Projects: Lotus Evora GT, Paint Correction, Clear Bra, Ceramic Coating

James Melfi

4 years ago

Hey everyone, we are back again with another projects piece. This project incorporated paint correction, extensive custom clear bra and a ceramic paint coating to boot. The canvas – an absolutely breathtaking Lotus Evora GT. I think red just might be the prefect color for this car!

The Lotus Evora GT is powered by a supercharged Toyota 3.5-liter V-6, putting out 416 horses and 317 lb-ft of torque. That’s a bit more power than the average Camry. This track inspired beast required some refinement to rid the paintwork of the typical Lotus spec’d sanding marks and light scratches. After our paint correction test spot, we quickly learned a 2 step polishing process was going to strip away the paint flaws and unveil a brilliant deep finish. Once the paint was perfected, we came up with a customized protection plan to keep the finish looking its best. Our goal was to select products that would minimize soft paint frustrations and make cleanings far easier. This would allow our client the ability to enjoy the car and use it to the fullest without walking on egg shells. The combination of LLumar Platinum PPF and a Modesta ceramic paint coating were the ideal solutions.

The first steps as always were the wash and decontamination stages. I apologize for the lack of pictures, it gets crazy in the shop sometimes. Our wash stage consisted of a pretreat with Sonax Multi-Star APC followed by a traditional wash with Gtechniq W4 Citrus Foam and some Rag Company Edgeless 300 Towels. We rounded out the decontamination with an iron removal and clay treatment.

Now for the fun part. The polishing stages. Disregard the scary face, I actually did like the results I achieved with Meguiars D300 Compound, Meguiars Microfiber Cutting Disc on the Rupes 21 and Rupes Mini polishers. This combination cut away a variety of defects ranging from sanding marks, deep scratches and the dreaded swirl marks. This paint, being on the softer side was the perfect candidate for a medium grade compound like D300. D300 removed the defects while only leaving behind a mild haze to refine later in the detail.

With the use of microfiber pads, or any pad for that matter, consistent pad cleaning or residue management is essential in continuously achieving your desired result on each panel. Always, always, always clean your pads after each cycle. For more information on pad cleaning – check this article out ⇒https://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-Pro/detailing-essentials-6-polishing-residue-management/ This Lotus was a prime example of the importance of pad cleaning. If I neglected cleaning my pad just once, I noticed a drastically different result on the next section.

When it came to the refinement stage Sonax Perfect Finish on a Lake Country HDO Black Pad did the just the trick in removing the compounding haze and restoring clarity.

When all polishing stages were complete, it was back in the wash bay and time for our signature tar go-thorough. This is the step when we take our favorite Foam Detailing Swabs and a few drops of Stoners Tarmintor and make our way through every crack and crevice. This step is essential is removing any left over polishing residue and creating a perfect contrast between materials.

After the residue was cleaned up, we gave the paintwork, carbon fiber and gloss black components a Gyeon Prep wipe down. This oil remover creates a ultra clean surface, suitable for coating adhesion and film preparation.

For this film installation, the client opted for extensive coverage. This decision was made, based on the sensitive nature of the paint but also because this vehicle is an absolute rock magnet. I moved the car outside briefly and in that time there were already rocks building up behind the rear wheels.

Our performance pack PPF coverage option is highlighted in the picture below. On the Lotus Evora S it includes the panels most prone to rock chip damage. This vehicle received our advanced film installation with each piece of film custom trimmed for maximum coverage and minimal seams.

Our coating of choice on this project was Modesta® BC-08 Neo Silica Matrix coating. A coating with fantastic looks and a impressive water repelling effect.

We allowed the coating to sit on the paint for 3-5 minutes before removing the residue with three separate microfiber towels. A Scangrip SunMatch 3 light was used to spot potential high spots along the way. Once finished, we started up our IR curing lamp to bake each panel for 10 minutes at 170° This accelerates the curing process and creates a hard candy like shine.