348 DIY "Restoration"

[irarref]

As some of you know I recently bought "348 KYD" from the Isle of Man so I thought I thought I'd show you what I've been up to.

http://www.clubscuderia.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?45221-Anyone-know-348-KYD&highlight=kyd

First thing I like to do when I get a car is to give it a thorough clean so I can get to know it and find out all the little niggles that need fixing.

After giving the car a regular wash I wanted to get the car scrupulously clean so using a product called Iron-X that removes bonded contraminants I covered the car





After a few minutes any iron based contaminants start turning purple - you can just about make them out in this pic



Just to jolly things along I used a small brush to agitate the product especially around the badges and the grill louvres





Once its done its work just rinse off with water and you should have a pretty clean car

 

[irarref]

After decontaminating I clay barred the car using a Bilt Hamber mdium clay bar with some megs last touch as the lubricant (you can use water but I find it easier wiith last touch)

Left me with one very dirty clay bar

 

[irarref]

Now that the car was free of metal bonded contaminants I next clay barred it using a Bilt Hamber medium clay bar and some megs last touch as the lubricant (you can use water but I prefer the megs)

 

[irarref]

After the car was clay barred I started machine polishing it with some 3M fast cut followed by a lighter cut (more pics and details when the car is all done). However, after doing the bonnet what really let it down was the air intake grill looking a bit faded



First of all I used panel wipe from the local paint factors to get rid of any polish etc then used G-Techniq permanant trim restorer applied with cotton buds (very boring) to wipe over each little vent - cant recommend this stuff highly enough (despite its high price) as it lasts over a year and leaves plastic like new. In a couple of days Ill be doing something else to it too to make it really black! ;-')

 

[irarref]

The front grill area was looking a little worse for wear as the actual grill was faded and the black behind it was stone chipped.



My preferred metal polish is Belgom which I used in conjunction with an electric toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies



After a few secs the polish goes grey as it attacks the dirt



I'd got some paint mixed at a paint factors rather than get a touch up pen - that way you can spray just enough into the cap - let it go off a bit then use a small brush/tooth pic/cotton bud to paint blobs on chips etc



Offending chip that got "blobbed"



Any chips on the black backgrouns were blobbed with some matt black engine paint which is ideal for small black touch ups as it blends perfectly and you cant see where its been painted. The grill wa treated to the G_Techniq permant trim restorer and then screwed back in place - so you dont lose the screw I put a smidgeon of tape round it and then as soon as it grips you can pull it away and discard the tape.



The covers at the side of the lights were painted with same paint and to save removing them a piece of paper can easily be slid between the light and bodywork and then the cover painted.



All done and now looking like new Just got to sort the lights out and touch up all the stone chips on the bumper

 

[irarref]

And now to the back. Despite a good wash the lights looked dirty through the grill so I took out the 2 screws at each end of the grill plus the 2 in the middle and took the grill off.

After wiping most of the dirt off with panel wipe I then machine polished the lights using maguires plastix-X. You can see the difference between the lens closest to the camera (uncleaned) and the one furthest away after a polish. The reversing lamps are particularly noticeable.



Close up of the polished lense




The screws were grotty on mine and so I bought a pack of replacements from Halfords (slightly cheaper than Ferrari!!)



As you can see identical



And in place



Again trim was treated to G-Techniq before all being reassembled

I'm most probably going to revisit this area to do the blacking properly as not happy with it at moment.

 

[jos]

Can I have my toothbrush back please :grin:

 

[Scott_360M_F1]

Car looks good with the 360 alloys

 

[philworrall]

I can only see the last two photos

P

 

[jos]

Will all this fine work include levelling the front number plate ?

 

[irarref]

LOL at the numberplate - Ive actually bought a personal reg for it so I'm going to sort that out when i put the new plates on.

Som eof the other pats of the trim were dull





Ive actually used some mcGuiars endurance tire gel which if you put on and allow to dry then wipe off any excess gives a really nice satin black effect

 

[irarref]

Just done the top half of the car on the passenger side with a machine polisher and it looks like it will come up quite well

 

[Greg]

I can only see the last two photos

P

Yep me too! I just get a white box with a small red cross in the corner...

 

[irarref]

Can you see this?

 

[Nosevi]

Hi mate, can see all the pics myself. Looks like she'll come up looking really nice. Is this an external refresh or will you be working on the interior too?

 

[irarref]

Everything! LOL

I have already started the inside too but Ill put pics up when Ive made a bit more progress. Also intending to service it etc as well but again nothing to shout about as yet - just bought a new tax disc holder, replaced the wiper blades and popped in a can of injector cleaner. My intention is to smarten it up as best as I can myself then anything I'm not happy with/beyond me Ill then get professional help with. Will most probably need to reconalise the seats etc which I wont be doing.



Been using the enduarnce tyre gel to reblacken the vertical door insteps too so they look like new again as well - very versatile stuff

 

[Nosevi]

Everything! LOL

I have already started the inside too but Ill put pics up when Ive made a bit more progress. Also intending to service it etc as well but again nothing to shout about as yet - just bought a new tax disc holder, replaced the wiper blades and popped in a can of injector cleaner. My intention is to smarten it up as best as I can myself then anything I'm not happy with/beyond me Ill then get professional help with. Will most probably need to reconalise the seats etc which I wont be doing.

View attachment 115209

Been using the enduarnce tyre gel to reblacken the vertical door insteps too so they look like new again as well - very versatile stuff

View attachment 115210

Hat off to you mate. I'm whimping out and getting the lot done professionally. Seats have just been stripped back ready for reconolising and she's due to be resprayed starting monday. One thing that made a difference to mine was the engine bay/engine detail. Is your impending service an engine out job? If so its a great oportunity to tidy things up. I also got the plastic interior trim sorted so its back to like new. Not as many pics as you as the guy doing it just sends the odd shot but the progress is posted on the forum.

 

[Greg]

Can you see this?

View attachment 115208

Nope...

 

[Nosevi]

Nope...

Mate, maybe somethings up with your settings as I can see all pics including that one. I'm able to see it on my pc and phone so don't think its an issue with the OP.

 

[philworrall]

IIRC this can happen when someone logs in with .co.uk instead of .com
I hope the mods can fix it :thumbsup: