Maserati GranTurismo: A New Lease On Life
by Chad RaskovichThis 2010 Maserati GranTurismo was recently acquired by one of my longtime clients. After picking the car up, he contacted me to inquire about bringing some life back into the paint, as well as suggestions for protecting it in the years to come. Upon evaluation of the finish, extensive swirls and holograms were very apparent as well as some etched in water spots and yellow road paint on the sides. On top of all those issues, the owner was also concerned about the factory PPF on the lower rockers, which had seen better days and was in dire need of replacement. After some discussion, we agreed upon a 2-step paint correction, full front PPF wrap, replacement of the factory PPF areas, and long-term ceramic coating application of all paint, wheels, and calipers.
Before Condition Photos:
Nasty swirls and holograms
Factory PPF on the lower rockers
These etched in water spots are what remained after trying two chemical spot removers first. They were on the hood, roof, and rear deck lid.
Some yellow road paint on the lowers.
Tail lights were swirled up too
Given the intricacy of the emblems on this car and how trashed the paint was around them I talked the owner into letting me remove and replace them. Trying to polish in between the symbol and letters would have taken forever and still left mediocre results.
Wheels removed for cleaning and coating of both the wheel faces and inner barrels. Wheels were then torqued back to factory specs.
Completed Vehicle Photos
Virtually all water spots were removed, just a couple faint etchings could be seen with a trained eye.
OEM filmed replaced on the rockers
Road paint removed
Tail lights looking new again
New Maserati emblem on the deck lid
New side emblems
Scan Grip LED pic
Project Process/Products Used
- Wash: Optimum No Rinse with DI Double Thick Edgeless MF Towels
- Drying: Griot’s PFM Drying Towel
- Water Spot Removers: CarPro Spotless and Optimum MDR
- Wheels: P21S Gel, Sheepskin Wash Mitt, and a DI Boars Hair Brush (wheels cleaned off the car)
- Tires: Meguiar’s D143 & Tuf Shine Brush, dressed with Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing at 3:1
- Calipers: Cleaned with Optimum Power Clean and a DI Boars Hair Brush
- Chemical Decon: IronX/TarX
- Surface Prep: Nanoskin Wash Mitt and Glide for lube
- Road Paint Removal: Festool Denibber
- De-badging: Fishing line to cut foam backing and 3M Adhesive remover to remove residue.
- Tape: 3M Performance Masking Tape
- Compound: Griot’s Fast Correct Cream
- Finishing Polish: Optimum Hyper Polish
- Pads: BOSS MF pads, Tangerine LC Hydro pads
- Tools Used: Rupes 21, BOSS G15, Meguiars G110v2, Flex PE14
- Exhaust Tips: Optimum Metal Polish and #0000 Steel Wool
- Paint Protection Film: 3M Performance Film (Midwest Clear Bra)
- Coating Prep: Gtechniq Panel Wipe
- Long Term Ceramic Coating: Applied to all paint, film, head/tail lights, wheels & calipers
Before Video
After Video
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Rasky is one of the best!
Thanks Stan! 🙂
That is a pretty amazing turnaround Chad!
Thanks Rodney!
You made me want a Maserati and I wound up on Autotrader after I read this. Great job restoring that paint!
Thanks Greg! I expect to see pics of your new toy soon too! 😉
Awesome work. Always enjoy your articles.
I’ve never used a denibber, but watching videos of removal of dirt nibs makes me think road paint comes off with little effort. Neat tool, now I want one.
That was a “Lazarus” project… you brought the paintwork back to life!
Awesome turn around!!
Incredible results. How many hours went into this?
Convincing your client to let you replace the emblems on the Maserati was very important to end result. Paint was hammered in the surrounding areas and no way you could have done much to address this. Great job!