Such is my determination to win next years "best/cleanest 348" trophy that I am going all out to win and bring that trophy to europe!!!! Dropped off the 348 on monday and thought you guys might be interested in seeing how it goes. The work is being done by Al at Alsa Automotive. He's been doing a few Ferrari's lately and his reputation is growing fast. He'll be sending me regular updates and pictures as he's 200+ miles away. Once he's finished, it will be paint corrected by Dave at Sportscar Protection who will polish it off using the £6,500 Royale Zymol. No...that's not a typo... it really does cost £6,500 for a tub of that stuff. Dave will also be giving the interior leather a going over. Once he's finished with it, the 348 will be going to paintshiled where it will have some protection film put on it. the Scuderia stripe will also be painted on using mettalic colours. So here goes.... Monday... dropped off the car after a 4 hour drive. In teh first picture, you can see the front splitter on the floor. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here's some of the probelms. The front windscreen has a really large crack in it resulting from what looks liek a small stone chip. Recently it's been getting larger and larger. There is rust on some of teh panel edges and lots of blistering on the front and rear bonnets. Something to do with the aluminium. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just received my first set of pictures and information from Al. seebelow. Very impressed with the report and updates. :thumbsup: And no Goth....I'm not going to put a 355 front bumper and doors on it!!! :grin: Front wheelarch liners removed (I presume you were aware that the the r/h lower deflector plate was damaged? I'll repair it anyway), front bumper stripped down & removed, luggage lid & seal removed, headlamp pods removed, wiper arms removed (carefully!!!), side repeater lamps removed, o/s door trim removed, o/s door glass removed, o/s door glass runner removed, o/s door intake panel removed, o/s mirror assy removed, o/s door seal removed, o/s sill kick plate removed & o/s sill removed. I'm going to have the lower bumper locaters (the 2 rusty brackets held on with 2 self tapping screws under the sides of the front bumper) re-made in stainless steel - would you prefer polished or brushed stainless? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's the Optima red top. Very nice battery. There's two internal vents under the windscreen. one of them is slightly scratched and it bothers me. I told Al, i'll be getting a replacement as it's only going to cost a few pounds. Just checked the price....£195 errrr....I think I'll keep the old ones. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually Sy, I can vouch for (as can many other F-chatters) Robbie. He did everything in my 348 (except those vents as they are fine for the time being in my car) and they came back better than the pictures can show. I'm sure Robbie would be glad to give you a quote. Mike
Day 4 Received the following emaul from Al. N/s door stripped down as per o/s. Door strake removed. N/s sill removed. N/s door seal removed. Rear wheelarch liners removed. Rear P/f badges removed. Rear bumper removed. Rear light grille removed. Rear lamps removed. Deck lid grille removed. Deck lid badges removed. "No horrors found you'll be pleased to know. Tomorrow will be the interior trim to allow access to the glass for my windscreen fitter & the rear deck lid, then I can mask off the interior, engine bay & luggage area & begin stripping (as the actress said to the bishop)." Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sy, Don't they look sad when the parts come off??? Great thread... really looking forward to future installments. Mike in Kuwait
It's always so cool to see these babies stripped and new clothes put on them........this will be fun Sy.
Cool thread Sy!! Looking forward to seeing more pics as you get them mate. I hope he isnt taking on TOO many Ferraris at once! I see 3 there now!! Hope he does an EXCELLENT job on them all!
Pap his work is stunning, I is rare to find someone like Al, He genuinely loves his work and second best will not do with him. He has done my Escort RS Cosworth (you can see it in the background on some of Sy photos) the finish is out of this world. Cannot wait for him to start work on my 348
Awesome! Thats great to hear!! Perhaps I shall ship my 348 to him, from Oz to Uk.........when its in need of a respray!
Day 5 Another update. The red 328 belongs to Mark Collins another Fchatter. he's got his own thread at http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223692 where he's posting up pictures as well. It's very interesting to see two cars being worked on at the same time and all the paint related work is being done by one person. Here's what Al says today. Interior trim removed to allow access for glass removal. External 3 piece finisher removed below rear 'screen. Engine deck lid removed. Front apron & both front wings stripped. "The rust that was around the o/s side repeater & suage line was all surface - it had been repaired before, but not very well. I'll spot-blast those areas & the wheelarch lips to remove any remaining corrossion from the minor pitting." Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
How does he remove the paint? "All taken off with an orbital sander with 80 grit sanding discs, on the later stuff with galv bodies I use a soft interface pad on the sander to minimise any damage to the surface galv. All of the plastic, kevlar, GRP & CF stuff is stripped in the same way, but with 180 grit paper as it is less aggressive (though takes a helluva lot longer!) & doesn't 'dig in' to bumper profiles etc. I refuse to use chemical strippers as they are highly corrosive & one can never be absolutely certain that all of the residue is off, also, the manufacturers of these advise that the residue is washed off with water - not the best start to a bare metal respray" I think Al is refering to this bit of rust. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thats crazy.How does a ferrari rust like that, unless you drive it in the winter ??? I personally think that when a ferrari gets new paint, it devalues it big time.
I disagree. For sure a prospective buyer needs to research into cause for the repaint - was it due to an accident damage, etc? Other than that it shouldn't matter much. History is ripe of Ferraris being re-painted (and many cases where different colors were used) based on the whims and likes of the various owners over the life the car. Even ultra valuable classics like 250 GTOs and SWBs have been repainted. Similarly bumpers, sills, etc commonly get repainted due to stone chips - no big deal.
Well, we are only talking about a 348 here!! I wouldnt hesistate buying a 348 that has be repainted. As long as it hasnt been bent, thats another story.
Here's a question for you.... You have the choice between similar 348's. One has had a full back to metal respray by a well known auto painter along with photographs detailing everything that was done and the other 348 still had the original paintwork 15 year old paintwork. Which would you buy? Bear in mind that sometime rust is hidden away. A good example is of the rust found in over the weekend when the windscreen was taken out. More details in my next post Plus, 348/355's are always having the "C" pillars painted due to the paint cracking. Drive it in the rain and in winter???? Not me!!! and I don't do track days either Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Day 6 & 7 Looks like most of the paint has been removed and another bit of rust found. This time by the windscreen aperture. Al says.... Hi Sy, some pics from today. All of the glass is out. As you can see, there is a small patch of surface rust in the o/s corner of the windscreen aperture - no problem to sort. O/s door & rear quarter/buttress stripped. The cars' had one all over repaint previously & the front apron & rear quarter have had another coat at some point. 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
