Hello. I am very actively looking for my dream 550. Recently I have found one that seems to tick all the boxes however paint thikness on B pillars and roof is in my opinion very high and is reaching 800 um. Is it possible that it has original paint? Factory standard is 200 um if I am not mistaken. Thanks for your comments Maciej
Factory standard? Which factory? Certainly not Ferrari. Their paint department in that period was far from state of the art, it was not even state of the art circa 1960. A lot of cars got paint repairs before they left factory grounds and paint and body repairs after shipping were very common. You are not shopping for a Toyota, you are shopping for a Ferrari. A 20 year old one at that.
Thanks. I didn’t know that it was so bad. I am used to older cars and I do own two Porsches from this period and paint is almost equal on every part.
I wouldn't get caught up with paint thickness, Learn to look for signs of an accident and learn to spot poor paint/body work. Like rifle said, may cars were repainted at the factory and also many were resprayed in the states as new due to shipping damage. When I inspect a car for myself, I look at the floor pans for signs of an accident around the rocker areas, I look at the frame structure front and rear for signs of creasing, wrinkles or repair. Then check the paint for a poor job, is the color consistent, are there any poor tape lines or excessive "dry" clear coat areas in jams or edges, any signs of excessive filler, ect.
550 and 575M B-pillars show blend lines due to the way the robotic arms on the Factory paint lines painted the cars.
Exactly. There are a couple spots on the roof that the paint is thick on all the cars. Totally normal. With that said a good Ferrari mechanic can easily tell if the paint is original. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat
This thread, and the OP's comparison with a Porsche, reminds me of a quote from a road test of an Italian car (I forget which, but it obviously must have had genuine wood veneer on the dashboard) from about 45 years ago. The author asked "why is it that the Germans are masters at making plastic look like wood, and the Italians are equally good at making wood look like plastic"?
the factory paint job isnt the best fwihbt, 550/575 are partly painted by "machine" and then finished up by "hand" easier to see on metallic colors but (i have seen on several cars) a "blend" line on the rear quarters btw the two processes
