FRUNKenstein
Daily Driver
Last summer, I had a color change done on my car from matte black (done by prior owner) to Verde Chiaro (358). My car is an '87, but that is a '74 paint code, and my body shop guy said he could only get it in single stage paint.
Last fall, I bought a ceramic coating kit from our local car care products vendor. Good people who are very knowledgeable on detailing products. They ordered me in a coating that works well with single-stage paint. The brand and product is Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer. Here is the product on the manufacturer's website: https://usa.gtechniq.com/products/auto/c1-crystal-lacquer
I have been meaning to apply the stuff, but with a house remodel last summer & fall, it got pushed back. The car goes into the shop tomorrow for a timing belt/water pump swap, and the Fiat specialist I'm taking it to has his shop at the end of a 1 mile long gravel road. So, I figured I had better get it done before then. Last night, I did the deed.
I started by doing the targa top. I figured if I messed that up, it's no big deal since it will rarely be used. It is gloss black, and it came out terrific. Easy peasy. I put the car on our 4-poster lift to make it easier to get to the lower portions of the body. The vendor told me that since it was such a small car, the bottle of liquid in the coating kit would probably be enough to do it twice. So, I'm all fat, dumb & happy soaking the little applicator pad when doing the targa top, and then the hood and the top of the trunk. Then I noticed I had used about 80% of the liquid. Crap. I stretched it out and got it covered, albeit the sides aren't coated nearly as well.
The below pics are from last night. This morning, as I was walking past the targa top, I ran my finger across the surface, thinking it was going to be really slick like right after waxing. To my surprise, it is not slick at all. I don't know if that's normal or not. The targa top looks fantastic, but I was just expecting it to be slick. It is a little tougher to see any difference on the car itself as the green paint doesn't show the coating like the black targa top. Since the paint was new, I saw very little difference when applying the product - which is not a bad thing as it looked good already. I guess the real test will be when I wash it - likely immediately after I get it back from the mechanic.
Here are some pics from after applying the coating:
Last fall, I bought a ceramic coating kit from our local car care products vendor. Good people who are very knowledgeable on detailing products. They ordered me in a coating that works well with single-stage paint. The brand and product is Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer. Here is the product on the manufacturer's website: https://usa.gtechniq.com/products/auto/c1-crystal-lacquer
I have been meaning to apply the stuff, but with a house remodel last summer & fall, it got pushed back. The car goes into the shop tomorrow for a timing belt/water pump swap, and the Fiat specialist I'm taking it to has his shop at the end of a 1 mile long gravel road. So, I figured I had better get it done before then. Last night, I did the deed.
I started by doing the targa top. I figured if I messed that up, it's no big deal since it will rarely be used. It is gloss black, and it came out terrific. Easy peasy. I put the car on our 4-poster lift to make it easier to get to the lower portions of the body. The vendor told me that since it was such a small car, the bottle of liquid in the coating kit would probably be enough to do it twice. So, I'm all fat, dumb & happy soaking the little applicator pad when doing the targa top, and then the hood and the top of the trunk. Then I noticed I had used about 80% of the liquid. Crap. I stretched it out and got it covered, albeit the sides aren't coated nearly as well.
The below pics are from last night. This morning, as I was walking past the targa top, I ran my finger across the surface, thinking it was going to be really slick like right after waxing. To my surprise, it is not slick at all. I don't know if that's normal or not. The targa top looks fantastic, but I was just expecting it to be slick. It is a little tougher to see any difference on the car itself as the green paint doesn't show the coating like the black targa top. Since the paint was new, I saw very little difference when applying the product - which is not a bad thing as it looked good already. I guess the real test will be when I wash it - likely immediately after I get it back from the mechanic.
Here are some pics from after applying the coating: