New car detail, paint protection film and Gtechniq coatings on a Porsche 991 GT3 RS
This 2016 Porsche 991 GT3 RS in Voodoo Blue came to our Wiltshire studio straight after a factory collection for our new car preparation and protection detail, with self-healing paint protection film on the high-impact panels. The owner wanted the car given the best possible start rather than a wash and a wax on the way home.
Decontamination after the drive home
The factory collection had left a fair amount of road grime and bug splatter, so the car was foamed first to soften the bonded contamination and lift the loose dirt before anything touched the paint. The wheels were cleaned with a pH-neutral, water-based cleaner and the tyres scrubbed with Britemax Grime Out, then the car was washed with a Gtechniq wash mitt and G-Wash. Gtechniq W6 iron and fallout remover was applied last to dissolve the bonded iron particles that a wash cannot shift.
Two-stage machine polishing on factory paint
Inspected under several different light sources, the paint showed severe buffer trails, holograms and DA sanding marks where the factory had flattened the paintwork and then not spent enough time polishing it out. New does not mean perfect. Paint depth readings were taken across the car and a pad and polish combination settled on that would remove as much of the defect as possible while taking as little clear coat as possible, then the car went through two stages of machine polishing. The before-and-after halves in the gallery are the same panels under the same light.
Paint protection film, cut in house
With the Voodoo Blue corrected, self-healing paint protection film went onto the bonnet, bumper, front wings, side skirts, A-pillars and mirrors, which is where an RS takes its chips. Every pattern is computer-cut in house on our Graphtec FC8600-160 plotter, so a blade never goes near the car and the excess is stripped away before the film reaches the panel.
Gtechniq coatings on paint, wheels, trim and glass
Paint and film were both sealed with Gtechniq Crystal Serum Black, a dual-layer ceramic coating with a flexible 7h base under a 9h top layer, which is what keeps wash-induced hazing down. EXO v2 went over it once cured for slickness and water behaviour, except on the high-impact panels, where C0v2 Aero Coat was used instead because it is formulated to stop things sticking to race cars. Wheels and calipers were coated with C5 Alloy Wheel Armour, the exterior plastic trim restored with C4, the glass treated with G1 ClearVision and the plexiglass rear screen and quarter windows with G5.
