Prepping for Opti-Coat 2.0 on a brand new car?

SonyHome said:
I was wanting to go with Xpel Ultimate but installer talked me into Suntek Self Healing film. I was planning to have it installed middle of January sometime. They seem to be about the same with Xpel having longer warranty but installer said he'll warranty for life. When I asked him if having Opti-Coat before PPF, he didn't seem to have an opinion.
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Here is a write up I did on an Audi A3 that was full compounded polished then Opti-coated followed by an Xpel self healing PPF install.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...f-removal-full-polish-opti-coat-xpel-ppf.html

I know any self healing film is great to go with and if he is using Suntek's new film it makes installing a breeze. What I have noticed is that getting the paint perfect before a clear bra installed makes the install easier, the paint lookes better, the PPF becomes less visible (after all that is the point), and gives you an over better experince with both OC and the PPF.
 
SonyHome said:
Thank you Mark for all your inputs. Great people like you make sites like this very worth-while!

I'm assuming Collinite 845 can be applied in below freezing temps?

I'm planning to return all the stuff I bought and get the Porter Cable 7424XP, or the Griots Garage GG 6" as you recommend. Are there any nice package with the needed pads on AutoGeek.net for these?

I'll also look to get Optimum Hyper Polish or Polish II as ski2 recommended.

Anything else?
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I'll respond to the question you ask about applying Collinite waxes, or any other sort of wax in sub freezing, or conditions hovering near the freezing mark.

The answer is no, you won't be able to pull it off. Not in 48+ years of detailing cars, have I ever come across a paint protectant product that will work in such cold.

It would be almost like trying to shampoo your hair out in such temps. Ideal Temps for usually any products I will say will fall between mid 60's to mid 80's.

Yes, I've used a variety of products in colder, and warmer temps and have gotten away with it. Usually the colder, at say 50's, the products then become harder to remove. At close to freezing they won't properly work, and you'd most likely be never able to remove any such waxes, or sealants.

You might wish to consider getting a small propane fired forced air heater in the vicinity of 35,000, 50,000 BTU at somewhere like Lowes-Home Depot-Menards-etc, and a 20lb to 30lb propane tank. Again, care must be excersised when using such.

If you can return the Dewalt machine, this might help fund some of this.

At least you might then be able to do waterless washes, wipedowns with a bucket of warm water, vacuum interiors, and perhaps get away with at least a hand application of some sort of wax-sealant in the current weather conditions you face.

Again, might be best to wait till spring before buying any expensive machinery for detailing. Up to you, but they will no doubt have some good deals coming up on some DA packages here at AG.

I have a friend who lives on Big Pelican Lake in the Detroit Lakes area. Overnight temps there last week were approaching south of -20F. Brutal weather to say the least, and about all he does during this time of year is Ice Fish out in his Shanty, or Traps Game.

If I were to tell him "Hey John, let's wax your Truck in the garage?", he'd definitely think I was flipped!
Mark
 
SonyHome said:
All -

How is this package?
Optimum Porter Cable 7424 Kit Remove swirl marks and paint flaws

Is there a similar package using Griots Garage GG 6"?
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This isn't a bad kit, but I tend to feel it's better to just pick and choose what you need and buy it piece by piece--that way you get what you need in the quantities you need with nothing extra.

I strongly suggest you get the Griots polisher. There are many here very happy with the PC, but because the GG DA is much more powerful it is easier to use, especially for a beginner. With a 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads it's almost impossible to stop rotation on speeds 5 and 6--you'll appreciate this once you get into polishing. Not to mention the lifetime warranty--- if you're only detailing your own cars it will be used a few times per year so imagine if 3 or 4 years down the road something goes wrong--with the GG DA you just call Griots and they will repair it or most likely replace it with a new machine.
 
MarkD51 said:
I'll respond to the question you ask about applying Collinite waxes, or any other sort of wax in sub freezing, or conditions hovering near the freezing mark.

The answer is no, you won't be able to pull it off. Not in 48+ years of detailing cars, have I ever come across a paint protectant product that will work in such cold.

It would be almost like trying to shampoo your hair out in such temps. Ideal Temps for usually any products I will say will fall between mid 60's to mid 80's.

Yes, I've used a variety of products in colder, and warmer temps and have gotten away with it. Usually the colder, at say 50's, the products then become harder to remove. At close to freezing they won't properly work, and you'd most likely be never able to remove any such waxes, or sealants.

You might wish to consider getting a small propane fired forced air heater in the vicinity of 35,000, 50,000 BTU at somewhere like Lowes-Home Depot-Menards-etc, and a 20lb to 30lb propane tank. Again, care must be excersised when using such.

If you can return the Dewalt machine, this might help fund some of this.

At least you might then be able to do waterless washes, wipedowns with a bucket of warm water, vacuum interiors, and perhaps get away with at least a hand application of some sort of wax-sealant in the current weather conditions you face.

Again, might be best to wait till spring before buying any expensive machinery for detailing. Up to you, but they will no doubt have some good deals coming up on some DA packages here at AG.

I have a friend who lives on Big Pelican Lake in the Detroit Lakes area. Overnight temps there last week were approaching south of -20F. Brutal weather to say the least, and about all he does during this time of year is Ice Fish out in his Shanty, or Traps Game.

If I were to tell him "Hey John, let's wax your Truck in the garage?", he'd definitely think I was flipped!
Mark
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LOL. Yeah my wife thinks I'm nuts for wanting to wash the car in the garage and now she'll see me returning bunch of stuff even before I use it. :D

Dewalt was a smoking black friday deal which was ~$110 so not sure if that'll fund any thing much. If I return that and the 3M pads, compound and polish I may get $250 back.

Since I told my dealer to not buff the car for delivery, does this mean I can't put any protection until spring? Is that ok?
 
Evan.J said:
Here is a write up I did on an Audi A3 that was full compounded polished then Opti-coated followed by an Xpel self healing PPF install.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...f-removal-full-polish-opti-coat-xpel-ppf.html

I know any self healing film is great to go with and if he is using Suntek's new film it makes installing a breeze. What I have noticed is that getting the paint perfect before a clear bra installed makes the install easier, the paint lookes better, the PPF becomes less visible (after all that is the point), and gives you an over better experince with both OC and the PPF.
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Thank you for the article. I'll read it when I get home. When I was asking about if you should do Opti-Coat first or PPF first opinions seemed to vary but to me it makes sense to get the paint polished and coat it first.

I would've prefer to have all of these done by the same installer, especially if they have experience on both but installer I was talking to doesn't seem to do anything with Opti-Coat. He did offer me some 3M paint protection coating which I passed because I was set on getting Opti Coat.

Let me know if you know of any installer in MN that would do Opti-Coat and PPF for reasonable price.
 
I'm fairly familiar with Minnesota weather, cold as a well digger's butt in the Klondike during winter, and if near lakes, a buggy mess in summer.

Up there one year with my 1990 Dodge/Cummins Pickup, and went to town for a Burger. (Detroit Lakes), which is about 10-13 miles from Big Pelican Lake. This was late June.

By the time I got to town, I couldn't even see out of the Windshield, which was clean when I left. An onslaught of bugs like I was in a downpour. I was literally looking out the side window to see.

First thing I had to do when getting to town, was pull in a gas station and scrub the windshield.

Same deal going out back to the Lake from town. When I returned to Chicago from MN, I cannot even tell you how much money I spent at high pressure spray washes, and scrubbing at home with washes to get them all off.

Snow, and bugs are about your two biggest car care issues in that state.

Oh, I forgot dodging Snapping, and Box Turtles, and snakes when driving down the roads. One year I was up there, the roads were peppered with Turtles (Alive and dead) all over the place.
 
SonyHome said:
Since I told my dealer to not buff the car for delivery, does this mean I can't put any protection until spring? Is that ok?
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Nope--wash, clay and put on a good sealant to give you protection until spring. I've put DG 105 on when my garage was at 49 degrees. Let it sit for 2 hours and it came off fine and protects for a good 5-6 months. Always use a thin, thin, thin coat of any sealant or wax so removal is easy.
 
SonyHome said:
Thank you for all your guidance at Club Lexus. I had few more questions I wanted to ask the experts. I'd never thought there was so much to detailing a car! :)
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There isn't. There is just a lot if you want to do it right:xyxthumbs:

I can't imagine trying any of these steps in below freezing. In Phoenix, we bundle up like Nanook of the north if it gets to 50. Heat, that's another story.

If it were me, I'd try to slide by with a wipe on/off and wait until it warms up and then fix whatever I suffered in the winter. That will give you some time to browse this site. By summer, people will be coming to YOU for advice, especially after they see how awesome your car turned out.

Welcome aboard.
 
SonyHome said:
All -

How is this package?
Optimum Porter Cable 7424 Kit Remove swirl marks and paint flaws

Is there a similar package using Griots Garage GG 6"?
Click to expand...

I know I'll be sounding rude, but I have no idea why Autogeek has continued to put together such crappy, less than optimum packages for the PC7424? (or any other simple, lower cost DA?)

Forget the packages, I bypassed such myself over a year ago, took the advice of the folks in the know here, such as our beloved Bobby G, just bought the PC machine, and a 5" backing plate to use 5.5" LC Flat Pads.

These larger 6.5" pads, have all been said by virtually all here to not work at all well on the PC DA Machine.

How about dropping such packages AG folks (Max, are you hearing me?), and put together packages with Pads and backing plates that better work with these lesser machines?
 
ski2 said:
Nope--wash, clay and put on a good sealant to give you protection until spring. I've put DG 105 on when my garage was at 49 degrees. Let it sit for 2 hours and it came off fine and protects for a good 5-6 months. Always use a thin, thin, thin coat of any sealant or wax so removal is easy.
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I'm going to wash it at the touch-less drive through and come home and do hand wash using Optimum No Rinse. So claying in cold weather is ok? What is DG 105?

Today it is 11 degrees outside and it's 31 degrees in my garage without any heater. If I pick a little warmer day and use space heater I think I could get it closer to 50 degrees. :p

Also in talking to the folks at Optimum they are telling me I can apply the Opti Coat 2.0 if I warm up the surface with blow dryer to help bond.

So based on your feedback I'll return the 3M and Dewalt stuff and get:

  • Griots Garage GG 6" with 10' cord
  • Buff & Shine 5" backing plate
  • Buff & Shine 5" Pad - Black (qty 2)
  • Buff & Shine 5" Pad - Orange (qty 4)
  • Buff & Shine 5" Pad - Green (qty 4)
  • Buff & Shine 5" Pad - Red (qty 2)
  • Optimum Hyper Polish 64oz.
Anything else newbie doing this shouldn't do without? Auto Geek sent me 20% off coupon so I think I will go ahead and use that to order these. I saw two sealant/wax recommendation to help protect my car until spring if I'm not able to opti coat. Which of these are better?

  • Collinite 845
  • DG 105 ( Not sure what product this is. Could someone provide more descriptive name so I could find it?)
Thank you everyone for your assistance and sharing your knowledge! :D

I can't wait to get started on my new car! :buffing:
 
View attachment 24006

You don't want to use a 5" Pad on a 5" Backing Plate! For a 5" Backing Plate, it will be best to use a 5-1/2" Pad. This allows a margin of safety, so you won't have the edge of the Backing Plate right at the edge of the Pad when Polishing.

Never used the Buff&Shine stuff, most folks (like myself) opt for the Lake County 5" yellow Urethane Plate, and an assortment of 5-1/2" Lake County Flat Foam Pads. A few Orange, a few White, and a few Black or Red Lake County Pads should cover it for the new Lexus. The White Pad will most likely be the most used for polishing with such a newish vehicle, I doubt you'd be needing anything more aggressive.

Optimum Hyper Compound is said to be quite good, but 64oz of it might be a little too much on hand for now. Unless you plan on polishing a dozen vehicles?

Best to have a few on hand, Meguiars 205 is a great fine finishing Polish, and the Wolfgang Twins, known as Total Swirl Remover, and Finishing Glaze will get the vehicle to an actual concours state of shine, and beauty.

"DG", stands for Duragloss products. It will take you some time to learn the many abbreviations that folks will commonly use here. I've been here over a year, and am still learning.

All of the Duragloss products are very good, and very cheap in price, great bang for the buck. They can also be found at CARQUEST Auto Stores, and I understand some NAPA stores might also handle these products.

Above is a little pic of my Werner Work Platform, on it you will see the Porter Cable 7424XP, the baby Griots Garage 3" DA Polisher, and some Wolfgang Products while I was doing my White 1997 Tahoe LT.

The PC7424XP in this pic is sporting the LC 5" Yellow Urethane Backing Plate, with the LC 5.5" Flat White Polishing Pad.
 
DG 105 is a product made by Duragloss. They make a bunch of nice products that are very inexpensive (comparatively) and they work very well. Sorry for the abbreviation but there is a lot of "code" spoken here because of the whole NSA thing...

Collinite is another inexpensive top performer. Many snow belt people swear by 845 for winter protection. I've used it with great success but make sure you put it on whisper thin or it can be hard to get off. I'm afraid I don't have much winter or snow experience. If you ever need to know what holds up in the inside of you oven, I'm your guy.

You can't really go wrong with the Optimum line by I think 64 ounces of polish (of any type) may be excessive. Those sizes are for pros who do several cars a week. I'd say you'll use 1-2 ounces per car, a little goes a long way and if you saturate the pads, they tend to gum up and you end up slinging polish everywhere you don't want it. Take a look at the sprayable Optimum stuff. It finishes nicely and has a long work time. Unless you get some swirls or scratches during the winter, you could probably go with Meguires 205 or Menzerna SF4000 on a finishing pad. Always go least aggressive first. You can always polish more but once your clear coat is gone, its re-spray time.

Buy in small sizes until you figure out what you like and what works for you. Otherwise you'll end up with shelves full of bottles with one squirt out of them. Don't ask me how I know this fact.

Do check out Optimum No-Rinse. It's concentrated and is the "Swiss Army Knife" of detail products in my opinion. Waterless wash, quick detail spray, clay lube. Smells good too. It can be used with several clean high quality microfibers to wash the whole car in the garage (Gary Dean method). This may be useful so your feet don't freeze to the floor.

You are soon to find out why some here call this profession/hobby "the sickness". It's easy to get carried away but nobody here will ever call dressing the tread on your tires weird. Most will go give it a try. You'll dry yourself with used McDonalds napkins but won't touch your car with a towel that costs less than $20.
 
Mark is quicker than me. The UPS guy just rang the doorbell. What he says about pads is what I was thinking. I use white more than any other on well kept/newer cars.
 
View attachment 24007

Here's my Tahoe while I was in the process of doing the required masking of trim, etc prior to polishing last fall.

Keep in mind, this was before polishing, and that this vehicle is also 16 years old.
Mark
 
View attachment 24008

Another Pic, of my junkmobile 2001 Kia Spectra after Polishing with the PC7424XP. Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover with white LC 5.5" flat pad, and Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0.

I didn't use the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze on the whole vehicle, just the hood, and roof. It looked good enough at that point to go directly to the sealant.

This is a 13 year old car, bought used with 35K on the odometer, originally was an Alaska Car, paint was pretty lackluster-hammered when I got it, and I've had this one about 7 years now, and it's a daily driver. Been a really great little car to get around with.
Mark
 
Thanks for the tip on the Optimum Hyper Polish. Only reason I had 64oz was that was the only size I saw but it seems other sizes are available. I thought that was rather huge, LOL! :p

Also Buff & Shine pads are indeed 5.5". My mistake for putting 5".

I'll take a look at lake country foam but I got good advice from another member about Buff & Shine being great foam pads, very durable and the recessed velcro is an added measure of safety when polishing around protruding objects so that is the reason why I was going to go with it. Not sure how much of quality polish is contributed to the pad and how much is the operator. :buffing: <== Love this animation! ;)
 
Rayaz said:
DG 105 is a product made by Duragloss. They make a bunch of nice products that are very inexpensive (comparatively) and they work very well. Sorry for the abbreviation but there is a lot of "code" spoken here because of the whole NSA thing...

Collinite is another inexpensive top performer. Many snow belt people swear by 845 for winter protection. I've used it with great success but make sure you put it on whisper thin or it can be hard to get off. I'm afraid I don't have much winter or snow experience. If you ever need to know what holds up in the inside of you oven, I'm your guy.

You can't really go wrong with the Optimum line by I think 64 ounces of polish (of any type) may be excessive. Those sizes are for pros who do several cars a week. I'd say you'll use 1-2 ounces per car, a little goes a long way and if you saturate the pads, they tend to gum up and you end up slinging polish everywhere you don't want it. Take a look at the sprayable Optimum stuff. It finishes nicely and has a long work time. Unless you get some swirls or scratches during the winter, you could probably go with Meguires 205 or Menzerna SF4000 on a finishing pad. Always go least aggressive first. You can always polish more but once your clear coat is gone, its re-spray time.

Buy in small sizes until you figure out what you like and what works for you. Otherwise you'll end up with shelves full of bottles with one squirt out of them. Don't ask me how I know this fact.

Do check out Optimum No-Rinse. It's concentrated and is the "Swiss Army Knife" of detail products in my opinion. Waterless wash, quick detail spray, clay lube. Smells good too. It can be used with several clean high quality microfibers to wash the whole car in the garage (Gary Dean method). This may be useful so your feet don't freeze to the floor.

You are soon to find out why some here call this profession/hobby "the sickness". It's easy to get carried away but nobody here will ever call dressing the tread on your tires weird. Most will go give it a try. You'll dry yourself with used McDonalds napkins but won't touch your car with a towel that costs less than $20.
Click to expand...

LOL! Thank you for the good advice and sharing your great knowledge! :dblthumb2:
 
MarkD51 said:
View attachment 24008

Another Pic, of my junkmobile 2001 Kia Spectra after Polishing with the PC7424XP. Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover with white LC 5.5" flat pad, and Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0.

I didn't use the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze on the whole vehicle, just the hood, and roof. It looked good enough at that point to go directly to the sealant.

This is a 13 year old car, bought used with 35K on the odometer, originally was an Alaska Car, paint was pretty lackluster-hammered when I got it, and I've had this one about 7 years now, and it's a daily driver. Been a really great little car to get around with.
Mark
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Very nice. Had I known about all the things you could do to make your car look new again I would have kept my 2002 Acura TL-S longer. In my opinion it was still in great condition but if I could do what you could do to bring the shine and polish back I probably would have kept it for few more years. I got top dollars for it when I sold it but I probably could have got more doing some detailing to make it look new again.

Picture of my 2002 TL-S when it was new. I think I hand waxed it with something but I can't remember what product.
 
When I first joined this Forum as a member, and also then checked out all the tens of thousands of products this Business carries, you can best believe, being totally overwhelmed is an understatement!

And this is from a guy who's been detailing cars since the age of 16, and I'm now 59. Used to do all the gangsters cars in the old Chicago neighborhood (Caddy's, and Lincolns they drove) At 16-17, they were paying me $100, and a $20 tip for a wash-wax, vacuum. Trust me, you didn't want to mess these guy's cars up!

Been a Collinite user since the late 80's if I remember correctly, and used many many different products over the years, everything from the original Blue Coral (on my 1967 Stingray) to Slipstream Airplane Wax, Every wax-sealant product Meguiars ever made, 3M products, on and on.

I am fairly familiar/experienced, and highly "respectful-fearing" of the use of Rotary Polishers-Buffers also.

But, when I came here, this was something seemingly light years ahead of my knowledge, and of the products I have used in the past. Now, the products I have mentioned above were no slouches in their day, and still wouldn't be today if many were still made. But so many of these products AG carries are truly cutting edge, trim products that work, last, and are not harmful to trim, and rubber, unlike Armor All Protectant is said to be.

So, I stuck around, I felt that I found myself a "home" here with all these very fine folks, and the vast knowledge they share here. In 14 month's time, I know I have read probably well over 10,000 posts.

In the 14 month's time, I feel I have learned a vast amount more thanks to this forum and its people.

So, with all this said, it will be wise IMO, to stick around, read, study, there's a search engine here, to check comments-posts on every product under the sun.

I'm just one of many, but again, wish you the best of luck, and enjoyment here. Without a doubt as time passes, you will be the old hand, and helping others here as well!
Mark
 
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