Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Towed
Jeff, with respect, that's a very good example of what I mean.
There's no depth to the shine - you should be able to see a crisp reflection of the hall lighting in the surface, not just shapeless blobs of light. It has a matt dullness to it that'll bug you for years if you don't paint over it.
Compare that with this 250GT Pinin Farina Cabriolet under similar lighting -
You can clearly see the structure of the ceiling above the car in the bonnet and it just has that shine to it that you'll never achieve with gel coat, no matter how expensive the body was.
I know that the Ferrari I've used as an example is a multi-million pound show car, but I just tried to find the price of the Ultima body to compare with Tribute and others. I think someone else has already claimed the 'if you have to ask...' quote as they don't publish their prices, but I found one source that suggested it was something of a bargain at $59,000 U.S., and that was without an engine. Ouch. Gel coat is a very practical and durable finish on a canoe, but I still maintain that there's no place for it on a car. |
Very true , but you can factor in another £5k on your build for a top paint job. The Ultima is also a good example of a Gel finish in as much as the panel gaps are properly sorted so you don't need to trim and fettle them for a good fit. Any such work will nullify a gel coat finish anyway , that's why the Tribute cars aren't at that level yet.