Tiny Paint Nicks | FerrariChat

Tiny Paint Nicks

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by JoeG54, Nov 6, 2005.

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  1. JoeG54

    JoeG54 Karting

    Aug 24, 2004
    183
    Bay Area, CA
    Full Name:
    Joe G
    This is going to sound like a dumb question.

    I've noticed that sometimes, after a drive, there are a lot of tiny little paint nicks -- on the hood primarily, and high up near the windshield as well -- of my 355. This isn't the case with my other cars, e.g. my Boxster. I'm driving on "normal" roads, i.e. ones not any more full of little pebbles than a "typical" road.

    Does anyone else have the same experience? Is it because the 355 is so low to the ground? (Although, I don't have the same problem with the Boxster, which is almost as low to the ground.) Is there something about the Ferrari paint that makes it softer than other automotive paints? Am I perhaps following too closely the car in front of me -- although I'm definitely not so close so as to be unsafe. Could it be that because the Ferrari is very low to the ground, it's necessary to stay far, far behind any car in front of me?

    This is going to be a real pain to fix with PaintScratch, given the number and the "pinprick" size of the nicks. Even though they are tiny, they are easily seen because the primer underneath appears to be white.

    This past drive (today) I also noticed what appear to be a lot of similar, tiny "nicks" in the windshield. How does one deal with these? Can they be polished out? Is this typical?

    I'm kinda perplexed about this -- I certainly don't remember being "sprayed" with pebbles by a car in front of me. Am I missing something obvious? I don't remember anyone saying that they need to get the hood resprayed regularly. (I do know that periodic respraying of the front bumper is sometimes required.)

    Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks very much,

    Joe
     
  2. VROOM!!!

    VROOM!!! Formula 3

    Feb 11, 2004
    2,495
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Armen
    Welcome to the Ferrari world.... all driven ferrari's will get some road chips every now and then or after a long drive, thats just the way it is. One option you have is to repaint the damaged area, and put a clear bra on the car.... That's basically a big clear plastic thing that they install onto your car so that road chips dont damage your car. The other option is just to repaint the bumper every few years.
     
  3. VROOM!!!

    VROOM!!! Formula 3

    Feb 11, 2004
    2,495
    Los Angeles
    Full Name:
    Armen
  4. JoeG54

    JoeG54 Karting

    Aug 24, 2004
    183
    Bay Area, CA
    Full Name:
    Joe G
    Armen and Rachane:

    Thanks very much for your comments, and suggestions. I do realize that nicks are part of the driving experience. But I've never seen as many nicks on any other car I've driven (again, most of them are tiny pinprick-sized nicks, and some are well high up on the hood, near the windshield, i.e. far away from the bumper).

    And, I don't remember being "sprayed with pebbles" by a car in front of me. So, I'm wondering if the fact that the Ferrari is much lower to the ground makes it more susceptible to these kinds of nicks. (Although I don't see this problem with the Boxster.) This would suggest that it's even more important to keep a good distance behind cars in front of me.

    Thanks,

    Joe
     
  5. 911Fan

    911Fan Formula 3

    Apr 15, 2004
    1,294
    Southern California
  6. Evan.Fiorentino

    Evan.Fiorentino F1 Rookie

    Aug 23, 2005
    2,854
    South East Florida
    Full Name:
    Evan
    Are you sure they are not bugs because that happens to my dad and i all of the time in the vette and they have fooled me a number of times.
     
  7. Boxer12

    Boxer12 Formula 3

    Jun 1, 2003
    1,672
    Langka does the trick. Maybe your boxer has a really good coat of paint on it, a thicker coat of paint. Very likely, esp if a repaint.
     
  8. SrfCity

    SrfCity F1 World Champ

    The reason for the chips is the bumper is a fiberglass underneath and there is no flex. Stones/rocks just cause damage and chips. On the Porsche the bumper flexes and stones will bounce off. If you don't want to go the bra route you can either respray or touch up. Either way it's kind of a hassle. Almost all stone chips are caused from freeway driving so it's important to stay back if you want to minimize them.
     
  9. mw575

    mw575 F1 Rookie

    May 30, 2001
    2,924
    Lake Oswego,Or
    Full Name:
    Martin J Weiner,M.D.
    Ferrari paint is tres thin.
     
  10. cwwhk

    cwwhk Formula 3

    Nov 13, 2003
    1,535
    Hong Kong, Tokyo
    Full Name:
    Wayne
    In my experience Ferrari paint is very fragile compared to all other cars. Leave the SLK and Mini Cooper out in the sun with minimal care and they still look new after 3 years. Keep the Ferraris garaged and waxed often, but still they look worse for wear in the same amount of time.

    As for stone chips, they seem to appear even if you just breath on the paint job. One day I got so fed up trying to polish & wax the 550 to make it look better, I ended up just sending the car for a complete re-spray. Drove it very little afterwards and paint looked very good until the first time bird pooped on it. And guess what, that left marks as if the paint had started to melt. It took me half an hour with pre-wax cleaner to polish out the marks. So the cycle of premature paint degradation starts all over again.

    My conclusion is that PPG paint sucks big time.
     
  11. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,958
    MD and NE
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    Did this last week on 2 chips--worked great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  12. Mike C

    Mike C F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Aug 3, 2002
    6,081
    Southeast USA
    Full Name:
    Mike Charness
    If you use THIS LINK for Langka they'll make a donation to the Ferrari Club (FCA) as a portion of anything you buy... they're an FCA sponsor.
     
  13. paulie_b

    paulie_b F1 Veteran
    Consultant Owner

    Jan 13, 2003
    6,842
    Jupiter, FL
    Full Name:
    Paul Bianco
    for very small spots, use a wooden tooth pick.
     
  14. 285ferrari

    285ferrari Two Time F1 World Champ
    Sponsor

    Sep 11, 2004
    20,958
    MD and NE
    Full Name:
    Robbie
    That is what I used---just dip it right in the paint
     
  15. Bullfighter

    Bullfighter Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jan 26, 2005
    22,596
    Gates Mills, Ohio
    Full Name:
    Jon
    Funny, my '98 SLK had water-based paint and got stone tears (not just chips) after freeway driving. The paint was ripped like someone took a knife to vinyl. I ended up keeping the car off the freeway except in limited situations, and then selling it out of disgust with the paint deterioration. My 911 was better, but it was also black which is easy to color match and touch up. The SLK was silver metallic - ugh.

    And yes, in our SUV world a 355 would be tire height to whatever is ahead of you. Ditto the 348, 328, 308... I don't know of many older Ferrari's that haven't had a nose respray. It's almost an expected expense for freeway driving.

    Construction zones are notoriously bad. Here in San Diego our freeways are being torn up and widened all the time, with all the hard sediment flying off flatbed trucks, dump trucks, etc., that you hit at 70+ mph. You can save yourself a lot of grief, and a few windshields, by avoiding entirely interstates under construction.

    My low-stress solution - and it kind of isn't one, except psychologically - is to lease my daily driver (was BMW, now Jeep), let it get sandblasted to hell on the freeway, and turn it in every 3 years. If I had a car as nice as your 355, I'd drive it on back roads, or put the 3M-type clear film (different brands, I'm not endorsing this one) on the bumper.
     

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