Belinda Wanless – Ceramic Coating Upgrade

Words & Pictures Belinda Wanless

Some of you may remember an article I wrote in 2011/12 about my Fig 2’s change of colour from ‘winter’ grey to glorious sparkly orange three weeks after I bought it. I loved it! Roll on ten years (where did they go?!) and things have changed again.

The car has always lived outside, and I’d had several rust repairs carried out over the years, and typically saw rust starting to bubble up on a rear-wheel arch around four years ago. Sadly, it turned out that one component of the custom sparkly orange paint was no longer in production; hence no paint to enable the wheel arch to be repaired. So I waited…..

Another three years later it became apparent that the paint was never going to be produced again, and by this time it was clear that I had to do something. I ended up in a local garage owned by a friend of my neighbour and comes highly recommended. They started the repairs and therein commenced discussion about the paintwork. It was a conundrum. I could have picked a pearlescent orange; similar, but never the same as it was. I was sent to a Lamborghini garage to look at their various orange and yellow colours. The salesmen were very interested in my Fig 2, but I wasn’t ever tempted by a Lamborghini!

After much deliberation, I ended up biting the bullet and elected to go for a Renault colour – ‘Liquid-Yellow’. A friend brought round his liquid yellow Renault Megan to look at, and that sealed the deal. That was the difficult part, as it’s always difficult to imagine what the finished car will look like in a new colour, especially when you loved the old. However, when it was repaired and resprayed it looked amazing! Really beautiful deep yellow, slightly pearlescent colour.

By this time I also knew about the ceramic coating. My husband Martin had his car coated the year before. Ceramic coatings protect against UV rays from the sun. Without protection, UV rays can eat away at the paintwork, causing oxidation and fade. It also helps your car stay clean by making it more difficult for dirt to stick to the surface. On top of that, it gives the car a deep glossy ‘glow’. The price was around £200 for my car; costs more for bigger cars of course, and depends on how many coatings you have. Martin’s Mustang (BIG MUSCLE CAR!) was around £300 – 350 for a double coating and will last two to three years before needing recoating. In addition to the protection and shine, with a ceramic coating, I don’t need to polish after cleaning the car. I simply wash and dry. I’ve been very happy with the outcome of the new colour and the ceramic coating, and I will be renewing the coating again in a few years time.

Keeping the car outside means you have to do have to take extra care in looking after it so I believe it is worth the extra money to give it a ceramic coat. I love the deep glossy shine the ceramic coating gives Fig 2, as if the liquid yellow wasn’t glorious enough! I loved the old sparkly orange, but times move on and you have to move on with the times. I love my ‘new and improved, liquid-yellow ceramic coated’ Fig 2!

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Dave Eve – Installing Portholes Belinda Wanless – Two Is Better Than One Chris Towers – National Classic Car Rally Zoe & Steve Marciniak – Sheffield To Île-de-Ré in a Figaro Jane Ellison-Bates – Double Trophy Triumph Glen Smith – USA Grade 5A Figaro Carolyn Lachecki – My Surprise Wedding Anniversary Gift Gordon Bishton – Southport Merseyside Photo Shoot