And now for my latest update following my visit to the bodyshop last Wednesday. I couldn't have picked a better day to go as the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
When I arrived the anticipation was almost unbearable as I knew the car had been repainted in the top coat. It has been painted using the correct direct gloss finish it had when new as opposed to the modern base and clear coat. The direct gloss is a lot more durable and will respond beautifully to polishing. When I last saw the car it was in primer and hadn’t been flatted so the surface was quite rough so that any imperfections could be clearly seen.
The sight that greeted me was literally breath taking . Graham had fully painted the car in its new top coat and the chassis and underside of the car had all be repainted in the correct mixture of satin black and Schultz protection finish with all of the underside of the front trunk, engine lid and rear trunk lids all correct repainted in satin black with all of the corresponding body shut areas finished in the same satin black. The perfection of the masking lines for these areas is really something to behold. The paintwork hadn’t been de-nibbed or flatted since being applied as it was still curing but it looked fantastic in the sunshine. I couldn’t see a single spec of dust in the finish so once flatted and polished it is going to look absolutely superb. I thought my first Dino looked really good but this car is on a whole different level. My third car will being going through the same treatment and I will likely have my first one redone by this bodyshop as the difference in quality is so startling that I’ll always see flaws in that car now. Here she is resplendent in her new coat of the fabulous Rosso Dino.
Graham wiping her down.
The vertical seam detail in the side sills.
The front nose cone openings.
The windscreen frame.
Spare wheel well re-blacked along with all of the under bonnet areas. Satin black reapplied to closure panels of the bonnet shuts.
And some close ups.
Masking line perfection on the satin black to the trunk lid shuts.
The front bonnet and engine deck lids.
Underside of the front bonnet.
Underside of the engine lid.
Close up of the centre section of the underside of the engine lid with the correct schultz applied to the centre section only to give a rough textured look and added heat protection.
The front grille "egg crate" section repainted in satin black.
The passenger door.
The fibre glass undertray repaired and ready for painting into satin black along with the newly made steel inspection panel doors which have been painted.
Various door closer panels and fuel tank cover lid.
The fuel tanks washed down and cleaned ready for re-painting into the correct beige schultz finish.
After looking through all of the work done it was time to move the bodyshell outside into the sunlight to see the true effect of the Rosso Dino paint. I absolutely love his colour as it changes so much depending upon the lighting conditions. In duller light it has a stronger reddish hue but take it in direct sunlight and........
Remember at this point the paint on the car is as it came straight out of the spray gun with no machine polishing to enhance the shine or correct any flaws (there really aren't any to correct IMHO!).
The driver's door had been fitted back on to check alignment but as there is no weight in it (glass is out, no locking mechanism, electric window motor removed, no inner door panel) it won't sit 100% flush but will when built back up. I can say that it fits like a glove and the panel gap spacing around it is absolutely perfect.
You can see the perfect surface finish running down the side of the car from this angle.
The rear panel.
The replaced rear lower wing from the inside showing the black schultz protection coating.
The repainted chassis.
Jason spent an age carefully removing the old paint from the engraved numbers on the chassis number plate so that it would be clearly visible when given it's new coat of satin black.
There is still a bit of detail work to be done before the bodyshop can build the car back up. They still have to reinstate the satin black to the lower sills, front nose cone and lower rear wings, repaint the magnesium road wheels in the correct dull silver finish, repaint the satin black inner sections of the stainless steel wheel finsher trims and a few other bits and pieces. Hopefully they should have it all completed within two weeks and ready to go back to my dealer to be built back up.
The target at present is to have the whole car completed and back on the road by the end of June and ready to go to the Ferrari GB Owners Club Concours event in early July. I don’t normally bother entering such events but feel compelled to do so with this car if it is ready in time.