Sometime in the next couple of days (probably Thursday), we pick up the brand new Maverick for my wife. It was built about two weeks ago.
I intend to give it a ceramic coat right away; we live in the desert (Las Vegas) with brutal sun much of the year.
My (amateurish) intended approach is to go panel by panel and:
1) Clean with rinsless cleaner. (I think it's Maguiar's; I bought it here some time back and it was great on my White Diamond paint. I'd do a panel and wax it while filling with gas). I'd use new regular microfiber.
2) Clay bar with Maguiar's detailing spray.
3) Blackfire Pro Ceramic Coating on a north-facing panel. With no garage space available, I'll do the top of the cab after sunset. Using the Blackfire applicator (or should I use something different?)
4) Wipe with Cobra Supreme microfiber towels. (will six be enough? should I go for 12? There's an F-150 or Ramcharger in the next few months, too, and it might get me to the small wash load Mike Phillips wrote about.[1])
5) Use the Braun 450 lumen colormatching light from Harbor Freight (see, I'm being good and not spending the extra $100 on the scangrip!)
Should I have some other substance on hand if I need to remove lumps, or can I still work them with the microfiber at this point?
any thoughts or suggestions welcome (especially if I'm about to do something irreversible!)
edit: hmm, the care kit seems like a good way to bundle this stuff. But do I really need to do paint prep other than a light clay bar run on a three week old vehicle?
Oh, and should I do a second coat? how long should wait?
Is there anything not in the BLACKFIRE BLACK EDITION Ceramic Coating and Care Kit that I should be ordering for the next year or so for maintenance?
Oh, and if it makes any difference, it's Velocity Blue (a metallic).
[1] Yeah, like she'd let me touch he washer and dryer if I wasn't installing or repairing . . .
I intend to give it a ceramic coat right away; we live in the desert (Las Vegas) with brutal sun much of the year.
My (amateurish) intended approach is to go panel by panel and:
1) Clean with rinsless cleaner. (I think it's Maguiar's; I bought it here some time back and it was great on my White Diamond paint. I'd do a panel and wax it while filling with gas). I'd use new regular microfiber.
2) Clay bar with Maguiar's detailing spray.
3) Blackfire Pro Ceramic Coating on a north-facing panel. With no garage space available, I'll do the top of the cab after sunset. Using the Blackfire applicator (or should I use something different?)
4) Wipe with Cobra Supreme microfiber towels. (will six be enough? should I go for 12? There's an F-150 or Ramcharger in the next few months, too, and it might get me to the small wash load Mike Phillips wrote about.[1])
5) Use the Braun 450 lumen colormatching light from Harbor Freight (see, I'm being good and not spending the extra $100 on the scangrip!)
Should I have some other substance on hand if I need to remove lumps, or can I still work them with the microfiber at this point?
any thoughts or suggestions welcome (especially if I'm about to do something irreversible!)
edit: hmm, the care kit seems like a good way to bundle this stuff. But do I really need to do paint prep other than a light clay bar run on a three week old vehicle?
Oh, and should I do a second coat? how long should wait?
Is there anything not in the BLACKFIRE BLACK EDITION Ceramic Coating and Care Kit that I should be ordering for the next year or so for maintenance?
Oh, and if it makes any difference, it's Velocity Blue (a metallic).
[1] Yeah, like she'd let me touch he washer and dryer if I wasn't installing or repairing . . .
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