I am giving the 348 its first full cleaning. I am a little nervous being that the car is black and looks flawless. I know this type of a thread has been beat to death but I would like the local crew's opinion. What is the best method to wash and dry your car? I heard a left blower and shammy to dry it and two to three buckets to rinse. What products do you use? How about the engine bay? Leather conditioner ect? Bascially how do you do it and what products do you do it with. I would really appreciate any info. Thanks, Mike
I'm gonna take crap for this... but oh well... I get my cars professionally detailed once or twice a year. They remove swirls, add wax, etc. The rest of the year? I drive through brushless car washes! No joke! Steve
Not yet. I had it professionally detailed the week it arrived. It might be too low to make it through the automated washes, tho... hmm... Maybe I'll just have to drive fast in the rain and have friends squirt soap at me as I drive by. Any volunteers?
I've been using the Mr Clean Autodry system since it came out. Very quick and easy. A quick drive around the neighborhood will do the same job as a leaf blower and will also get the brake rotors clean. Griot's Speedshine to keep the car clean between washes. Meguiar's NXT wax when it's needed. Griot's leather products are good. Yes, black cars are are a pain.
I've got a couple of squirt bottles filled with diluted Meguiar's soap. Someone could "dual-wield" the bottles out of my car window. Quality cleaning time with the F40 is probably a better bet.
Thanks for the imput. The car had been fully detailed right before I bought it. After that fiasco with the first engine out it had in Oct 04, Tonkin GT then re-did the major and fully detailed her for me. They said considering the bill I was paying they would throw in a full detail job. Probally standard procedure for a Ferrari dealer but I thought it was pretty cool of them. I plan on paying for professional detail maybe once every three months or so?? Mike "Better clean than dirty"
A lot of us owners enjoy detailing our cars ourselves. Its therapy. There is lots of info on how to do the various tasks. Those of us who own black cars may be a bit masochistic, but the fun is getting the swirl marks out of a black car. Plan on having the nose repainted every 15K miles to correct rock chips otherwise do the detail yourself if you have the time - everybody has the time if they don't watch TV (Desperate Housewives excluded from this comment).
After re-reading my own post it gives you the impression I never wanbt to detail my car myself. I actual love to shine her up. A pro detail job is much nicer than my wax job. For some reason, everytime I wax a vehicle it is never perfect enough. Poor Technique, Mike
You need to ask Spasso about detailing engine compartments. He wrote up a thread about it in great detail. Of course it was for a 308 not a 348 but I would imagine it's much the same. You could damn near eat off of his.
Glad YOU call it fun!!!!! I can barely find time to wash the SOB! Guess that's why I like driving it in the rain.....good excuse!!!! Due for the detail though. BIG time. Not to mention the front end repaint! I think Steve has it nailed on the head though with the normal wash/wax through the year with a once or twice a year detail.....good rules to live by!!! Otherwise go sign up for Griot's private car wash session and learn how to do it from the pros - Definitely want to be there though when (if) the F40 ever makes it through the brushless!!!!!
Okay, Here is a little write-up I did. It was mostly aimed at the corroded aluminum on my engine. The Simple Green is great for removing grease and oils from painted surfaces without stripping it like solvents do. I did the entire suspension, pan and engine bay with this stuff. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I bought my 308 it was obvious the previous owners didn't know how to clean or detail the engine bay, or just didn't care. Upon purchase there were dark stains from gasoline and oil as well as a layer of dirt on everything. As customary with every car I buy I put it on jack stands two feet off of the floor. I pulled the plug wires and blocked off the Spark plug wells with black rubber corks purchased at the hardware store. Bagged the plug wires and caps in plastic. Tape off the tops of the carbs with duct tape. Here is how it went from here. 1.Spray down the engine bay, engine, transaxle and rear hubs with Simple Green and let it soak overnight. 2.Spray off the Simple Green with a pressure washer or high powered spray, (as required). 3. Blow dry with compressed air. 4. Spray down the 'Rough Cast' aluminum with NAPA brand Aluminum Brightener, part number 765-1458. For use on all machine finished, open pore cast aluminum.. WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND A RESPIRATOR! The active ingredients are Hydrofluoric Acid and Suluric Acid. Follow the instructions. It sizzles when applied! DO NOT spray on polished aluminum like the timing covers. I sprayed the carbs down and it didn't seen to matter. 5. Hand scrub with brass bristle brushes as required to remove stains and corrosion. 6. Rinse with hot water and blow dry. Be sure to flush behind the timing covers to remove any particle matter from the belts and sprockets. NOTE; I removed the rear timing cover to inspect cleanliness after flushing and all was well. 7. Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 as required. 8. Buff the cam covers and any other accessible areas with a rotary wire wheel to bring up the shine. Use light pressure and control the direction to achieve consistency in the shine. You can use a drill motor and assortment of wire wheel buffers. 9. Wipe down and scrub everything with lacquer thinner, a clean wire brush and a rag. 10. Blow down with air. 11. Spray with high heat clear. Use Diamond Clear from Eastwood Restoration. It's good to 300 degrees. No Yellowing or cracking. 12. I also did the bottom of the engine, CV joints, rear spindle housings and the rear heat shield. There has been no deterioration in 2000 miles. It's alot of work but clean up only requires a light misting and blow down before a drive or a show. P.S. For the timing covers I used Mothers Mag Polish Cream. DJ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING It has been brought to my attention by numerous sources that application of Simple Green to aluminum alloys is harmful to the finish of the alloy. Examples given included alloy wheels. I personally have not had the experiences exchanged in the following link. I believe the reason for this is because I was using the Simple Green on aluminum alloys that were DIRTY, OILY AND CORRODED to begin with. I was also using the Simple Green on 'open pore' castings (NON-POLISHED). This may be the difference.See the link below, http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5074 Thanks to the input and advice of other Fcar owners I am hoping that nobody out there has had any bad results cleaning their engines using the method I have described. My last thoughts on this is, find a part or hidden place on your car to try this method on. If you like the results, great, if not then hopefully there was no real harm done. DJ 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
Your engine bay is a thing of beauty! Thanks for the helpful hints and procedures. Those pics are great. Your motor shines more than my wheels! Mine does appear to have been detailed recently as there is no grease, oil, gas, just a little dust. I just want to keep up on it properly. I do need to go buy some jacks to keep the undercarriage fairly clean and maintainence reasons. Mike "Clear Day here in Portland tomorrow"
Unbelievable..you could eat off DJ's motor. Boy sure setting the standard high. I just went out after a full 3 hrs of cleaning and it looks nothing like that! Mike
Unbelievable..you could eat off DJ's motor. Boy sure setting the standard high. I just went out after a full 3 hrs of cleaning and it looks nothing like that! I went for a great country drive today way back in the woods of West Linn & Estacada, Or. Sure love that car! Mike
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