2011 Prius - Replaced Opti-Coat 2.0 with CQuartz UK 2014 Edition

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The Critic

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It has been about 10 months since I last gave my personal car any kind of exterior detailing.

While the Opti-Coat 2.0 was still working fairly well, I felt that I had greatly improved my paint correction skills since my car was last worked on (thanks JSmooth), and as a result - I think I could get my car's finish to a much higher level.

In addition, when the car was last coated, I only did a light polish using a very light finishing polish, so there were still defects leftover from my tunnel carwash days.

So here we go...

Tools used:
Rupes LHR21ES - correction step
Rupes LHR12E - finishing step
Rupes LHR75E - used for the correction and finishing steps on the liftgate
Rupes Swirl Finder Pen Light

Products used:
Wash: Meguiars D110 Hyper Wash
Decontamination: Meguiars C2000 Fine Grade Detailing Clay
Clay Lube: Optimum No Rinse - Diluted 1:16
Correction Step: Meguiars M100 with Meguiars DMF6 Microfiber Finishing Discs (to remove Opti-Coat 2.0 and remove most defects)
Refinement Step: Meguiars M205 with Rupes Yellow Foam Polishing Pads
Pre-Coating Wipe-down: CarPro Eraser
Paint Protection: CarPro CQuartz UK, 2014 Edition. Two coats on the roof, one coat on the rest of the car.

Note: Also wiped down the car with CarPro Reload as per the application instructions.

Here's a picture of the paint after the compounding step.

DSC_1119 by thecritic89, on Flickr

I used light pressure, speed 3 and a total of 3 passes in approx 16"x16" sections; I think the total work time was about 2 minutes per section. There's a minimal amount of DA haze and some light to moderate micro-marring from the Meguiars microfiber finishing disc. I was getting 90% + correction with this combo and approach.

(For what it's worth, I later used M100 with the new-style Meguiars MF Finishing Discs and found that there's almost zero micro marring using the same approach, hmm...)

I did not take any additional pictures during the correction process, but I should mention that I tested multiple combos for the finishing step. HD Adapt wasn't working too well with the heat and humidity, but M205 was. This is somewhat unfortunate since Adapt finished out a hair better than 205, but we're splitting hairs here.

Anyway, here are some final pictures. My photography skills really do not capture the gloss and darkening effect that CQuartz UK added to the finish:

DSC_1141 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_1139 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_1147 by thecritic89, on Flickr


DSC_1142 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_1127 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_1131 by thecritic89, on Flickr



- Critic
 
The richness of the color is readily apparent Critic. You've come a long way in a short time, well done.
 
I find it odd that you used one of the heaviest compounds available on a finishing disc. However, the results speak for themselves.

IW
 
Maybe I missed it, but why did you use CQUK this time instead of Opti-Coat? Can you give us any comparison as you see it between the application and the finished product of the two coatings?
 
IW, while the MF finishing discs from Meguiars deliver less cut than their MF cutting discs, their cut is still very similar to a light-cutting foam pad. While I understand that the MF discs and D300/301/302 were developed together as a system, many of us have discovered that the discs can be used quite effectively with other compounds and polishes – but with an adjustment in your application and usage technique.

SA, my personal experience with several OC 2.0 cars is that contaminants seem to stick very easily to OC 2.0, and can easily “kill” the beading if the car is parked outside and left unwashed for a few weeks. Sure, a light claying with a fine-grade Nanoskin towel will solve the problem, but it is an inconvenience.

Here’s an example – I maintain my friend’s fleet of cars, and all of them are parked outside. His wife drives a vehicle that had Opti-Coat 2.0 installed by me about 3 weeks ago. I did the first wash about 3 weeks after the install, and all of the horizontal surfaces had a light coating of rough, gritty contaminants. The beading was still fine, but the contaminants had bonded and required clay to remove. OTOH, his own little 350z has 2 coats of CQuartz UK installed. This car was extremely filthy and had not been washed in over a month. After a normal wash, there were no discernable contaminants bonded to the 350z at all.

However, I will say that the application process for 2.0 is much easier than UK, and it is probably going to last longer. If you can put the contamination issue aside, it also doesn’t require periodic top-ups with Reload – which UK will need.

Mike, thanks for the kind comments. I am aware of the intended rotary/wool applications, but I used M100 in a variety of applications during the recent NXT class (at your old workplace ;) ), and was quite impressed by its performance and value. I can see this replacing FG400 for me in most applications.
 
The Critic said:
SA, my personal experience with several OC 2.0 cars is that contaminants seem to stick very easily to OC 2.0, and can easily “kill” the beading if the car is parked outside and left unwashed for a few weeks.
Click to expand...

That's bizarre, I mostly have used OC 2.0 on wheels, but I just did a car that sits outside 24/7, so we'll see what happens with that. I say it's bizarre because OC is supposed to have superior dirt release, etc. Seems to work great on wheels.
 
The Critic said:
Mike, thanks for the kind comments. I am aware of the intended rotary/wool applications, but I used M100 in a variety of applications during the recent NXT class (at your old workplace ;) )
Click to expand...


Buffed out a lot of cars and taught a lot of people how to detail back at the old stomping ground.... good to see Mike Stoops and the gang keeping the classes going.


:dblthumb2:
 
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