1997 Ferrari 456GT

OK, not in the same league as Ed’s magnificent work on the yellow Ferrari 575, but thought I’d still share this on here as you can never see too many Ferraris!




After working on my friends STi http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=365072


a colleague of his asked if I’d have a go at doing the same to his Ferrari 456GT, obviously it would be a pleasure!


Car in question is a 1997 model in the launch colour of dark blue, current owner has owned the car for the last 5 years. it has covered just over 60,000 miles with the current owner having covered 30,000 of those during those last 5 years.


A lovely car that has been used by the owner and not sat pampered in a heated garage. Having said that, by the owners own admission it hasn’t seen much love in the washing department and probably hadn’t had a proper valet/detail since 2010.


The idea was for me to give it a much needed proper clean inside and out and then try and restore some much needed shine back to the dark blue paintwork, not looking for absolute perfection, but a big improvement.


My car relegated to the driveway while the Ferrari was with me





Before














Gave it a good rinse with the pressure washer and attended to some areas with Auto finesse Citrus Power















Followed this by snow foaming with Auto Finesse Avalanche, while the foam dwelled, I cleaned various areas with an AF brush
















Wheels cleaned with Auto Finesse Imperial wheel cleaner, a bucket of water mixed with Auto Finesse Revolution and various brushes, arches also cleaned and scrubbed.
















Tyres scrubbed with Meguiar's All purpose cleaners and a Chemical Guys stiff brush.







Washed using Dodo juice Basics of Bling shampoo and 2 bucket method, using a Gyeon wash mitt.





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Then onto the decontamination stage, Gyeon Iron used for this, totally covered the car and wheels and seemed to do a great job.












Followed this with AutoFinesse Oblitarate to remove any tar spots





Foamed and rinsed again and into the garage for claying.





I used Gyeon clay and lube for the first time, the lube was great but I found the clay far too hard for my liking and used some AF clay I also had in the cupboard instead.





After the decontamination stage, the paint was fairly clean now, with not a lot coming off the paint at all, the only area that was still pretty bad was the rear bumper, around the exhaust exits.





I also tended to some intricate areas to try and remove any dirt and polish residue
















Now onto polishing and under the lights it became clear that the paint was in pretty poor condition, the drivers door was especially bad :doublesho





















As mentioned, this wasn’t about perfection but a good one stage enhancement to bring the paint back to life.


I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound on a Lake Country Hydrotech polishing pad, this worked well on the worst areas.







I switched to Sonax EX 04-06 on a Hnexlogic orange pad for other areas, really like this, seems to work really well as a single stage and seems to generate much less dust.





Not perfect, but looking a lot lot better








Once the car was finally polished, I took it out and rinsed it down to remove any polishing dust, then back inside for some protection.


Dried off with Metro Blaster side Kick and Auto Finesse drying towel, then wiped down with Gyeon Prep before applying LSP

 

I decided I’d use a wax as it was a dark blue colour, so went with Auto Finesse Essence, topped with Illusion.













Windows then polished with Auto Finesse Vision





Sills polished with Auto Finesse Tripple










Interior wasn’t too bad, although the cream leather was a little dirty. Leather given a good clean with Valet Pro Leather Soap, massaged in with finger tips and then lightly scrubbed with a brush and then rubbed down with a microfibre cloth






















Plenty of dirt came out of the cream leather







Leather then treated with Gyeon Leather Coat, liked this a lot, went on nice and easily and smelt pretty good too.





Interior carpets and mats were cleaned with auto Finesse Total, as were the pedals

 

The gear gate and gear knob gently cleaned with Meguiar’s metal polish









leaving the interior looking pretty good for a 17 year old car
















Exterior plastics and rubber were dressed with Wolf’s Trim Coat













Exhaust tailpipes were cleaned and scrubbed with Auto Finesse Mercury, a toothbrush and some wire wool. I think I needed something a little bit more heavy duty for these and would have liked to get them cleaner still, but they were a big improvement.













Then dressed with Backfire Wet Diamond all metal sealant











Exhaust before





Exhaust after





I only gave the engine a wipe down by hand, the V12 is a work of art and frankly I felt a little too fragile to be blasting away at with a pressure washer! Paint was already flaking from the engine cover, so caution was definitely the order of the day. I did treat it with Auto Finesse Dressle, leaving looking like this


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Wheels sealed with Chemical Guys Wheel Guard





Tyres dressed with CarPro Perl










Arches dressed with Chemical Guys Bare Bones





This beautiful leather tool case was in the boot, this was also wiped down a treated with Gyeon Leather Coat











And finally, a wipe down with Auto Finesse Finale before the owner collected





After shots
































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and my favourite reflection shot







Oh, and an Auto Finesse air freshener to match the yellow prancing horse





Thanks for looking :thumb:

 

Cheers guys

I didn’t drive it, it was surprising low, had trouble getting on and off the driveway! It’s a very long car too, had to reverse it on the drive as the front was bottoming out when trying to come in front ways.


Owner paid 36k for the car 5 years ago and prices have just started creeping up again, it was over 160k when new back in 1997!

 

Thanks for the comments guys, appreciate it.