Paint advice

[superfly]

Dear PistonHeads,

At risk of a topic that has been discussed to death, was hoping for some advice on bodywork.

I have a tuscan from new which is very tatty now, plenty of scratches (from unkind random keys to stone chips), and some cracked fibreglass on the bonnet.

The car has hardly been used for a variety of sad reasons, but I'm hoping now to make use of what summer we might have to take it out, and am considering trying to restore some if its beauty if my wallet allows it.

The car arrived in an original reflex paint which I would like to keep. The damaged panels are the front bonnet, the roof, both front wings, with some fibreglass damage to the front bonnet too. Given its a mark 1and, I'm not sure that repainting only the relevant panels would be a match with the rest of the tired paint work.

so my questions are:

1) Any guesses on whether I might be able to get away with just repainting the most egregiously damaged panels, or for an old car would a total respray be needed?

2) Are the original reflex paints still available?

3) Any recommendations of value for money quality body shops?

4) Any recommendations on treatments to protect a new paint job, given how soft the paint is?

5) Is a wrap worth considering, and are they available in Tvr reflex paint colours?

Many thanks in advance for any help and suggestions!

[ninetynine]

i would speak to brendan at concept performance 07815 101096 he will be able to advise as a tvr paint specialist

[superfly]

Thanks v much

[TwinKam]

In your position, I would also be investigating 'liquid wraps', a newish technology that apparently comes in at a quarter the price of a traditional respray. Outl4w and Qbee on here have had it done recently and seem pleased. Plastidip/ Fulldip are the trade names I think.

[coco79]

TwinKam said:

In your position, I would also be investigating 'liquid wraps', a newish technology that apparently comes in at a quarter the price of a traditional respray. Outl4w and Qbee on here have had it done recently and seem pleased. Plastidip/ Fulldip are the trade names I think.

Here you go: http://matt-pack.co.uk/

[Speed 3]

superfly said:

3) Any recommendations of value for money quality body shops?

Speak to Gary at Beegee Coachcraft in Kingston/New Malden, he's just done my Tuscan and I'm very happy. He's done hundreds of TVR's dating back to the day when he was a main dealer's contracted bodyshop. He was very cost competitive as well compared to places like S&D. Flip paints are fairly notorious and anything less than a full respray will be a big challenge, especially if its not been looked after previously. The TVR paint's flip/spectraflair additives are still available from S&D but are pretty horrendous prices I believe. I do remember seeing a post a while back where someone had sourced it (from the US I think) for a fraction of the price here.

[superfly]

thanks very much chaps, really helpful comments.

[superfly]

incidentally, is there somewhere on the car that the paint code is written? I have my original invoice, theres the name on that, and i can find the code corresponding to that name, but wanted to double check..

[Speed 3]

It is on the data plate as Body Code in the boot:



PPG 011 in my case

[superfly]

I thought I had seen it somewhere! thanks!

[ninetynine]

tvr paint codes are correct about 50% of the time

[AlanQ]

If it helps your decisions any I had bonnet and both wings sprayed recently (not service bonnet) on my Mk1 and it came it at £1200. I was very pleased with the colour match although its not a flip colour so easier to do. I also had the underneath heat shielded and manifold wrapped to try and stop the paint blistering again.The service bonnet is full of stone chips and also needed doing but that would have been an extra £400 so I've planned that in for a later date.

[superfly]

AlanQ said:

If it helps your decisions any I had bonnet and both wings sprayed recently (not service bonnet) on my Mk1 and it came it at £1200. I was very pleased with the colour match although its not a flip colour so easier to do. I also had the underneath heat shielded and manifold wrapped to try and stop the paint blistering again.The service bonnet is full of stone chips and also needed doing but that would have been an extra £400 so I've planned that in for a later date.

thanks AQ, thats v helpful.

[Speed 3]

AlanQ said:

If it helps your decisions any I had bonnet and both wings sprayed recently (not service bonnet) on my Mk1 and it came it at £1200. I was very pleased with the colour match although its not a flip colour so easier to do. I also had the underneath heat shielded and manifold wrapped to try and stop the paint blistering again.The service bonnet is full of stone chips and also needed doing but that would have been an extra £400 so I've planned that in for a later date.

I had that problem, cracked the pepperpot so that needed doing, then service bonnet started crazing, then deal with a slight scuff on one wing so both would be good, then address that misaligned catch on the main bonnet, then the chip on the targa. Man maths then took over and said sod it, may as well have the whole thing done properly and address the rubbing doors etc....Gary charged me £3400 inc VAT & paint (Titanio Grigio) with no price creep at all despite the remedial jobs, most other places were quoting north of £4k.

[superfly]

Speed 3 said:

I had that problem, cracked the pepperpot so that needed doing, then service bonnet started crazing, then deal with a slight scuff on one wing so both would be good, then address that misaligned catch on the main bonnet, then the chip on the targa. Man maths then took over and said sod it, may as well have the whole thing done properly and address the rubbing doors etc....Gary charged me £3400 inc VAT & paint (Titanio Grigio) with no price creep at all despite the remedial jobs, most other places were quoting north of £4k.

thanks you sir. I have a reflex (don't know if Titanio Grigio i) - so im assuming it would be a bit more. did you opt for any lacquer type coating to protect it given how soft the Tvr paint ends up being? not a fan of the plastic chip guards, but would love to know if theres a hard sprayed on alternative.

[Speed 3]

superfly said:

thanks you sir. I have a reflex (don't know if Titanio Grigio i) - so im assuming it would be a bit more. did you opt for any lacquer type coating to protect it given how soft the Tvr paint ends up being? not a fan of the plastic chip guards, but would love to know if theres a hard sprayed on alternative.

TG is a standard Ferrari metallic, flips can be up to £1000 per litre......I don't like chip guards, to me they're a bit like seat covers or those hideous "bras", why protect it for someone else to enjoy ? Old school film like armourfend definitely faded in UV but I think there are more modern ones that don't. I did read on one of the Aston Martin threads that most of those owners wouldn't be without one of the new treatments. In 50-odd K mine wasn't stone chipped much at all, I do know others that suffer depending on colour / model. Probably the paint manufacturer and formulation is a factor. Gary was adamant he only uses solvent based paint as water based are much more susceptible to damage. Outcome was this:



Also had the wheels done in Shadow Chrome.

[superfly]

stunning.

I have to admit that one of the things has led me to this stage has been some totally irrational quasi-superstitious despondency - every time in my life I've had a car brought up to standard, something has happened to it within the space of a few days! whether its someone keying it (first time was along every panel parked outside a police station within a week of having it from new), or a shunt, or a kerbed wheel. thats why im tempted to go for a wrap if I can get one that's close to the original reflex burnt spice that I love.

but now I have it back on the road, a crack on the front of the service bonnet (from someone backing into it), and the last key strokes from a vandal a number of years ago on both wings and the service bonnet, and a pitted roof from having dropped it once on removal - are irritating more than my irrational experience-based-fear.

its a shame that I don't think ill get away with four panels which are the most egregious since the rest of the paint is 16 years old, but ill be in touch with some of the suggestions here and see how I go.

Edited by superfly on Saturday 20th May 17:16