2010 Camaro Optimum Gloss Coat New Formula

[The Guz]

I have owned two 5th gens, a 2010 1LT and my current 2011 2SS. I would remove that SS and save the kid the teasing he might get. Loved both of them but the clear coast scratch easy and a yearly Polish is a necessity to keep them looking good IMO. Great job knocking out those swirls! Looks good!

Thanks. It's not a big deal if it has the badge or not. Look at all those 4th gen folks that clone the appearance of the SS. I highly doubt he will be teased for it.

Wow! Beautiful work good sir! :xyxthumbs:

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Mike.

Great work!!! I just ordered some Optimum Gloss Coating for a major project sometime in January. So I'm enjoy this write up that much more.

Thanks. Glad it could help out.

The car looks GREAT and awesome write up. Thanks!

Thanks.


I forgot to mention that I applied the second coat after letting the first coat sit for about an hour.

 

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

What is the difference between M100 and M101 besides one being designed for rotary and the other for foam pads? I have never used M100 only M101 but it seems alot of people reach for M100. Can you please explain this to me? As per Meguiars they both offer the same amount of cut.

I think I heard somewhere that M100 is alot like D300 but has improved abrasives and cuts a little more. Correct me if im wrong Im just trying to understand the differences. Thanks!

 

[The Guz]

The video says it best. They were designed for different things.

[video=youtube_share;Ugl35QexkkQ"]Meguiar's M105, M101 and M100 Compounds Round Table Discussion at Autogeek with Mike Phillips - YouTube[/video]

But both can be used with foam or microfiber and also on a DA. M100 is more affordable but it performs very well. They are much better than M105.

 

[haris300]

Awesome work and photos! That paint looks fantastic. Do you use only one suede applicator for the whole car or do you use multiple? I use the same application method when applying Optimum coatings, but I tend to use 3 or 4 suede cloths. Sounds like I might be wasting them.

 

[The Guz]

Awesome work and photos! That paint looks fantastic. Do you use only one suede applicator for the whole car or do you use multiple? I use the same application method when applying Optimum coatings, but I tend to use 3 or 4 suede cloths. Sounds like I might be wasting them.

Thanks.

I used 3. I flip them pretty often while I am using them. I also toss them in a bucket with DP pad rejuvenator right away so that the product doesn't stay on the suede. I will see how they dry and whether they are still fine to use after I rinse them out and dry them.

I have been using Ameriarmour and the suede applicators cleaned up after soaking them in DP pad rejuvenator and washing them afterwards.

 

[The Guz]

Well I ended up keeping the car a couple extra days. Drove it over to their house today which is close by. Prior to that my uncle stopped by after work and he couldn't believe how great it looked inside and out. He said it looked better than when he bought it new from the dealer.

Once I get to their house his dad takes him outside. He couldn't believe it was the same car. He was digging it and was very surprised. He then realized that it was never dropped off for any recall work lol.

Today is his actual birthday and he's the new owner. Congrats to him.

I also set him up with a starter washing kit so he can maintain it. I was asked how to maintain it so that's a good sign. Well worth the work that was put into the car.

 

[AZpolisher15]

Nice post, Guz. Thanks.

 

[GSKR]

Car looks great,but do something with that plate in the front if you can great work.

 

[The Guz]

Nice post, Guz. Thanks.

Thanks.

Car looks great,but do something with that plate in the front if you can great work.

It's not my car and a front plate is California law.

 

[GSKR]

Thanks.



It's not my car and a front plate is California law.

Suggest to your uncle to mount it in the middle bumper,it will flow better with the lines of the car.or maybe he can't now because he will have holes in the bumper otherwise nice work.

 

[The Guz]

This is an update on how the coating fared.

It's been 17 months since I have seen this car. I had my uncle bring it by to do a decon wash to evaluate how gloss coat has been doing.

I started off with the wheels and tires and then proceeded to spray Ferrex onto the painted surface. I let that sit for a few minutes. I rinsed it off and saw some unexpected behavior. So I proceeded with a wash. I used CarPro Reset to wash it. As I was done washing this is what I saw. Similar behavior as when I rinsed the surface free of ferrex.

No beading or sheeting. Water was laying flat. Primarily on the flat surfaces. The sides were barely clinging on.

Rear Quarter

Hood

Trunk

Roof

The only area that showed signs of life was the front bumper

I dried the car off and then moved it into the garage thinking maybe it just had some built up road grime. On an episode of the optimum synergy podcast dated on 2/21/2017 there is a discussion on how to do a decon wash using Optimum MDR at 3:1 and Power Clean at 3:1 and agitate each step with a dampened towel in ONR. I won't go into too much detail on the steps. After this is done it is recommended to rinse the surface with water. I even did the so called wash, clay, wax method using optimum car wax and a fine grade clay towel on one area of the hood. I did the baggie test and there was not very much contaminants on the paint.

I said lets give it another wash with Reset. Well same behavior. Gloss Coat has indeed failed on the above shown surfaces. It was barely clinging onto the sides. The front bumper was the only area that had any signs of life.

Now this is the newest formula of Gloss Coat which is stated to last 3 years (36 months). Optimum guarantees it for 2 years (24 months). This is quite a disappointment that it did not even make it to 2 years before it failed.

I asked my uncle was this taken to a tunnel wash or coin op wash. He said no and that he washes all the cars at home with Meguiar's Deep Crystal car shampoo.

The weather here in Southern California has been dry for the most part. Other than December 2016 into around February/March 2017 time frame where it did rain more than usual.

It is possible that Gloss Coat did not bond well as CarPro Eraser was used since Optimum Paint Prep was not out at the time.

Anyway I could not let it leave with lack luster protection.

I cleaned up the interior and protected it with GTechniq C6 Matte Dash

Cleaned all the glass with McKee's 37 20/20. The back window had some nasty crud on it and turned my applicator brown. 20/20 is good stuff.

Treated the trim

Polished up the stainless steel tips

Meghan sent me this tire gel to review. I went ahead and used it and will have a review up soon.

1 coat in full sun on the rear tire. I did not buff it. It dried to the touch in about 20 mins.

1 coat on the front tire in full sun

For protection I went ahead and just used opti-seal for the fact it is quick to use. I let it sit for an hour before I wiped it down with optimum instant gloss detailer.

Recap, Gloss Coat has failed at the 17 month mark which is a little disappointing given that optimum guarantees it to last 2 years. Doesn't really give me confidence on how it will hold up on my dad's car that also has gloss coat. I hope it lasts longer than this.

I told my uncle if he wants me to polish it later on I will do so. The paint is swirled out. My cousin is the owner of it so he has been taking over the maintenance of it in terms of washing the car at home. I came to the conclusion of not re-coating this car. If I ever work on it again it will either be a one step cleaner wax type product or a one step polish and seal.

This will be the last update to this thread with regards to gloss coat.

 

[tpr1634]

I just did my truck which is outside 24/7 I'm still not sure about gloss coat I figure if I get one year I may be doing good. Maybe I am wrong but for the money 845 or FK will do just as well for less money, I also wonder how much marketing and or hype these products bring to the table. I am pretty sure there are better coatings other than gloss coat and I like the Optimum line I will have to see how it fares with my vehicle. 17 months give or take with proper care is just not worth it to me.

 

[GSKR]

This car belongs to my uncle. He asked me if I could polish it out as he will be giving it to his son as a gift for his 18th birthday on December 23rd. He's a good kid so I went the extra mile and coated the car after correcting it. This was a full interior and exterior job. It only has 18k miles on it and it is a V6. Don't let the SS badge fool you lol. My uncle decided he wanted a clone but the exhaust tone gives it away lol.

This is how it arrived. With a nice coat of dirt on it.

The defects underneath the layer of dirt

I started off using this wash method by Mike Phillips (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/86146-aggressive-approach-washing-car.html)

Here is Ironx doing it's thing

Followed that up with a foam bath using Meguiar's Hyper Wash

There was no sign of any protection on the paint. The water just stuck to the surface

Pulled it into the garage. This is what I was working with.

Defects on the trunk

On the rear drivers side quarter panel

Went on to clay the car. This is what I pulled out on a small section of the trunk. It was similar around the entire car. There was also some white overspray on a few areas of the car.

I knew I was going to have to compound but I started off with a test spit with M205 and a Meguiar's thin yellow foam polishing disc. I did this on the door as I also tried a couple other combinations to see what works best. M205 did a good job but the defects were pretty deep. My camera couldn't pick them up.

Video of the test spot.

http://vimeo.com/148760788

I ended up moving to D300 on a microfiber cutting disc. This was doing a better job but even that was struggling a bit. I ended up using M100 on a microfiber cutting disc. The paint on this is on the hard side. The good news is that both D300 and M100 finished LSP ready. Here's the drivers side front fender after using the M100/microfiber combo. There were some deep scratches on the fender that would require more work than what is needed.

After compounding with M100 and the microfiber cutting disc, I moved to M205 on a thin yellow polishing disc, followed by Menzerna SF3800 on a thin black foam finishing disc. M100 on microfiber did dust so I ended up doing a quick rinseless with D114 to remove all the compound dust from the paint and from the crevices it found it's way to (ie door panels, trunk, etc). After that I followed up with a couple wipedowns of Carpro Eraser.

The coating of choice was Optimum Gloss Coats newest formula. Thanks Vega from Autopia for matching the Autogeek cyber buster deal on gloss coat.

This is what is included in the package. One thing to note is that I did not use the provided foam applicator. I ended up using a CarPro suede applicator and the CarPro applicator block. It worked flawlessly.

This is a 10cc syringe.

This is what I have left after applying 2 coats to the paint.

Here are the end results on the car

Trunk looking good.

Driver side rear quarter panel looking good

It was a bit overcast when I took these

The interior was not bad. A quick vacuum cleaned up most of it. Followed up with some Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer and Natural Shine. The rubber was a bit dry. The dirtiest part was the glass.

My brother came over and he decided to give Blackfire All In One Tire and Trim Protectant a go in the engine bay. This is all he used.

Before

After

Air intake before

All dressed

Final shot of my 4th gen behind this 5th gen

Products used:

Paint:
Wash: Meguiar's Hyper Wash
Decontamination: Ironx, Clay with Meguiar's M34
Compound: Meguiar's M100 + Meguiar's microfiber cutting disc
Polish: Meguiar's M205 + Meguiar's thin yellow polishing disc, Menzerna SF3800 + Meguiar's thin black foam finishing disc
Coating Prep: CarPro Eraser
Coating: Optimum Gloss Coat (new formula). Applied 2 coats
Tools: Meguiar's MT300 DA, Porter Cable 7424XP, Harbor Freight 2" polisher

Tires:
Meguiar's D143
Pinnacle Black Onyx (2 coats)

Wheels:
Meguiar's D143 with various brushes
Clayed
Polished with M205
Detailer's Pro Coating Prep Polish
Pinnacle Black Label Paint Coating Version 1 (using the remainder I have only on the face of the wheels)

Wheel Wells:
Meguiar's Super Degreaer
Meguiar's Hyper Dressing

Exhaust Tips:
Meguiar's Medium cut metal polish
Meguiar's Fine Cut metal polish
Wolfgang Metal Sealant

Trim:
Front cowl, window trim, roof trim, shark fin antenna, rear valence was cleaned with Mothers Back to Black Heavy Duty Trim Cleaner, dressed with Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant

Glass:
Clayed
Detailer's Pro Krystal Vision Glass Cleaner
Detailers Pro Glass Restorer Polish + Lake Country Tangerine Polishing pad
Detailer's Pro Coating Prep Polish
Detailers Pro Glass Coating

Interior:
Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer
Meguiar's Natural Shine
Detailer's Pro Krystal Vision Glass Cleaner
303 Fabric Guard (seats and mats)
Blackfire Leather Conditioner

Engine Bay:
Adam Lug Nut Brush
Blackfire All In One Tire & trim Protectant

kinetic blue just bought the hotwheels edition whipple charger 6.2 litre Borla atak exhaust cold air intake bigger throttle body.zl1 hood and totally different look.Only 1200 were made.I used jescar correction essence then x2 gloss coat.waited a week applied fusion x2.Wheels off correction front and rear and polished all the brembo brake components.Engine steamed no dressing and steamed all the suspension parts.Car has 12k on it.When I took it out a couple times got nine complements.Heres the reality its not the car but its the gleaming detail.

 

[GSKR]

This is an update on how the coating fared.

It's been 17 months since I have seen this car. I had my uncle bring it by to do a decon wash to evaluate how gloss coat has been doing.

I started off with the wheels and tires and then proceeded to spray Ferrex onto the painted surface. I let that sit for a few minutes. I rinsed it off and saw some unexpected behavior. So I proceeded with a wash. I used CarPro Reset to wash it. As I was done washing this is what I saw. Similar behavior as when I rinsed the surface free of ferrex.

No beading or sheeting. Water was laying flat. Primarily on the flat surfaces. The sides were barely clinging on.

Rear Quarter

Hood

Trunk

Roof

The only area that showed signs of life was the front bumper

I dried the car off and then moved it into the garage thinking maybe it just had some built up road grime. On an episode of the optimum synergy podcast dated on 2/21/2017 there is a discussion on how to do a decon wash using Optimum MDR at 3:1 and Power Clean at 3:1 and agitate each step with a dampened towel in ONR. I won't go into too much detail on the steps. After this is done it is recommended to rinse the surface with water. I even did the so called wash, clay, wax method using optimum car wax and a fine grade clay towel on one area of the hood. I did the baggie test and there was not very much contaminants on the paint.

I said lets give it another wash with Reset. Well same behavior. Gloss Coat has indeed failed on the above shown surfaces. It was barely clinging onto the sides. The front bumper was the only area that had any signs of life.

Now this is the newest formula of Gloss Coat which is stated to last 3 years (36 months). Optimum guarantees it for 2 years (24 months). This is quite a disappointment that it did not even make it to 2 years before it failed.

I asked my uncle was this taken to a tunnel wash or coin op wash. He said no and that he washes all the cars at home with Meguiar's Deep Crystal car shampoo.

The weather here in Southern California has been dry for the most part. Other than December 2016 into around February/March 2017 time frame where it did rain more than usual.

It is possible that Gloss Coat did not bond well as CarPro Eraser was used since Optimum Paint Prep was not out at the time.

Anyway I could not let it leave with lack luster protection.

I cleaned up the interior and protected it with GTechniq C6 Matte Dash

Cleaned all the glass with McKee's 37 20/20. The back window had some nasty crud on it and turned my applicator brown. 20/20 is good stuff.

Treated the trim

Polished up the stainless steel tips

Meghan sent me this tire gel to review. I went ahead and used it and will have a review up soon.

1 coat in full sun on the rear tire. I did not buff it. It dried to the touch in about 20 mins.

1 coat on the front tire in full sun

For protection I went ahead and just used opti-seal for the fact it is quick to use. I let it sit for an hour before I wiped it down with optimum instant gloss detailer.

Recap, Gloss Coat has failed at the 17 month mark which is a little disappointing given that optimum guarantees it to last 2 years. Doesn't really give me confidence on how it will hold up on my dad's car that also has gloss coat. I hope it lasts longer than this.

I told my uncle if he wants me to polish it later on I will do so. The paint is swirled out. My cousin is the owner of it so he has been taking over the maintenance of it in terms of washing the car at home. I came to the conclusion of not re-coating this car. If I ever work on it again it will either be a one step cleaner wax type product or a one step polish and seal.

This will be the last update to this thread with regards to gloss coat.

I just posted a thread about glosscoat.8 months tops is all you get.People are saying 18 months there is no way.I use glosscoat cause its glossy and user friendly.Boys tru coat is very durable but never gets mentioned on here great product.

 

[GSKR]

Meant boyds

 

[The Guz]

I just did my truck which is outside 24/7 I'm still not sure about gloss coat I figure if I get one year I may be doing good. Maybe I am wrong but for the money 845 or FK will do just as well for less money, I also wonder how much marketing and or hype these products bring to the table. I am pretty sure there are better coatings other than gloss coat and I like the Optimum line I will have to see how it fares with my vehicle. 17 months give or take with proper care is just not worth it to me.

Keep us updated. I am coming up on a year with my dad's and it's doing good.

kinetic blue just bought the hotwheels edition whipple charger 6.2 litre Borla atak exhaust cold air intake bigger throttle body.zl1 hood and totally different look.Only 1200 were made.I used jescar correction essence then x2 gloss coat.waited a week applied fusion x2.Wheels off correction front and rear and polished all the brembo brake components.Engine steamed no dressing and steamed all the suspension parts.Car has 12k on it.When I took it out a couple times got nine complements.Heres the reality its not the car but its the gleaming detail.

Sounds like a great ride. You should be posting photos.

I just posted a thread about glosscoat.8 months tops is all you get.People are saying 18 months there is no way.I use glosscoat cause its glossy and user friendly.Boys tru coat is very durable but never gets mentioned on here great product.

Honestly I have no idea when it failed. It could have failed sooner than 17 months. 17 months was just when I actually washed it myself.

 

[spazzz]

Uh-oh.
From a Gloss Coat user,,,, I felt my heart sink.

I would think the washing and drying techniques had something to do with it.
That kind of failure doesn't seem possible. It was a year and a halfthough. Mine has been on a year through a winter in WI and it still beading great.
I did notice the side skirts could use another coat but after being brine blasted I can except that.

I know the prep and application on your part was stellar. This is bad news. At least it's not Monday

 

[The Guz]

Uh-oh.
From a Gloss Coat user,,,, I felt my heart sink.

I would think the washing and drying techniques had something to do with it.
That kind of failure doesn't seem possible. It was a year and a halfthough. Mine has been on a year through a winter in WI and it still beading great.
I did notice the side skirts could use another coat but after being brine blasted I can except that.

I know the prep and application on your part was stellar. This is bad news. At least it's not Monday

With optimum touting that this is much more durable than a wax or sealant is the selling point. Maybe it was a fluke on this car.

The thing is I don't have any idea of when it actually failed. It could have failed at 6 months, 8 months, 10 months. I just can not be certain. I stated 17 months because that is when I physically washed it to evaluate the performance of the coating. Either way it is a bummer when hearing optimum saying it will last 2 years. I wold think it would last the 3 years easily with the weather here in So Cal.

I could not leave the paint unprotected so I just put something on too last for a short time.

 

[Ernie Mccracken]

So disappointing. I guess this is how they manipulate the market and justify the huge price tag for opticoat now.

 

[JustJesus]

Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear that, sir.