Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0 Correction Detail

This is a very well documented car for readers of Evo magazine, users of Pistonheads forum, and watchers of the Youtube channel, Drive – for the owner was the renowned journalist, Chris ‘Monkey’ Harris. The car is a Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0, the last and most focused hardcore edition of the Porsche 997 (911). Just 600 were built for the worldwide market, and using engine internals from the RSR race car, together with an aggressive aero package and chassis set up, it’s every bit the race car for the road. Mr Harris is far better equipped to describe why this amazing car deserves the furore that goes with it.

Chris Harris is famously uninterested in keeping his cars clean, but the new owner of this very special 911 is somewhat different. He asked us to fully correct the paintwork of the car, prior to the application of a total Paintshield paint protection film wrap, enabling him to drive and enjoy the car whilst maintaining it’s perfect condition.

Upon our arrival at Paintshield, we found the car indoors covered in a light layer of grime. It had been collected by trailer the previous day from Swindon Porsche dealership, Dick Lovett. First job was to get it outside and give it a thorough wash, the freezing conditions being highly motivational to get this task completed quickly and get back inside the heated workshop.

Knowing who had owned this car, we were expecting the paint to be in considerably worse condition. Once the usual tar and brake pad contamination had been removed using a clay bar and chemical paint cleaner approach, it was clear the paint was a little flat and dull. Covered in an even spread of swirls and marring, with the odd deeper random scratch thrown in here and there. Being white it was quite hard to photograph defects, but we persisted and managed to get a selection, as per the owners request for the work to be documented. After taking time to mask the graphics and rubber door trim with tape to prevent damage & polish contamination, a suitable polishing choice was investigated to achieve the necessary defect correction.

The image above was taken before the refinement stage, where a light polish is used to follow the coarse corrective compound, and burnish the paint finish to a crisp, sharp gloss. Happy with what was being achieved, we continued to work around the car, panel by panel.

What followed was a very late night in the workshop on the first day, and a very early start the following morning, resulting in approximately 18 hours of paint correction and refinement. The end result was a beautifully glossy white car with the ‘wet look’ that some believe impossible to achieve with this colour. The car was taken back outside to rinse it off again, removing any remaining polishing dust, before bringing it inside and carefully drying it, then wiping all the panels down with alcohol to ensure a completely clean and clear surface for the Xpel film to be applied onto.

Elsewhere, GTechniq G1 Glass sealant was applied to the glass, G5 to the polycarbonate rear screen, C5 to the alloy wheels, and C4 to any unpainted plastic trim, such as the splitter and seals.