http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/ferrari-355-gts-mini-restoration-detail/ My 15 minutes of fame. Actually I guess it's my 355's 15 minutes. I am amazed by the transformation of this car. These guys did a great job. Geno
This is a guy's romance novel, and I read every word. A conspiracy theorist would say "that's a different car!" In a way, he'd be right.
Geno looks great - I'm glad you went out and bought that beauty. You ready to sell it yet? Just sold my spider....in withdrawl.
15 minutes of fame at a heavy expense I would imagine. Fantastic job though! Well if you ever feared getting it dirty before, now you definitely will
AWESOME pics Geno! You did an amazing job mate!! Wanna come past and perform a 'mini resto' on my 348 for me please?
I saw this this morning. Looks very nice! Can I ask what you or he did to get the interior parts back to nearly new finish? Thanks
Absolutely Fantastic! Were there any tiny chips in the front area that had to be touched up and how were those done? Were your shields metal or vinyl and were they easy to remove without damaging the paint? Great to see all the products that were used and the links to them!
Thanks Ron! As with most cars that get driven, there were plenty of chips. Once they accumulate to a large extent, you either just accept them, or have the front section (usually the bumper) re-painted. If you have just a few, you fill them in with touch up paint, lightly sand them down, and re-polish the area(s). If I remember correctly, those shields were metal (355 owners please correct me if I'm wrong here). Just use a heat gun to soften up the adhesive and pull them off. From there you just need to use an adhesive remover to carefully remove the residue. Keep in mind that if you do this, you'll most likely see an outline where it used to be and would want to have the car polished to blend it in. I hope this helps.
Clearly that car would have been one that most would have advised to run away from, in it original state. Now it LOOKS pristine. Although i cant help but think that the cars life,servicing and mechanicals may have also been as abused as the topside and inside. Clearly a turd can be polished if this was the case I was also reading that the car had some buffer-burned edges. How could this be possibly be dealt with?
Thanks Todd! I have just a few tiny chips in front and I have vinyl shields that I'm thinking of replacing with metal ones. Once I build up some courage, I'll try and tackle both. I guess the worst that can happen is I'll have to fly you over to Honolulu to fix my mistake!
Ron, as Todd recommended use a heat gun on a low setting to soften the adhesive. However, instead of trying to pull them off (which, if they slip, can chip the paint), use a section of reasonably heavy monofilament fishing line behind the shield in a slow back-and-forth sawing motion. In addition, Griot's Garage sells an adhesive remover that's great. It won't harm the paint or interior material (if you use it to remove inspection, registration sticker adhesive) and it doesn't leave any residue. Todd: All I can say is you are a true professional. Absolutely AMAZING work. I've never seen anybody remove, and 3M Painter's Tape the rear bonnet before in a buffing job. Kudos. Now, if you were just located in the San Antonio area.
