Whiplash Willy
New member
- Jun 30, 2010
- 77
- 0
In June of 2016, about 2 weeks after I picked up my 2016 Subaru WRX Limited, I did a New Car Prep/Optimum Gloss Coat Application.
Here is a link to my thread:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...car-prep-optimum-gloss-coated.html?highlight=
After about 1.5 years, and 20k miles of Daily Driving, it was time to go through a full detail again, and re-apply Gloss Coat.
For the most part, the Original application of Gloss Coat held up pretty well. My Hood, Roof, Trunk and Front Fenders still retained the beading properties, however the lower Sides and Rear had completely lost their beading properties. Pretty much any part of the car that gets hit with Road Spray had lost its beading properties. I can’t remember when exactly it happened, but it was sometime after the initial winter/rainy season. I had tried several things to restore the beading, but ultimately, nothing restored them:
-Several Washes with Carpro Reset (Had been using CG Mr Pink initially)
-Cleaned with OPC @ 1:3
-Optimum Ferrex, Carpro Ironx & Tarx
-Medium Clay
-Optimum Paint Prep
-Carpro Water Spot Remover & Optimum MDR
I was never able to determine if just the properties of the coating were gone, or if the coating was completely gone. The paint in those areas did still seem protected though. I am not sure if the problem was an issue with my prep/application, or if it stopped beading from normal use/road spray. It does seem to be a common issue with Ceramic Coatings, where the lower side and rear panels stop beading after winter time, and I am interested in finding out why.
This time around, I am hoping the entire car will retain its coating properties for atleast 1 – 1.5 years.
Here are the details on my prep/application:
1. I did a light engine bay cleaning with a garden hose and OPC 1:3.
2. Removed all 4 wheels, and cleaned the Fronts and backs of the wheels and tires with OPC 1:3. I also cleaned the wheel wells, Shocks & Calipers with OPC 1:3 and some brushes.
3. Did a Carpro Reset wash of the entire car. On the Side and Rear panels, that see the most road spray, I sprayed the panels first with OPC 1:3 let it dwell for a few min, then washed those areas.
4. I used Optimum’s Ferrex on all painted surfaces, to make sure all iron particles were removed. I sprayed a section at a time, waited 2 min, then agitated it with a yellow foam sponge, let it set another min, then rinsed well. Surprisingly, I didn’t see much purple bleeding, so there must have not been much iron on my paint.
5. I then followed it up with another Carpro Reset wash, to ensure I got any dirt/grime I may have missed, and to make sure none of the Ferrex remained on my paint. (Probably not necessary but I rather be safe)
6. I clayed the car with a Medium Grade Nanoskin Synthetic Clay Bar, using ONR at 1:64 as a Clay Lube
7. My paint was in pretty good condition still, so for most of the car I polished using my PC 7424, an Orange LC CCS Foam Pad, and Optimum Hyper Polish. This was for minor correction, and to remove the first Gloss Coat application. For some of the areas that needed more correction (light scratches) I used either an Orange or Yellow LC CCS Foam Pad, and Menzerna PO 91E, followed up with Hyper Polish on a LC White CCS foam pad. I removed the polish residue using microfiber rags that were soaking in ONR at 1:256. I rung them out, and removed the residue with one light wipe, then followed it up with a dry microfiber to remove the ONR. This process works really well!
8. I then used Optimum Paint Prep to make sure the surface was ready for the coating.
9. I applied the first Coat of Gloss Coat using the included Blue Sponge Applicator. Because my car is silver, and my lighting isn’t the best, I can’t see the coating going on, and it is very difficult to see it flashing. I use a slightly different application process then most, which wastes product, but to me that isn’t an issue since I believe it insures coverage. I basically do a heavy application of the coating to the sponge, and add more product to the sponge in more frequent intervals. I waited about 3-5min for the section to flash (My garage temp was 40-50*F), then wiped the entire section lightly with a microfiber, to ensure there were no high spots. I have to apply it that way because I am basically applying it blind.
10. The next day, I used the same process to apply a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] coat of Gloss Coat over the entire car.
11. About 1.5 days after I finished that 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] coat of GC, I had to start driving my car to work again. I knew the weather would be rainy, and the week I had off to do this detail, it had snowed so I knew there would be a lot of gravel, Mag Chloride and Salt on the roads (Yay Portland Or now uses salt on the roads, thanks ODOT and PBOT!) I want to wait 2-3 weeks before the first wash, to ensure the GC fully cures properly, so I applied a sacrificial coat of Opti-Seal to protect the Gloss Coat during this time.
So far, everything is looking good. I believe I got complete coverage of GC. I didn’t get any high spots, and the brief rain it has seen, the water seems to bead properly. The true test/confirmation will be with my first wash, to see how the water reacts. I will post a follow up post to update how it goes, and try to get a water beading/sheeting video.
On a side note, I will never get a silver car again! I chose silver, because it is low-key, and doesn’t draw a lot of attention. Also, I figured as a Daily Driver, that I only have time to wash every other week, it would appear to be clean longer then any other color. What really sucks about this color is that is very hard to see any kind of defects in the paint. They can only be seen in very specific lighting, and even then only at certain angles. This sucks when it comes to correcting, because it is very easy to miss defects, and hard to tell if you have removed them. It also makes you have to apply coatings “Blind” since you can’t see the coating going on or flashing. Also, no matter what you do, it will only just look OK, and never have the depth that any other color will have. You won’t see the defects, but you will know they are there, which I don’t like.
Here is a link to my thread:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...car-prep-optimum-gloss-coated.html?highlight=
After about 1.5 years, and 20k miles of Daily Driving, it was time to go through a full detail again, and re-apply Gloss Coat.
For the most part, the Original application of Gloss Coat held up pretty well. My Hood, Roof, Trunk and Front Fenders still retained the beading properties, however the lower Sides and Rear had completely lost their beading properties. Pretty much any part of the car that gets hit with Road Spray had lost its beading properties. I can’t remember when exactly it happened, but it was sometime after the initial winter/rainy season. I had tried several things to restore the beading, but ultimately, nothing restored them:
-Several Washes with Carpro Reset (Had been using CG Mr Pink initially)
-Cleaned with OPC @ 1:3
-Optimum Ferrex, Carpro Ironx & Tarx
-Medium Clay
-Optimum Paint Prep
-Carpro Water Spot Remover & Optimum MDR
I was never able to determine if just the properties of the coating were gone, or if the coating was completely gone. The paint in those areas did still seem protected though. I am not sure if the problem was an issue with my prep/application, or if it stopped beading from normal use/road spray. It does seem to be a common issue with Ceramic Coatings, where the lower side and rear panels stop beading after winter time, and I am interested in finding out why.
This time around, I am hoping the entire car will retain its coating properties for atleast 1 – 1.5 years.
Here are the details on my prep/application:
1. I did a light engine bay cleaning with a garden hose and OPC 1:3.
2. Removed all 4 wheels, and cleaned the Fronts and backs of the wheels and tires with OPC 1:3. I also cleaned the wheel wells, Shocks & Calipers with OPC 1:3 and some brushes.
3. Did a Carpro Reset wash of the entire car. On the Side and Rear panels, that see the most road spray, I sprayed the panels first with OPC 1:3 let it dwell for a few min, then washed those areas.
4. I used Optimum’s Ferrex on all painted surfaces, to make sure all iron particles were removed. I sprayed a section at a time, waited 2 min, then agitated it with a yellow foam sponge, let it set another min, then rinsed well. Surprisingly, I didn’t see much purple bleeding, so there must have not been much iron on my paint.
5. I then followed it up with another Carpro Reset wash, to ensure I got any dirt/grime I may have missed, and to make sure none of the Ferrex remained on my paint. (Probably not necessary but I rather be safe)
6. I clayed the car with a Medium Grade Nanoskin Synthetic Clay Bar, using ONR at 1:64 as a Clay Lube
7. My paint was in pretty good condition still, so for most of the car I polished using my PC 7424, an Orange LC CCS Foam Pad, and Optimum Hyper Polish. This was for minor correction, and to remove the first Gloss Coat application. For some of the areas that needed more correction (light scratches) I used either an Orange or Yellow LC CCS Foam Pad, and Menzerna PO 91E, followed up with Hyper Polish on a LC White CCS foam pad. I removed the polish residue using microfiber rags that were soaking in ONR at 1:256. I rung them out, and removed the residue with one light wipe, then followed it up with a dry microfiber to remove the ONR. This process works really well!
8. I then used Optimum Paint Prep to make sure the surface was ready for the coating.
9. I applied the first Coat of Gloss Coat using the included Blue Sponge Applicator. Because my car is silver, and my lighting isn’t the best, I can’t see the coating going on, and it is very difficult to see it flashing. I use a slightly different application process then most, which wastes product, but to me that isn’t an issue since I believe it insures coverage. I basically do a heavy application of the coating to the sponge, and add more product to the sponge in more frequent intervals. I waited about 3-5min for the section to flash (My garage temp was 40-50*F), then wiped the entire section lightly with a microfiber, to ensure there were no high spots. I have to apply it that way because I am basically applying it blind.
10. The next day, I used the same process to apply a 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] coat of Gloss Coat over the entire car.
11. About 1.5 days after I finished that 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] coat of GC, I had to start driving my car to work again. I knew the weather would be rainy, and the week I had off to do this detail, it had snowed so I knew there would be a lot of gravel, Mag Chloride and Salt on the roads (Yay Portland Or now uses salt on the roads, thanks ODOT and PBOT!) I want to wait 2-3 weeks before the first wash, to ensure the GC fully cures properly, so I applied a sacrificial coat of Opti-Seal to protect the Gloss Coat during this time.
So far, everything is looking good. I believe I got complete coverage of GC. I didn’t get any high spots, and the brief rain it has seen, the water seems to bead properly. The true test/confirmation will be with my first wash, to see how the water reacts. I will post a follow up post to update how it goes, and try to get a water beading/sheeting video.
On a side note, I will never get a silver car again! I chose silver, because it is low-key, and doesn’t draw a lot of attention. Also, I figured as a Daily Driver, that I only have time to wash every other week, it would appear to be clean longer then any other color. What really sucks about this color is that is very hard to see any kind of defects in the paint. They can only be seen in very specific lighting, and even then only at certain angles. This sucks when it comes to correcting, because it is very easy to miss defects, and hard to tell if you have removed them. It also makes you have to apply coatings “Blind” since you can’t see the coating going on or flashing. Also, no matter what you do, it will only just look OK, and never have the depth that any other color will have. You won’t see the defects, but you will know they are there, which I don’t like.
