TVR Chimaera Detailed

[miniman]

I've been waiting a few weeks now for the weather to turn so that Paul and Darren from Joe's Detailing could come and give my new Chim a little TLC. It has quite a few blemishes, stonechips and so forth, and some patchy clearcoat in places so Paul took me through various options taking into account likely results vs. cost and having cleaned the car thoroughly prepped up a sample area so I could see what the results would look like. We opted for a treatment using Glare products plus an interior treatment. Hopefully Paul will fill in the finer details in due course.

Honestly I cannot believe the difference. The car seems to be a different colour. The depth of shine is amazing and although the treatment couldn't deal with some of the bigger problems like stonechips filled with touch-up paint (and I didn't expect it to) the results are absolutely superb. I'm slightly afraid to take it out on the road in case a bird sts on it to be honest.

The weather turned against us early afternoon but the chaps pressed on with the help of a gazebo and weren't put off aiming for the best possible finish despite being soaked by the end of the day.

Big thumbs up for Paul and Darren from me.

So here are some photos I took during the day, I will post up some proper "after" shots once I have them.

[jenkotvr]

Excellent work folks.....can't belive the difference

[miniman]

Here's some real "after" shots from Paul, taken with a proper camera. The reflection of the gazebo shows just how good a job it is IMHO.

[LordGrover]

Impressive.

[miniman]

I asked Paul to give me a rundown of exactly what the day involved, so here we go:

Having done the initial inspection it was agreed that this detail would not involve extensive correction for a number of reasons: Cost, the varying levels of paint depth and a number of paint imperfections. The condition of the paint wasn't unusual for a car of this age but it becomes a potential issue if you start blasting into it with heavier compounds and wool mops - basically, it is very possible in the worst cases to get paint failure right before your eyes or quite commonly, to significantly shorten the long term life of the paint. The likelihood of this is significantly greater if the car has had one or more resprays of an unknown quality. It would be pretty easy to always “take it to the max” with correction, but I prefer to be a bit pragmatic about car detailing and would rather inform a client of the options, risks, costs and benefits before deciding on what to do.



Anyway, to the point on what we did:



Initial cleaning (citrus pre-treatment, foam, rinse, mitt wash, rinse, wheel clean, dry)

Wheel Tar removal

Chemical cleanse (the car was relatively contaminant free so claying wasn't necessary)

Inspection - Ultrasound paint depth gauge and inspection lamps (the visual is more important than the gauges, especially if you have a “Darren” whose eye for paint is scarily good)

Test patches - a couple of test patches are always worth doing in determining what works well or not (every single car is a little bit different so we never make assumptions)

Discussion with the client on what we found and the best way forward

Cue rain!

First pass with light polish on heavy polishing pads (every panel was treated multiple times at varying rotary speeds to get the finish we were after)

Spot treatment of a couple of annoying etching marks on the bonnet (looked a bit like they may have come from bird muck that had been sat there a while) with heavier polish and compounding pads (plus a lot more paint depth readings to ensure everything stayed safe - luckily the marks were in a safe area of the paint that could be corrected like this (state-of-the-art polishes also help)

Discuss progress with client and show results

Second pass with cleanser/sealant on fine finishing pads to refine the work and get the initial sealant bond (again this was repeated several times on each panel)

Hand sealant application with cure time and hand buff

Interior - vacuum, dust, glass clean, leather clean and condition

Wheel polish, sealant application and buff off

Tyres dressed - it gives them a decent finished look and helps to provide the sidewalls with some UV protection

Wheel arch treatment – dressing plastic wheel arch liners makes them nice and black while providing a little protection

Exhaust tip polish

Exterior glass clean

Exterior vinyl/rubber treatment and light buff

Shut lines brushed out and cleaned

Final buff off and inspection with the client


The working conditions weren't ideal and certainly slowed us down but every process is checked after it is completed and if the results aren't to standard we simply do it again until it is right. I'm just glad there was no wind, we would have had to finish up quickly and come back another day!