Ceramic Coating Questions

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Bent98

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I am planning on detailing my Audi S3 and Dodge Durango and figured it would be a great time saver if instead of applying Sealant and Wax I can skip those steps and apply something like a Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating to the wheels, trim, glass, and paint. I am a beginner and heard this product works well. My S3 is new and my Durango's 2 years old. The Durango will need some compounding to get swirls and scratches out. The s3 will need very minor swirl correction induced by shipment to the dealer.

Now the way I understand it you want to make sure the surface is complete clean of oils and fillers prior to applying the sealant. Some Polishes use oils to fill in the swirl marks. When wiping the car down IPA mix or using the pre seal cleaner in the Uber coating kit which is necessary to ensure nothing is on the pain to prevent adhesion, it could expose the swirls again as that oil filler is wiped away.. Also some polishes also contain sealer which again is bad for the coating as it would prohibit the coating from adhering to the paint. I used this chart to reference what polishes contain sealers/fillers http://www.autopiaforums.com/Todd-Helme/polish-chart.jpg

What do you recommend as a finishing polish prior to coating the car and also a good compound to buff scratches out of the Durango? I was going to use Black light to do the polishing but I just realized that is also a sealant. Now I am thinking maybe Megs M105 for compound and M205 for Polish? Not sure if the M205 will finish enough before applying the WG coating?

I would rather not use MF pads or products that dust so much. I am a beginner and never compounded/polished before. I have a Rupes LHR 15 DA.

My second question is the wolfgang Uber coating a good choice?
 
In addition to what I've shared with you via email, here's a great review from a member here. He does a great job covering the application process too.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...wolfgang-uber-ceramic-coating-kit-review.html



I mentioned I did our Minivan aka our 100k+ mile 10yr old Urban Assault Vehicle and did it initially with Megs Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish. Here's a quick before and after of just the compound so you can have a baseline vs your wife's Durango which IIRC you said is black too. M105 will cut through it much easier but I happen to be out at the time and have since replaced it with 101 Foam Compound which I find dusts still. I knew that going in though.

Before Ultimate Compound:



After Megs U.C. and a Yellow Pad where needed but I mostly used an orange pad:




I used Ultimate Polish the first time but then several weeks later hit it with HDSpeed (just for comparison so you have it) and really enjoyed the results and the fact that it comes off so dang easy.








You'll have great success with your Rupes too.
 
M105 and M205 work great, 105 dusts a little more, so go with 205 on a finishing MF pad and you will get great results. As for coatings, the easiest and long lasting combo i have been using lately is Essence from Carpro, topped with Reload. Super easy to use and maintain. You can go wrong with it and you dont need ti worry about IPA solution or panel wipe down. Picture belowe is M205 on a MF pad finished with Essence and Reload
 
Wolfgang Uber is a good choice; a very good one at that and one of the newest coatings out there. To stick within the line, Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover is a good all-around option and the aggressiveness of the product is dependent on the pads you use. Without pictures it is impossible to tell if you would need a compound step. Personally, I tend to start with Menzerna SF3800 (formerly SF4000) as it is a very good mid-point polish that finishes down LSP-ready in most cases. I would usually move to TSR if SF3800 didn't finish down well enough; that's just my preference right now.

When it comes to coatings, the safest guideline to have starts off with the belief that all polishes will have oils in them. M205 has them last I checked; as would Menzerna and Wolfgang.

So when I plan on coating a vehicle there is a correction, polishing and coating activity in my process. Each activity could have more than one task in it. Once the paint is corrected and polished, the coating activity in my way of doing things always has a prep-step. Wolfgang has the prep spray, Detailers Pro (now McKee) has a prep polish. I have the Detailers Prep polish (replaced by the above), and it worked well with Cquartz, Detailers and Wolfgang coatings. The prep polish can be applied by machine or hand.

How would you be sure you have a good end-to-end process? Easy, pick a panel like a rear deck lid and go through each step. An investment of an hour or two coating one panel will generate enough learning for you to cover the rest of the vehicle at another time. And if you find out you messed up, you can remove the product off one panel and start over.
 
Well thanks guys for letting me know the Wolfgang product is a good one. I really need to decide what Polish and compound to buy.

M105/M205 vs Med SF3800/WG Total Swirl

And since I am using Rupes Pads. Stick with Yellow for compounding and White for polishing. If I go with Meg product possibly use a MF finishing?

I do worry about using a MF pad.
 
Also, can someone comment on menzerna 3800 new formula vs the old 4500?
 
Bent98 said:
Well thanks guys for letting me know the Wolfgang product is a good one. I really need to decide what Polish and compound to buy.

M105/M205 vs Med SF3800/WG Total Swirl

And since I am using Rupes Pads. Stick with Yellow for compounding and White for polishing. If I go with Meg product possibly use a MF finishing?

I do worry about using a MF pad.
Click to expand...

What do you have on hand, we can give better advice knowing what you have already
 
mwoolfso said:
Wolfgang Uber is a good choice; a very good one at that and one of the newest coatings out there. To stick within the line, Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover is a good all-around option and the aggressiveness of the product is dependent on the pads you use. Without pictures it is impossible to tell if you would need a compound step. Personally, I tend to start with Menzerna SF3800 (formerly SF4000) as it is a very good mid-point polish that finishes down LSP-ready in most cases. I would usually move to TSR if SF3800 didn't finish down well enough; that's just my preference right now.

When it comes to coatings, the safest guideline to have starts off with the belief that all polishes will have oils in them. M205 has them last I checked; as would Menzerna and Wolfgang.

So when I plan on coating a vehicle there is a correction, polishing and coating activity in my process. Each activity could have more than one task in it. Once the paint is corrected and polished, the coating activity in my way of doing things always has a prep-step. Wolfgang has the prep spray, Detailers Pro (now McKee) has a prep polish. I have the Detailers Prep polish (replaced by the above), and it worked well with Cquartz, Detailers and Wolfgang coatings. The prep polish can be applied by machine or hand.

How would you be sure you have a good end-to-end process? Easy, pick a panel like a rear deck lid and go through each step. An investment of an hour or two coating one panel will generate enough learning for you to cover the rest of the vehicle at another time. And if you find out you messed up, you can remove the product off one panel and start over.
Click to expand...
Just to note- I believe SF4000 is now SF 3500.
 
Bent98 said:
And since I am using Rupes Pads. Stick with Yellow for compounding and White for polishing. If I go with Meg product possibly use a MF finishing? I do worry about using a MF pad.
Click to expand...

Your S3 will simply need the white pad and some light polish. Your wife's vehicle may respond well to MF for the compounding. Not sure, perhaps others can chime in on the Durango's paint and what works there. Even if it left the finish hazy, etc. it won't matter as it's job with compound in a 2 step process is to cut through the bad stuff. Polishing will correct what is created. For final polishing I wouldn't use MF I'd go white foam pad.
 
Neither of those pads have much cut to them. If you had the green i would say just stick to what you had. For you i would suggest getting some finishing microfiber pads and M205. You can handle just about any finish with that combination and finishes LSP ready. After that you can do another polishing step if you want or go straight to coating. If you are still going the Wolfgang coating route i would suggest getting eraser from carpro for the wipe before applying the coating itself. If you want to got the essence route no need for eraser, just break your your white pad and apply essence with it. Once you are done with that step apply reload and you are good to go
 
Bent98 said:
I have white and yellow rupes pads on hand.

Over the winter my wife scratched up the hood of here Durango getting ice and snow off. Not sure if these scratches are too deep to buff out or not. (yes I know the car is filthy)

View image: IMG 0177[/url]View attachment 46786
Click to expand...
 
So let me see if I get this right, I could go with Carpro Essence instead of Menzerna PF3800 for my audi? It will polish out slight carwash induced swirls and finish with a white pad? If it doesn't I could go with a MF finishing pad to get more aggressive then go over it with white pad to finish as shown in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MKZk5O-xvw

I can then go straight to the wolfgang uber coating without the need to do IPA or Wolfgang Perfekt Finish Paint Prep Spray? I dont want to go with Car pro refresh as it looks to only last up to 6 months vs WG Uber which is up to 2 years.

For my wifes Durango I will need to at least go over thee scratches with either WG Swirl remover, or M25 with MF finishsing pad
 
Bent98 said:
So let me see if I get this right, I could go with Carpro Essence instead of Menzerna PF3800 for my audi? It will polish out slight carwash induced swirls and finish with a white pad? If it doesn't I could go with a MF finishing pad to get more aggressive then go over it with white pad to finish as shown in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MKZk5O-xvw

I can then go straight to the wolfgang uber coating without the need to do IPA or Wolfgang Perfekt Finish Paint Prep Spray? I dont want to go with Car pro refresh as it looks to only last up to 6 months vs WG Uber which is up to 2 years.

For my wifes Durango I will need to at least go over thee scratches with either WG Swirl remover, or M25 with MF finishsing pad
Click to expand...
No one can guaranty what combo will work best. Always do a test section with the least aggressive pad and polish.

If you use Car Pro CQuartz coating, you could get 2 years of protection by topping with Reload.
 
For coating I will always use essence now because the coating I'm using is compatible with it. I'll test it with the boss 21 and the Mf pads to see if it will leave any haze and if not I'll get some good correction from it that is coating ready. Only finishes I got haze on was flat dark colors especially black. Those I will use the menzerna 4000 and ipa or eraser or just switch to a foam pad with essense. If the car needs compounding I use 400 d300 or m101. I been afraid of coatings for a long time but with essence and the coating I'm using its much easier than I thought it would be.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
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