Coating a white car - So hard to see if you got full coverage - When do you call it good?

C

CanyonCarver

New member
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
117
Reaction score
0
So I finally got my car finished.... I think? :dunno: My 2016 Summit White Camaro has a LOT of surface area, lol.

PBL Surface Coating

It was so hard to see where I had been exactly, unlike a wax, that I am wondering.... when do you say when?

Do I go over everything again just to be sure or call it good?

I had the garage door open, lights on, plenty of light. Still have to try and work at proper angles to see where I'd been, but it still flashes fairly fast. I probably used too much and did get good coverage, it's just so hard to tell.

It is VERY easy to wipe the high spots off, thankfully.

I wore gloves but kind of wish I'd worn a mask too. I found myself accidentally sticking my face to close trying to see.

It says it needs to cure for 12 hrs. How long before I can drive and risk getting bugs and everything?

Pics coming after cure!
 
Can't wait to see photos!!!

When I coated my white vehicle, I also had a hard time seeing where the coating has been applied. But even more so was trying to look for the high spots. After a week or so of coating the vehicle, I would see high spots here and there. But thankfully, it's not too obvious in white (why I couldn't see them in the first place during inspection LOL).

I think you're fine so long as you were methodical during your application. Like 50% overlaps and then criss-cross application.
 
Use an led flash light at different angles while wiping on, and to check for high spots
 
Before photos don't show much but here she is

View attachment 51073It's been quite the process. The least of which being cleaning out my Dad's garage (I'm house sitting for the summer, you're welcome Dad) that has NEVER had four wheeled vehicle in it. 10yo house, lol. It was 105 that day and had to be 120+ in the attic.View attachment 51074

I had REALLY bad water spots and I had to use wolfgang swirl remover and LC CCS orange pads... and its still not perfect, but good enough for me to live with until I polish again.

I did some areas with the finish glaze but stopped because it and the swirl remover dusted terribly no matter what I did and it drove me nuts. And it didn't really improve the look much. White car and all.

I tried machine applying the PBL surface CLEANSING polish and that was a disaster. Dusted almost immediately. Hand applying was way more effective.

This was my first polisher experience and I enjoy the GG 6"

Now I'm eager to attack some cars with color/metal flake so I can actually see the results.... and maybe the coating when it goes on, lol.
 
ronkh57 said:
Use an led flash light at different angles while wiping on, and to check for high spots
Click to expand...

Yeah, did that. Even tried wearing my LED headlamp but that didn't help. Lol

Have you guys ever been able to see a spot you MISSED? Does it end up showing during a wash maybe?
 
Those new Camaros look very nice! More pics please! :)

Sounds like you did a great job! And good organizing skills on the garage too.
 
What Coating did you use? My '97 Tahoe is Summit White. It's recently been an SOB getting aftermarket touch up paint, had difficulty with Dr ColorChip, as well as others. They all were sending this "greyish" dull off color which was such a drastic mis-match.

From what I gathered, there are actually 2 different hue-color Summit Whites.
 
Thanks!!!

I haven't posted on a forum in ages. What am I doing wrong with adding pics? How do I get a bigger version?
 
I coated a silver 4 runner and white Honda Accord in one weekend about 3 weeks ago. Same problem. I could hardly see the coating in the lighting I had available. High spots were pretty noticeable but the initial application was difficult to see. The paint correction was definitely a pain. Washing the vehicles since then however, I'm pretty confident I applied it correctly. If in doubt, apply slightly more product to the applicator(not so much that you're wasting product) and just use a cross hatch pattern over the panel several times assuring complete, even coverage.
 
MarkD51 said:
What Coating did you use? My '97 Tahoe is Summit White. It's recently been an SOB getting aftermarket touch up paint, had difficulty with Dr ColorChip, as well as others. They all were sending this "greyish" dull off color which was such a drastic mis-match.

From what I gathered, there are actually 2 different hue-color Summit Whites.
Click to expand...

I used Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating

Oh really? I already have many rock chips. I drive a LOT 13700 miles and I drove her home 3/10/2016 with 6 miles. The paint quality and clear coat is horrible on these cars. I forget instantly with a press of the right foot though. Lol

I had planned on getting a paint pen or whatever next time I am at the stealership. Thanks for the heads up on color matching
 
CanyonCarver said:
So I finally got my car finished.... I think? :dunno: My 2016 Summit White Camaro has a LOT of surface area, lol.

PBL Surface Coating

It was so hard to see where I had been exactly, unlike a wax, that I am wondering.... when do you say when?

Do I go over everything again just to be sure or call it good?

I had the garage door open, lights on, plenty of light. Still have to try and work at proper angles to see where I'd been, but it still flashes fairly fast. I probably used too much and did get good coverage, it's just so hard to tell.

It is VERY easy to wipe the high spots off, thankfully.

I wore gloves but kind of wish I'd worn a mask too. I found myself accidentally sticking my face to close trying to see.




Next time use pieces of painters tape to section off small areas and use a cross hatch pattern. The key is small areas (2X2) in order to draw an imaginary line from A to B. The same goes for polishing.
Click to expand...
 
Pics please :)

My 02 Camaro is white so I know exactly what you are going through. Over time you will get used to viewing the paint.

I agree with the advice Ron and Rsurfer.

If you feel you got good coverage than the only thing left to do is drive it and enjoy it. Pinnacle Black Label Coating Booster is also available and you could even follow up with a coat of that.
 
Thanks all, glad to know it's not 'just me'. Lol

I do have the shampoo, booster, and detailer so I guess eventually I'll get full coverage!

Any guesses as to how long I should wait to drive it? It WILL get bug and road splattered immediately in my environment.

Are you guys requesting just Camaro pics? I got plenty of those. Or the money shots super glossy coatedness, lol.

canyoncarver-albums-2016-camaro-ss-summit-white-picture50549-wp-20160425-17-54-41-pro.jpg
 
When I used the PBL paint coating V2 on a white Porsche, I had my uncle(the owner)hold my LED light bar behind me and help me look for high spots and make sure I didn't miss anything.

Although he knows almost nothing about detailing, he still caught a couple high spots that I missed.

In the end, 4 eyes are better than 2!
 
Lol, that would be super helpful. My supervisor isn't quite able to help like that unfortunately

canyoncarver-albums-2016-camaro-ss-summit-white-picture51087-twitterb6c6945.jpg


canyoncarver-albums-2016-camaro-ss-summit-white-picture51095-wp-20160722-20-02-15-pro.jpg
 
CanyonCarver said:
I used Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating

Oh really? I already have many rock chips. I drive a LOT 13700 miles and I drove her home 3/10/2016 with 6 miles. The paint quality and clear coat is horrible on these cars. I forget instantly with a press of the right foot though. Lol

I had planned on getting a paint pen or whatever next time I am at the stealership. Thanks for the heads up on color matching
Click to expand...

If you should find a matching touch up pen, or bottle from the dealer, and in the future might consider trying Dr C-Chip, it would be wise mailing them the matching product you have on hand.

That's what I had to do, and once the folks at Dr C-Chip had this paint, they then did a correct match-up for me. They likely have a spectrum optic analyzer on hand.
 
So in going over my car with a fine toothed flashlight

I had, still have, REALLY etched water spots.

I must have had them since new, it was raining the day I bought it and everyday for the next two+ weeks. Probably sealed them in without realizing. You can't see them unless looking at the right angle and I am surely the only one it bothers but .... MF'r I'm going to have to get a better compound next time I go after it. I got probably 80-90% this time.

Can I use the new BOSS creams with my regular Griots polisher? I have 4 more vehicles to do that are totally neglected.
 
You can drive it right away and don't have to worry about bugs, but keep it dry for 12 hours or you might get water spots that won't go away.
 
One of the best ways to tell is to make sure to use two or three towels to wipe off the high spots, and when you do the third towel, feel for smoothness instead of any grabbiness that comes from high spots and the like. The LED lights definitely do help a lot though.
 
CanyonCarver said:
I do have the shampoo, booster, and detailer so I guess eventually I'll get full coverage!

Any guesses as to how long I should wait to drive it? It WILL get bug and road splattered immediately in my environment.
Click to expand...

You can drive it right away. If it were me I would add a wipe down with the coating booster. 1 hour after you applied the coating should be fine.

If you decide to work on those water spots be sure to reapply the coating in those areas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top