# TVR Tuscan - Paint Correction & Protection



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Another recent detail from Gordon and I - this time carried out over a pair of night shifts as the car was to be prepped ready to go to a show in Northern Ireland. A midnight blue TVR Tuscan, the car was in good condition with moderate swirling that the owner wanted sorted out before going to the show. This car was detailed in conjunction with David G of Carwashnwax who carried out the pre-polishing prep work (washing and claying), Gordon and I then took over for the paintwork correction and protection aspects.

At the start of night one, Gordon and I were greeted with a clean looking TVR Tuscan, and a good gloss to the paint was already present...







Under closer inspection however it was clear there was a degree of moderate swirling across the car - the good old 3M Sun Gun highlighting it nicely. So we begin this writeup at the massive bonnet of the car where the Sun Gun was used to assess the swirls present in the paintwork...













The body of a TVR Tuscan, like many TVRs, is made from fibre glass which necessitates care when using the rotary polisher as the fibre glass cannot dissipate the heat as effectively as a metal panel. Greater care must therefore be taken to assure the panel temperatures remained sensible with no localised hot spots that could cause paint damage.

After assessing the paint finish from the least abrasive combination first as per usual, it was decided that the appropriate combination of pad and polish for the correction work on this car was Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a 3M yellow polishing pad using a standard Zenith Point technique as follows...

1) Spread the polish at 600rpm

2) Begin working the polish at 1200rpm, light pressure until residue evenly spread and a little heat built in the panel (heat helps the residue spread smoothly and evenly rather than clumping)

3) Work at 1500rpm with moderate pressure until the residue goes clear, making steady sweeping motions with the polisher and ensuring the panel does not get any warmer than hand hot. Working speed here slightly reduced over my typical IP sets (1800rpm), but compensated for by an increase in set length to ensure the polish fully worked

4) Refine the finish at 1200rpm for a couple of passes with light pressure.

The finish was then refined using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish on a 3M blue finishing pad, applied using a standard Zenith Point technique as follows...

1) Spread the polish at 600rpm

2) Begin working the polish at 1200rpm, light pressure until residue evenly spread and a little heat built in the panel

3) Work at 1500rpm with moderate pressure until the residue goes clear, making steady sweeping motions with the polisher and ensuring the panel does not get any warmer than hand hot.

4) Refine the finish at 1200rpm for a couple of passes with light pressure.

5) Burnish the finish at 900rpm, supporting the weight of the machine for very light pressure and slow machine movements for a few passes

The end results on the bonnet an increase in the depth of the finish, brought about by an improvement to the clarity from machine polishing...







Under the Sun Gun we can now see a swirl free finish...

















Moving on to the passenger side of the car, we can see the swirls on the front wing...









Correction here was as above for the bonnet - Intensive Polish followed by Final Finish to give the following...









Moving on to the door we can see some slightly deeper marks - these types of marks are generally not evident under the Sun Gun and are best highlighted with a dimmer light source such as a strip light or in this case the halogen heater (to keep me warm!) was doing a good job too:





Also, more generally, swirl marks on the panel too...







The deeper marks were corrected using a single hit of 3M Fast Cut Plus, applied as follows using a Chemical Guys Yellow Hexlogic Compounding Pad:

1) Spread at 600rpm

2) Begin working at 1200rpm to get residue evenly spread

3) Work at 1500 - 1800rpm with moderate pressure monitoring the panel temperatures

This was followed with Intensive Polish and Final Finish as described above... The additional compounding stage helped greatly in dealing with the deeper marks, only the very deep RDS remaining in the panel following this correction stage which were partly rounded using the Intensive Polish stage. Results of correction...





And the end results of refining under the Sun Gun:













Rear three quarter before...







And after correction and refining with Intensive Polish and Final Finish respectively...



The bootlid before:









And after correction and refining...













Driver's side before...















And after...





















Following machine polishing, the paintwork was treated to Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze followed by Chemical Guys 50/50 wax for protection. Glass was cleaned using 3D Glass Cleaner. Tyres and arches dressed with Espuma RD-50 and the wheels sealed using FK1000P. Exhaust tips polished using Zeppelin Custom Metal Polish, applied by hand and worked in using a microfibre cloth before residue being removed.

The end results following the paint correction and protection stage of the detail which Gordon and I worked on... we'd have loved to get outdoor after shots of this car but alas as we were working night shifts on the car, it was dark outside (as per usual for us at this time of year alas - roll on the summer!!), so indoor only afters for this detail I'm afraid...































And to round off, a little fun with our indoor lighting and the curves of the bonnet :


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## Bigge (Aug 24, 2009)

Very nice. luvvin those curves


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

nice work looks great


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Bigge said:


> Very nice. luvvin those curves





gb270 said:


> nice work looks great


Thanks guys  ... Yes, the curves, especially on the bonnet, caught the light very nicely and the dark blue is a cracking colour to work on... just a pity we never got to see it outside properly, the trouble with detailing at night!


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## Dipesh (Oct 12, 2007)

Superb write up and great work as always Dave!


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## Sharpy (Mar 25, 2007)

Lovely work, one of my fav cars, and a very nice colour too


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

very nice work mate!


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Lovely finish achieved guys, nice colour also.
One of the few marques I've yet to do in the last 8 years, still waiting.


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Very nice job guys, looks stunning.


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## mike_shrops (Oct 27, 2007)

Superb finish as usual, and loving the creative lighting for some of the afters, really shows off the curves.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Nice work as usual, that blue is a stunning colour. 

I love doing TVR's..


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Looks lovely now Dave. Those sweeping curves look like a joy to polish. Did I spot a small peice of clearcoat damage on that O/S/R rear wing or was it just marring? (just above the wheel) Also wondering if you polished the front grill at all or was it just washed? Oh and how long did it take the two of you to polish this one? lol one more question! How did you tackle those awkward bits on the bonnet? Nice work again you two:thumb:


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## scottgm (Dec 27, 2009)

Great Job guys!

Stunning colour... would be good to see it in the sun!


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

very nice work


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## dbaillie (Apr 6, 2009)

as usual superb work mate:thumb:


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Lovely job on a lovely car.


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## Darranvps (Feb 16, 2009)

Fantastic write up, and great pics. Well done.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

spitfire said:


> Looks lovely now Dave. Those sweeping curves look like a joy to polish. Did I spot a small peice of clearcoat damage on that O/S/R rear wing or was it just marring? (just above the wheel) Also wondering if you polished the front grill at all or was it just washed? Oh and how long did it take the two of you to polish this one? lol one more question! How did you tackle those awkward bits on the bonnet? Nice work again you two:thumb:


There were a few regions of damage to the clearcoat on this car, where it was only possible to mask the region off and polish around it alas... The front griller was washed and cleansed using the EZ, and waxed along with the paintwork with 50/50  Awkward bits under the bonnet - TVR have thought of this  ... Lift the front region up and it allows you to flow right down the curves to the fans underneath, actually quite easy to polish  How long - Gordon and I from 8pm till well into the night (3-4am) two nights in a row just for the polishing and the protection


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

great work and what a lovely colour... Nice to work on aint they:thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Total agree Jay.
All the curves and contours made this one especially pleasing, especially when you stand back and see the light playing on them.

Just a pity the booking was taken at such short notice and daylight after was not an option. But it had to be ready for the Celtic gathering in Ireland.
Gordon.


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## buff not enuf (Sep 29, 2008)

:argie:GLOSSVILLE :argie:Top work again Dave, 3-4am :devilnce you start you dont want to stop.


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## david g (Dec 14, 2005)

I was lucky enough to get some pics in the daylight ,



























On its way home


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Thanks for adding them David. :thumb:


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## ross-1888 (Feb 22, 2009)

hawl kg....... wheres my thanks for sorting out those wheels ????????


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

really informative read!


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Very nice guys, but who was that in the office using the fleshlight? (google it if you dont know what it is)

Was it you david?


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## ross-1888 (Feb 22, 2009)

Its liam again lol lololololololololol


theres one of me where i sliipped under the car to sort out the wheels


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## david g (Dec 14, 2005)

Emerald Detailing said:


> Very nice guys, but who was that in the office using the fleshlight? (google it if you dont know what it is)
> 
> Was it you david?


No LOL


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## Chris_R (Feb 3, 2008)

Really nice finish! That paint looks deep enough to dive into.


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## Chubsley (Feb 11, 2010)

What a cracker guys, another awesome photo session from dave and Gordon. Keep it up guys. 

Ps - Ross, you did a stunning job on the wheels


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## alxg (May 3, 2009)

Absolutely stunning colour when it is properly sorted, well done guys you did one hell of a job there.:thumb:
Love those Tuscans, almost affordable exotica!


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## Simonhi (Jun 6, 2009)

How did you manage to take PTG readings on fibreglass ?


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## Frothey (Apr 30, 2007)

Composite gauge like the positector 200


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

what a car and what a detail


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

looking so much nicer now! great colour to turn around! lovely!


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

ross-1888 said:


> Its liam again lol lololololololololol
> 
> theres one of me where i sliipped under the car to sort out the wheels


How could I forget to mention?! Many thanks to Ross for an amazing job on the wheels


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## butterbean (Mar 10, 2010)

amazing a+


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Lovely work guys


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice work chaps looks lovely :thumb:

Neil


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## alx_chung (Aug 13, 2006)

Stunning looking!! Well done again guys!
Alex


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## -ROM- (Feb 23, 2007)

Looks good Dave.


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Awesome work as ever chaps


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Superb work. :thumb:

The curves of the bonnet really show up well now the light is reflecting cleanly from the swirl free finish. Lovely colour too.


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