Crossy's White Tiptronic VVTI Thread

[Hammer]

Lovely looking Supra, like the gold wheels with red detail, give the car a real different look.

[Delboy52]

Really nice pics mate, and well done getting that sponsor!

 

C&M keep suggesting they may be opening soon, hopefully we'll get our meet before the year is out.

[Crossy]

Thanks for the kind words both!

 

Nearly caught up to the present day in this thread now so some good progress coming up with it

 

Yeah I'm hoping so! They have a date of reopening set at 11th July, so hoping we should get our event there by September latest!

[Crossy]

At this point I decided it was time to get certain areas in line with the rest of the bodywork, which is ridiculously clean for a nearly 23 year old car. There was a few areas I wasn't happy with and had sourced a painter in my general area that was renowned for high quality work and his attention to detail.

 

The areas I had decided to target were the front bumper, side pods and spoiler feet.

 

The front bumper inside the arch had a split in it since I had picked up the car, and it used to absolutely grate on me everytime I'd see it, especially at shows even though no-one really ever pointed it out.

 

 

I'd had a couple of chats with the guy doing my bodywork and had decided that I'd just go all out and get a new OEM Front Bumper from Toyota while it's still an option. I could have gone down the route of plastic welding it, but after all of the prep work and hassle of sanding it down and preparing it for paint, cost wise it was more effective to get a new front bumper and sell the old one on for someone who would do the repair work themselves to save labour costs.

 

 

This was the view in my living room for the next few days!

 

Once this had arrived I moved on to removing the side pods and spoiler, images of their condition to show why I wanted it doing

 

 

 

 

From here, I removed the carbon blade and all of these parts went to the bodywork shop.

 

However, I was left with quite a mess to tidy up before taking these down, and my OCD kicked in haha. Under the side pods, probably never having seen a clean really weren't all that bad, but I got to cleaning them anyway with a degreaser, detailers brush and a detailing spray. I then topped the area with 3 coats of a spray sealant just to try and keep more grime at bay in future when the side pods were put back on.

 

 

 

I then got to the area I had taken the spoiler off. I'm not sure when the TRD spoiler went on the car, but christ it retains dirt, so it may be worth popping yours off and checking so that you can pre-prevent any issues of rust going forward! This is what I was left with and I did fear the worst had started

 

 

 

However, I gave these areas the same treatment, few blasts of degreaser, a soft detailers brush to agitate it all, and then very carefully cleaned the area. I then went over it with a detailers spray to get rid of the rest of what would shift without a polishing compound. Fortunately enough there was absolutely no rust, just areas where the paint had rubbed off around where the bolts sit and it came up reasonably well prior to having time to get the DA polisher out.

 

 

 

I had a work callout at this point and decided to call it a day. I used detailers tape to seal off the holes left from both sides, with cling film in between just to give it more of a barrier for moisture and dust and left it looking sorry for itself for a day!

 

 

[Crossy]

Had the parts back from being sprayed, made a last second decision to get the mounting points for the front plate smoothed over, same with the mounting points inside the grill area for the facelift centre bar in an attempt to keep the front looking really clean and clutter free. Ended up being really nervous about the finish of these parts as anyone in the industry knows, there's like 4 continents of slightly different colours for each paint code, all with about 8 variations of tint to the paint.

 

Was also absolutely amazed that the front bumper could fit inside the Supra itself when curved around the passenger seat and into the rear with the seats down

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picked up a little rear wiper delete and had that done as well

 

 

Got a little bit of time together to get the side pods on, with new clips. Was actually surprised how well these matched to the rest of the paint, the guy definitely did a top job with it. For anyone interested and local to Shropshire this was a guy called Nigel at Sprayaway in Oswestry

 

 

 

[Peter P]

Very nice mate.

 

Nice to see another facelift Tiptronic build project, I’m currently doing mine as well (mine is black).

 

Funny how we both did a lot of similar jobs like cleaning up the dirt and grime behind things. I did boot runners, inner boot rubber seal, removed rear lights to be reworked by Harry Moore, rear bumper to install a reverse camera and rear spoiler to fit a TRD one. Found loads of dirt and grime which I had to clean up as can’t stand that sort of thing either.

 

I’d look at getting some of the felt spoiler leg gaskets mate, protects the paint and should help stop dirt and grime getting in. I paid about £20 for a pair, so not bad really.

 

What are your plans for the car other than keeping it spotless and doing shows? Hopefully I’ll see you at one or two once mine is back from the bodyshop.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Pete

[Crossy]

Yeah it was by far the cleanest Supra I could find for my money at the time I was looking for one so it was a no brainer really!

 

It's stayed Tiptronic a lot longer than I thought it ever would, but I've actually enjoyed the box more than I ever thought I would as well!

 

Yeah it was just the way I decided to work through things in the end, make sure the bodywork and under body are absolutely pristine and then move onto the engine and gearbox to hopefully make some gains on the power side and go manual.

 

You had the itch for a manual box yet?

 

Yeah I did see those, just concerned that its another bit of material to hold water against the chassis with it being felt and potentially cause rust.

 

I think I saw your post actually mounting the rear camera! Looked really good and is an idea I have saved on my to do list haha.

 

I've got to catch this thread up to where I am currently with the car, and then I can get through the bay relocation work I'll be starting and get all of the new carbon bits on when they finally arrive from the US!

 

I've got a steering wheel I'll be working on as well to get the car running paddles like some others here have done too!

 

Then it will be on to the Gearbox next year. Was going to go R154 at the start of the year but ended up holding off an will most likely go the T56 direction with it I'm thinking currently!

 

I had a Caffeine and Machine meet at up for April but it was postponed due to Covid, they're re-opening soon so I'm expecting a new date for it if you're interested. There was actually a thread on this forum about it!

 

Thanks for the kind comments man!

 

Sam

[Peter P]

Hey Sam,

 

Small world as we are following pretty similar paths albeit you already have a single turbo installed on yours.

 

Mine is still on stock twins and will be going BPU shortly after it visits Uncle Lee and the team at SRD once I get it back from the bodyshop. I had a Lexus ISF that I supercharged to trade back for another Supra, didn’t get much interest, but a friend had it off me in exchange for his track Supra and a bit of cash my way to sort out some new seats. The ones in the car where his brothers! Lol.

 

I’m going flappy paddles as well mate, will be installing the SYVECS S7+ hopefully early next year, plan is to run the column mounted option from Paul at Whifbitz. I’ll also either a cheap auto gearbox to rebuild or may go for the 8-spd auto conversion that Lee was looking at a while back from the ISF.

 

Bodywork wasn’t too sad on mine except for the rear arches which were badly rolled and has started to rust!

 

Decided to go with the only bodykit I really love which is the Ridox half carbon version. My bodyshop are installing the kit, painting the vented hood (leaving the 4 vents carbon), painting the legs of my full carbon TRD spoiler, deleting the aerial and washer jet at the rear along with the wiper arm etc. Sills underneath also need attention and straightening etc.

 

Doubt I’ll have it back in time for your meet, but will drop in and let you know when it’s back.

 

Keep up the great work buddy.

[Crossy]

I guess it's all about making a small bit of progress with it every week!

 

Been a bit disheartened with mine lately, as I was making really good progress with it all, only to have this delay since February where all the parts I ordered I'm still waiting on due to this virus shutting a lot of shipping etc down. They all get sent on the 7th July now though, so every cloud and all of that! I may finally regain the motivation to get into the relocation work I have the cables and tools etc for under the bonnet finally.

 

That sounds well planned out aswell, nice seeing you've got yourself a list of priority as such to go by. That Ridox kit should look absolutely spot on once sorted, the half carbon versions were my favourite as well, they just seem to flow better. I always planned for mine to go Full Ridox when I picked it up, but ended up enjoying the stock body too much to actually go for it and spent the money elsewhere on it haha.

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress with it either way!

 

Hopefully catch you later in the year then if we manage to get any shows that hold on!

[Crossy]

To get the spoiler to where I really wanted it finish wise I decided to polish the spoiler blade while it was off the feet.

 

To do this I used my DA with a polish that was minimal cut and mostly gloss enhancement, as you can see the lacquer had begun looking faded in a couple of areas, and there was also an area that had paint breakdown from the poor previous paint on the feet. These were really surface only marks.

 

 

 

 

So the blade went from that, to this

 

 

 

Now inside housing light and direct sunlight show 2 different sides of carbon; so I had taken the blade outside prior to mounting it back up to the feet and was still happy that there was no remaining blemishes left. As I wouldn't get another opportunity for a while, I took the time to polish the areas that were still slightly stained from where the spoiler had sat previously, I had to do this really carefully to ensure I didnt remove excess paint from the area near the holes

 

 

The outcome was pretty good finish wise both sides as well. I was happy enough, so put on another 3 layers of sealant down here in the hope that the jetwash will power the dirt off with more ease around this area going forward, gave the spoiler blade 3 coatings of spray sealant and mounted the spoiler back on the car

 

 

 

This actually left 1 part remaining to fit, the front bumper which I knew I would be tackling at the weekend. But for now the car was back in 1 piece and I wasnt getting anymore comments from neighbours or Instagram telling me not to smooth the boot lid and go without the spoiler haha

 

 

I had actually managed to fit the wiper delete as well by this point. I had removed the motor and the arm, sealed and tied back the cabling incase I wanted to replace it in future and put the grommet and cover in place

 

 

While I had the DA out I decided to tackle a project I had sat around for a fair while. This really shows the power of sunlight to the finish of carbon, as you'll have seen in some previous pictures I've had a Carbon Roof Skin sat in the background for some time! It's actually for a BRZ, and you can pick them up from Siebon for around £950 or more from the US. I managed to source this one from the UK for £150 due to the damage on it and had planned to restore it.

 

In previous pictures you really cant see the actual scope of the damage to the gel coat on the carbon, however when put in direct sunlight...

 

 

This had been on another BRZ that had sat at a workshop, and they fucked up by leaving the car outside in an area under a tree, so where the leaves had collected on the roof over winter and retained a higher level of water right on the surface of the car this effect began happening over time, water spotting left in sunlight also does this over time but it takes a lot longer. To say the lad was annoyed with the garage was an understatement but he had a replacement from them so sold this one dead cheap.

 

So while I had the DA, my pads and polish out I took a heavy cut compound to the surface of it with 2 passes. And then a low cut and reasonable gloss compound, followed by a no cut and high gloss compound. This took me about 2 hours of polishing in total, cleaning the surface at regular intervals to ensure I wasnt cutting into the gel too far, but also far enough to remove the heavy marking.

 

The end product was this!

 

 

 

The end goal with this is to actually wet sand the gel layer back, and then 2k lacquer it, but until then my Girlfriend was made up with it as it's to go on her BRZ and she thought I had wasted my money getting it!

Edited July 2, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Peter P]

Very nice Sam.

 

That correction work on the carbon roof skin for the BRZ is impressive, I’ll be hitting you up for some tips on the detailing front for sure mate as trying to keep a black car looking tip top is no easy task!

 

How come you went for US sourced carbon parts mate? Got mine from Paul at Whifbitz, quality was good and most of it was on the shelf ready to send out. Did you go with Titan bits or something else? Love a nice bit of carbon.

 

Had some minor setbacks myself, the reworked dials and heater controls from Stu Hagen were originally coming back with a friend from the States as part of his luggage, but Covid put a stop to that. Thankfully Stu did me a solid and posted them back to me. I also had a nervous wait when Harry fell ill with the virus when he was reworking my rear lights, thankfully he made a full recovery and the finished product was well worth the wait.

 

I’m struggling to stay patient with the bodywork that’s going on, want to get on but know they are going to take a while as they have to do regular work to make a living and fit mine around that as and when they can. It’s frustrating, but based on the work so far, know it’ll be well worth the wait.

[Crossy]

No problem at all mate, always happy to talk people through anything to do with detailing! I actually enjoy a lot of the work involved haha.

 

I went with a company called TBT Carbonfactory as someone I knew in America vouched for their work, they actually did a couple of bits that I wanted that I couldnt get from Whifbitz, so I ended up ordering the lot from them to ensure the weave pattern stayed the same throughout etc. It's been a bit of a wait, but what's another month when I'm already 4 months into waiting eh! Just unfortunate timing that they were sending the parts the week Covid lockdown begun over there and they had to cancel all of their shipping out. I dont think anything I've ever ordered has gone smoothly for any car, sort of used to it now!

 

Well firstly I'm glad Harry is ok! I know it hasn't really affected most people but I have a close friend that passed away from it this week, just as though it was looking like no one from my general area had been hit by it. Completely out of the blue as well and so unexpected. I just hope people continue to try and stay vigilant and safe with it as he was a pretty healthy guy as well. It really puts the whole concept of things we find difficult and problematic, such as waiting on car parts for instance, into concept when you think these families just wont get these people back eh.

 

Yeah that's it, it's hard to sit and wait knowing the work is there to be done but its actually out of your hands for the foreseeable! I'm sure it will definitely be worth the wait!

 

Looking forward to seeing some updates and pictures of it!

 

I'll keep slowly updating this thread every few days, only about 4 months out now from the present day time wise I think!

[Peter P]

Thanks Sam.

 

Look forward to reading your updates as well mate. I have a build thread in the relevant section for mine, added a few photos today of my parts pile that are waiting to go on the car once I get it back from the bodyshop.

 

Hoping to pop over at some point next week to see how they are getting on and drop off the new front number plate flipper.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend, found out this morning that a close friend of mine over in Texas has contracted the virus as well. Not good.

 

Thankfully he isn’t critical, but I share your concerns that people need to try and stay safe and be vigilant. Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a second wave though.

 

Parts and builds aren’t so important when you consider people are dying as you rightly point out mate.

 

I’ll PM at some point on the detailing side, saves clogging up your thread.

 

Cheers.

 

 

Pete

[Crossy]

Yeah no problem at all, always welcome to quiz me on the detailing side of things!

[Crossy]

Decided to put off changing the front bumper for another day and thought it was about time I cleaned and renewed the coatings under the arches knowing that it was years since it was last done. This was with cleaning and inspecting the actual underside of the car. The car had a professionally done underseal when it was imported and still looked ridiculously clean after a wash and a soft brush, however I wanted to lay down some underseal on the arches as I know these areas can take a beating from road grime and dirt off the tyres.

 

I still intend to redo the underseal before Winter 2020, but I'm likely going to get this removed and redone professionally.

 

Few before pictures after I had removed the alloys, I did this work over a 2 day period one side at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

I gave the arches a good pressure wash to get rid of the worst of the dirt and grime and laid down a good layer of degreaser and citrus pre wash and worked it in all over with a course detailers brush. Once the area was clean I hit all of the mechanical parts with a spray of Fallout Remover and let it work its magic, working it again into the areas where it was harder to reach and power washed it all off.

 

 

 

 

 

Once I could see every part clean without the obstruction of dirt, I targeted a few areas that I felt needed further cleaning and reworked those areas to ensure it was all as clean as possible prior to laying down a sealant

 

 

 

 

I then left the area to dry for a couple of hours, and went out to dry any areas that needed the help, and then left it for another hour just to ensure it was all properly dry. I placed a bag over the calipers and discs and went to work with the sealant. I chose the Dinitrol 1000 as I loved the idea it is clear, so doesn't have the issue that you can't see what is hidden going forward as you get with some coatings such as the black waxoyl. I gave each arch 3 seperate coatings with time between drying. The outcome looked great, pictures were at various different times.

 

 

 

 

 

[Crossy]

While I was doing the work on the arches, I had 2 alloys off per day so decided to use the opportunity to put a ceramic coating on the alloys which would cure overnight.

The coating I used was GTechniq C5 Wheel Armour

 

 

It was surprisingly easy to put on; to start with the alloys were given a proper decontamination clean, followed by 2 passes with a clay bar to remove all hidden imperfections.

 

I then put the coating on the alloys and let them cure overnight and the next day. The coating itself made the alloys super slick and glossy, they almost looked like they'd been freshly powder coated. This will make the alloys easier to clean in future, and ensure none of the brake dust etc will be as harsh on the powdercoat.

 

 

While the car was up for the arch work on the drivers side, having done the passenger side first, I decided it was about time I fitted the Carbon Shroud I got from Whifbitz.

 

 

I got under the car and dropped the exhaust system off the rubber holders to create some working space, got a couple of clamps and covered the ends with a generous layer of cling film so that it wouldn't mark the bodywork. I then placed the shroud in place and ensured I could get the clamps into a workable position as a test fit

 

 

Once I knew what I was aiming for position wise with the clamps I took the photo for later reference and removed the bricks to see if the clamps would hold at these angles in place, luckily they did, and the pressure was enough to hold the shroud tightly in place but not to crack or affect the bumper or shroud itself.

 

I then removed the clamps and shroud and cleaned the area around the exhaust to remove contamination on the paintwork, this is usually where I would be polishing the paint but that would make the paintwork slick and gave the opposite effect I needed to bond the shroud to the paint. So at this point I gave the area where it would be placed a very careful sanding with a fine sandpaper and cleaned the area of dust. I did the same on the inside of the shroud. This was so that the sealant I would use between the bumper and shroud would have a better chance of bonding longterm.

 

I then carefully placed a bead of Sikaflex 221 (best sealant I felt for the job after research) around the edges, with a small amount through the centre and placed it onto the bodywork and fitted the clamps with the ends covered in clingfilm again

 

 

 

I allowed this around 30 hours to seal and then removed the clamps. I was please with how it sat, but there was 1 edge that didn't appear to have the same seal as the rest of the shroud, so I placed a very fine bead of sealant inside this edge and clamped it again for 24 hours

 

 

Once I was content that this had held as I wanted I sat back and checked all edges of the seal over the next 24 hours to check for any flexing of the carbon to see if any cracks in the bonding would become obvious, however it held perfectly and looked really tidy

 

 

 

Took the opportunity of the exhaust system being accessible to clean it up and polish it before placing it back in place. I actually applied a small amount of the GTechniq C5 Wheel Armour on the Exhaust System as well, as it was recommended that you can use it on metal that reach high temperature as well. This will hopefully mean all of these areas are protected and cleaned much easier going forward!

 

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Crossy]

Found a few images from a shoot here in my hometown Shrewsbury, these would have been about a month prior to beginning all of the bodywork. 2 very different locations, have loads of images from it but these are just about my favourite few! Lucky around here to have loads of really good locations to shoot in if you know where to look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Peter P]

Looking good Sam.

 

May borrow your guide for the exhaust shroud fitting when I get one for mine.

 

Was on my very long list of ‘still to-do’s’ but having seen the cracking job you’ve made with yours, think it will look good on my black car.

 

Be useful to hear how you get on with it and how it fares with the heat etc. Did you treat or coat the carbon at all once you had it installed? Can’t see the carbon having any issues, more the clearcoat I would be worried about.

 

Love the photos, you clearly have a good eye and a good choice of spots near you mate, may have to venture over once the car is all sorted for a quick photo shoot and a catch up.

[Crossy]

Was actually my other half that took the pictures, she had been using my DSLR to build a little Instagram page called "Touge_Photography" and has had quite a bit of local interest for shoots to be fair to her!

 

I've actually had the whole car coated recently but I'll go into that in a post after I've put up the front bumper post should protect it all nicely!

 

Yeah I actually prefer the look of carbon on darker coloured cars, should look great on yours!

 

People are always welcome over, I've had a few people with other cars over prior to the Covid restrictions, always nice to meet people, get a couple of jobs done on the car and have a few beers!

 

Looking good Sam.

 

May borrow your guide for the exhaust shroud fitting when I get one for mine.

 

Was on my very long list of ‘still to-do’s’ but having seen the cracking job you’ve made with yours, think it will look good on my black car.

 

Be useful to hear how you get on with it and how it fares with the heat etc. Did you treat or coat the carbon at all once you had it installed? Can’t see the carbon having any issues, more the clearcoat I would be worried about.

 

Love the photos, you clearly have a good eye and a good choice of spots near you mate, may have to venture over once the car is all sorted for a quick photo shoot and a catch up.

[Crossy]

So last on the list of bodywork was to tackle the front bumper!

So I got to work and whipped the old one off

 

 

Actually amazing how much of a pain in the ass it was to get the 1 bolt from the passengers side inner arch. For some reason I just could not keep the socket on the head of the bolt. After shouting at it and threatening it with violence it came off after I took a small composure break took the bumper inside and lay it down ready to strip all of the lights and side repeaters off of it

 

 

I then moved onto stripping out the SRD covers and the cooling panel, as these are looking a little tired and want refurbishing. I'll likely redo the SRD covers in Crackle Black, but I've purchased a carbon cooling panel so that's only back on for the meantime. Took the opportunity to clean inside these areas and check fluid levels, all seemed well. I'll only be back here in another couple of months when I intend to do a complete oil and fluids change for the car along with all other servicing parts.

 

 

 

I also removed the crappy old HID kit ballasts and wiring to replace them with Night Breaker LEDS. God this made a huge difference; went from being able to see next to nothing to be able to seeing everything! Also replaced the full beam with the same bulbs and they really are a hell of an upgrade.

 

 

Had to leave the progress as it was for a few hours as work ended up calling me out... Always the way when things are actually going well!

 

 

3 hours later I was back and immediately set to putting on the lights and side markers back onto the new front bumper

 

 

As per usual I took the opportunity to give the area behind the bumper a clean out, and the intercooler and pipework a polish. A lot of the marking on the intercooler would need a harsher pad but I did what I could. Also cleaned the areas below the headlights, and the back of the headlights themselves. This probably leaves the only area of the car behind panelling to be uncleaned without a few coatings of a sealant as behind the rear bumper!

 

 

I also picked up a Magsign kit for the front number plate; I had considered a flip out plate but was impressed by this kit on a mates Golf R and decided to go for it!

 

 

Effectively, it just works off some very strong magnets. So to create a good adhesion to the back of the front bumper, I sanded away the remnants of over spray, gave it a good surface to adhere to and then cleaned the area. Lined up where I wanted the magnets to sit, sealed them in place, and covered them with a tape similar to heat shrink and heated them in place to ensure the magnets wouldn't rust as easily going forward

 

 

The numberplate itself needed the same treatment, however the backing of the numberplate is covered with a really soft felt so that when it is placed to the surface of the bumper it doesn't mark it at all

 

 

You honestly wouldn't believe how strong the numberplate sits on the car. Even tested it to various speeds to ensure it doesn't budge with spirited driving! Hadn't moved an inch! Link to a brief clip of how it works below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWmE_hng19/?igshid=1n8ngcjetdsz5

 

I then got about replacing the front bumper and lights. The only thing left was to fit a front Toyota emblem badge onto the bumper, but this was being left for the week ahead for a good reason

The bumper went on surprisingly easy considering the agro it caused me taking it off. I guess it was largely down to keeping myself quite a bit calmer haha.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Crossy]

With all of the bodywork done and the car pretty much spotless I decided it would be good timing to get the bodywork protected for the long term. After a few discussions with various people across the world with different coatings and backgrounds that I knew had good and reliable info, and then to my local prifessional detailer, I settled on a Self Healing Graphene Coating. The videos I have of this coating are mad.

I also watched in person on a BMW owned by the detailer rhe coating get worked with a metal brush to scour the coating; you could see all of the markings in the topcoat which would usually be in the lacquer, or for us with the paint system Toyota used, the paint. They heated the coating up with a heat gun on a low setting and the marking literally healed before my eyes. They did this numerous times in the same area, and even took a Rotary polisher to it with a course polish and it still healed out. The 5th time they actually covered the panel in petrol and lit it which was entertaining, it literally healed the coating due to the heat.

 

I was literally sold on the Graphene Self Healing System there and then.

 

I booked the car in for 6 weeks later and patiently waited for my slot!

 

Over the 5 says he had my car he sent me various updates of what was going on, I actually got a good amount of money off because I had done the polishing the year before and had looked after it really well. All that was needed was work in a few localised areas where he did find a few swirls and then gloss enhancement polishing all over the car prior to the sealant being laid down. I also had the vinyl sunstrip removed and glass polished all over the car.

 

Images below are of the car being cleaned and decontaminated; I'm a pretty proud person when it comes to my cars cleanliness so I had actually completely cleaned it beforehand as well. He actually stated that he was looking forward to the challenge of finding an area of the car I hadn't gotten around to cleaning yet before me jokingly reminding him that the rear bumper didn't need removing for the work he was doing haha

 

 

 

 

The car was then taken inside his unit for a more localised cleaning of certain areas and jacked up for him to get to the arches, which he messaged me his love for the work I had done to them in the weeks prior, making his work a breeze in there. He took a few before shots of the car

 

 

 

He managed to find somewhere to actually properly clean as well haha

 

 

 

 

 

He stated it was probably the cleanest 22 year old car he had ever seen, and went as far as to say that it was cleaner the the majority of 2 year old cars he's had in some cases to work on. Once he had finished all of the polishing he laid down my new set of Gold LikwidArt Badges as they were due to be coated too.

 

He then begun work on laying down the coatings. He laid down a ceramic glass sealant on the glass, and added a second coating of ceramic to the alloys and exhaust system as well for further protection.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the finished article once all the coatings had cured over a 30 hour period! The gloss levels these provided under good lighting was crazy, especially in person!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jim_supra]

Amazing! Lovely looking car

[Crossy]

Amazing! Lovely looking car

 

Thank you mate onto the subframe and engine next!

[rider]

Hopefully you'll find time to keep this thread updated with how the coatings stand up to time and repeated washing. What was the cost? That could dissuade many from considering this as a feasible approach to paint protection.

[Crossy]

I'm keeping the coating itself topped up with a spray on sealant, and wax as you would without it, should help the longevity. It will go back once every year to check on the coating, its supposed to be a 5 year sealant but that's minimum with good maintenance so I'm hoping to be getting at least that out of it. I'm managing most weekends to just snow foam and dry it off without contact washing as I don't use it some weeks. Every other week I seem to be doing a proper contact maintenance wash.

 

The cost of the work and the coating was £800, that was at a fair discount though as he barely had to prepare the bodywork due to my work on polishing prior. Tempted at PPF for the front bumper and splitter once the Carbon splitter arrives as well