By: 'steve'

Hi, i am sure this one has been asked before but the body work of my legerra has fadded, once t-cutted its good for about a week before it fades again.Is there a magic cure or will i have to have the shell sprayed? if it has to be sprayed does anybody know where in the south east, Bexleyheath/kent area that will do a good job at a reasonable price?

By: 'Rob Saul'

t-cut will give a good shine to start with but does more harm than good as it actually bleaches your bodywork as you restore the colour,go to a local boat yard or grp supply company and you want faracle G3 an G7 these are proffesional cutting compounds and VERY good to do a whole car prpoerly should take a whole day but you cant expect good results if you spend an hour on it.Use them wet with a water spray so as not to burn the surface and for really good results use a polishing mop then top off with a really good polish-another half day with simoniz should do it ! should have a good shine for a couple of years

By: 'Tony D'

Hi Steve

The same happens with my S4 as it is still finished in the original gel coat.
About all you can do is use a good quantity of a quality wax polish after every wash.
It needs a good old rub to remove any oxidization ( whiteish fade)and you will find that as the wax builds up the problem becomes less over time but will never dissapear (the main problem with GRP). Sofar the best wax/polish that i have found is Autoglym Color Restorer to initally remove the oxidization (its a lot gentler on the surface than Tcut) followed buy a coat of good old turtle wax.

You may find that having the body resprayed will not give the same deep gloss that you can achive with well polished fiberglass (depending on paint used coats applied and wether you have a couple of coats of laquer on top), even if you dont have the same fading problems.

Tony D

By: 'Pete H'

Hi Guys,

Re red paint fade, the only real solution is to respray. The u/v rays from the sun affect reds, maroons, and dark blues, they 'bleach' the pigments in the paint (or gelcoat), you can t-cut, compound with G3 or G7, autoglym etc, but once the pigment is gone, these will only be a temporary solution.
Almost all modern red cars are painted in 'base and clear', ie red base coat that is laquered to solve the problem.
If you are prepared to 'prep' the car yourself, ie strip it, key the paintwork and repair where necessary, you can keep the costs down, but as ever the finished result depend on the prep. Dutton gel coats/mouldings were never at the 'cutting edge' of technology, ie rippled, air spots and generally poor finishing, so if you want a straight, ripple free finish, it won't be cheap. If you are happy with the current finish, and just want a 'shine' then expect to pay £400-500 for a paint job.
Goog luck.

Pete H