a temprary fix by putting in a "L" shaped bolt. See picture below. As Al was going to respray it, I purchased two two new straps for both doors. Hence the new door straps. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Day 30 - continued Additional pictures received from Al. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Absolutley beautiful. I can't help but only see what the rest of Al's shop looks like... CAN YOU SAY MIRROR FINISH!
Here's a glimpse. He's made space there today for yet another Ferrari He'll be working on all 4 cars by himself !!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Day 31 It's all coming together. The cars looking awesome now. Al says........... "Door shuts satin black. ID plate fitted (with the correct anodised black rivets!) Doors blocked down, polished, fitted & aligned." looks like I was a bit premature with my response. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
