Review: Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating - 2011 Inferno Orange Metallic Corvette Grand Sport

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Review: Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating - 2011 Inferno Orange Metallic Corvette Grand Sport


Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating

My first article on using a paint coating dates back to 2011, which is also the year of this car. Since then I've used a lot of different coatings in different versions and to date, I would have to say this is my favorite product. Here's why,

1: Easy to use.
2: Creates a super high gloss or glassy finish.
3: Leaves the paint slick and slippery not rubbery like some coatings.
4: Makes washing and drying super fast and easy.


The webpage for this product states it can last up to 3 years and as long as you touch the paint carefully, and by the word touch I mean using a wash mitt, drying towel or any other microfiber towel, to touch the paint, then 3 years is easily in the realm of accuracy. In my opinion and experience, and here's a quote,

Nothing looks as nice as a freshly coated car - Mike Phillips


So while this coating and a lot of other coatings can easily last a long time, the crisp high gloss shine you see like in the pictures below won't hold up for years if the car is a daily driver. That's simply because nothing lasts for ever including you and me, and immediately after wiping off the coating the paint is going to look it's best. So if you want your car's finish to look like it was just coated, then just coat it.

Besides really like the Pinnacle Paint Coating I also really like it's cousins in the PBL line and specifically the Pinnacle Black Label Surface Coating. The PBL Surface Coating is as easy to use as a spray detailer, simply mist a little onto the paint, spread with a microfiber trowel and then flip the towel to a clean, fresh dry side and give that section of paint a final wipe. Please take my word for it, this is the coolest product to maintain at least the PBL paint coating.


The real deal

A good friend of mine recently added another Corvette to his collection, a 2011 Inferno Orange Metallic Corvette Grand Sport with only 16,000 miles on it. Using overhead sunlight I inspected the swirl and scratch level of the paint and it looked great considering it's 8 years old as I type this in the year 2019.


Here's the sun shots....

There's not a lot of swirls and scratches but as most anyone that's detailed a modern Corvette knows from first-hand, real-world experience, the GM Corvette clearcoats are quite hard and after doing 3 Test Spots, in order to remove even this level of light swirling, I had to compound the entire car.

After pictures

And after doing all the steps required to prep the hard Corvette clearcoat here's what Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating looks like....

Now this is how a Corvette should look....

Products used
And here's everything I used to take the lightly swirled out Corvette to a swirl-free, show car finish.

Hard Paint
The paint was very hard on the Corvette, which is the norm for most Corvettes from this era. Even though the swirls were light or shallow, I needed to use foam cutting pads and a compound to remove the swirls to my expectations for the finish on this car. If you look at the above picture you'll see Buff and Shine Orange foam cutting pads, Green foam polishing pads and Black foam finishing pads. I tested the green foam polishing pads with the compound hoping this would be aggressive enough to remove the swirls and scratches and while it was good it wasn't good enough so I switched over to the Buff and Shine orange foam cutting pads with the compound and this worked perfect.


Buff and Shine 6" Foam Buffing Pads
This was the first time I used these pads on the new FLEX Cordless CBEAST and they worked really well. The velcro backing perfectly fit the factory backing plate on the CBEAST. Besides that I like the simple, flat face design as this makes cleaning on the fly fast and easy.



Technique Tip
If you look next to the bottle of Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating you'll see a simple, yellow foam wax applicator pad. This is what I used to apply the coating. I took some scissors and trimmed the outer edges off the applicator pad as they are not as soft as the face of the foam pad and I didn't want to risk rubbing them against the highly polished paint.

Trimming the edge off a simple foam wax applicator pad

Application thoughts...
This is a very easy coating to apply. Simply mist a little product onto the paint and then a mist onto the face of the applicator pad and spread the coating out over a section of paint about the size of a 16" by 16" microfiber towel. Gently rub the paint until you see the coating for the most part, disappear. Then repeat this until a single panel has been coated. (a panel is a hood, or a door, or a fender, etc.). After applying to a single panel, gently give this panel a soft wipe using a clean, dry INSPECTED microfiber towel. This panel is now coated, move onto the next panel and repeat this process until the entire car is coated and softly wiped to a super high gloss finish.


The secret
The real secret to applying this coating or any coating really is to tackle one panel at a time and slow down and take your time for applying and spreading the coating out. If you take your time you'll do a much better job in all aspects versus trying to rush.



Final thoughts...

If you're new to ceramic paint coatings, the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating is super easy to use and leaves a slick, super glassy finish that makes future washing, drying and maintaining fast and easy. In my opinion, it's a great ceramic paint coating to use if this will be your first time applying a ceramic paint coating.



On Autogeek.net


Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Coating

Pinnacle Advanced Compound 16 ounce

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish

Buff and Shine Orange Foam Cutting Pad - 6 Inch

Buff and Shine Green Foam Polishing Pad - 6 Inch

Buff and Shine Black Foam Finishing Pad - 6 inch

Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay Kit

BLACKFIRE Paint Prep 32 ounce

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Most important.....


I cannot stress the importance of pre-inspecting all of your microfiber towels before staring any detailing project. All towes used need to be inspected first. This includes towels for,

• Waterless wash
• Wiping off clay lubricant residue
• Wiping off compounding residue
• Wiping off polish residue
• Wiping off panel wipe
• Giving the coated section a final wipe

If there is ONE tiny abrasive particle in any of your towels you risk putting swirls and scratches back into the paint. This is what I call,

Working backwards


That's because you will undo any work already performed. The further along in the process you get the more important it becomes to have microfiber towels that have passed your inspection.



If you don't know how or why to inspect your microfiber towels, click the link below and watch my video.


How, why & when to inspect your microfiber towels when detailing cars

 

[rlmccarty2000]

PBL paint coating is a mystery coating to me. It goes on like a sealant, it does not harden in the bottle or harden applicators or microfibers but it does last. I “only” got 2 years out of it on a customers car, but for the effort 2 years is fantastic. You can probably get 3-4 cars out of a bottle and the liquid doesn’t harden up. I wish someone at PBMG would explain the chemistry of this product.

The yellow Pinnacle applicators work the best to apply the coating.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I wish someone at PBMG would explain the chemistry of this product.

I hear ya.... but I don't think you'll see anyone else from Autogeek take you up on that query....



Years ago when I was at Meguiar's and the Zaino vs NXT Wax Wars were raging, my manager at that time, John Dillon gave me some advice on how to answer questions about a product when someone would ask me,

What's in the bottle?
(happened all the time with NXT)



He told me, and I share this all the time in my classes,


Put the focus on the performance of the product, not the ingredients in the bottle - John Dillon


That was good advice back then and I continue to use it and apply it to this day. I'm not a chemist and don't try to act like one in the real-world or the online world. I know what I like and what I don't like and I know what works for me. I also like to feel "comfortable" when making recommendations to other people because I want them to have a good experience as well as be successful at whatever it is they are doing. I know if a person does the prep work correctly then this product will perform.

Plus I'm simply not a believer or a practice of long time protection because I tend be focus on longevity AND appearance, that's two things. That's why I wrote this article,


The case against multi-year ceramic paint coatings - Road Grime = Surface Staining Daily Drivers by Mike Phillips


To date, I have NOT seen any of the well known car detailing gurus write an article that makes the case for multi-year coatings, (the opposite of the case I make in the above article), but then again, I don't really see anyone else writing articles now days, gurus or anyone.



At the end of the day, everyone can figure out what works best for them...


:cheers:

 

[Kamakaz1961]

Thank you for this article. It looks like I will be trying out this product as Pinnacle products are excellent products and I have many of their products in my arsenal. I have used the hard core coatings and the soft core coatings (example Gyeon CanCoat). I no longer use the hard core coatings as IMO it is a system you have to use (special soaps, sprays and maintenance) to keep it looking great. I know CanCoat is a great enhancer to the ceramic coats. But based on this article, I am assuming the Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Coating is on par with the Gyeon CanCoat. Either way, I will be using this product for the future details.

Again, thank you for this and as always KEEP ON ROCKING!

 

[acuRAS82]

I was never interested in coatings due to no desire for 1+ year longevity, but the Surface Coating does have me interested as kind of a coating lite, use whenever, wherever for coating qualities (like CanCoat).

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I was never interested in coatings due to no desire for 1+ year longevity, but the Surface Coating does have me interested as kind of a coating lite, use whenever, wherever for coating qualities (like CanCoat).

PBL Surface Coating is my favorite "coating" product. I have 1971 Plum Crazy Charger R/T that I'm testing how long the batteries last on the new CBEAST tomorrow. When I'm done I'll use just the PBL Surface Coating on the paint for my LSP and share some info.

 

[acuRAS82]

^^ Amazing car!!! Have fun!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

^^ Amazing car!!! Have fun!

Came into work early, going to wash the car first thing. I normally don't wash classics but the owner drives this one in the rain so there's not much more I can do to cause harm by washing it.


Plus - I'm going to spray an iron remover onto the white vinyl top to see if there's any iron contamination. Sometimes there is and sometimes there's not, you don't know until you try.


I'll also be taking some videos of the tools and techniques I use for projects like this, stay tuned.

 

[Maxreed241]

Mike, how long did it take you to complete the Corvette? Between the washing, claying, correction, and then coating must have taken a while.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 9 using Autogeekonline mobile app

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike, how long did it take you to complete the Corvette? Between the washing, claying, correction, and then coating must have taken a while.

Thanks for the question. It's a good question too. I've always detailed cars and I consider myself FAST at it. I don't have to "guess" at what to do when I start, I know what to do because I have lots of real-world experience.

That said, I was just under 10 hours into this car not including any time spent taking and sharing videos on my Facebook page. The paint was very hard as is known by and experienced detailer. Even getting out the shallow swirls and scratches required an aggressive compound, foam cutting pads and I would state, not guess, 10 pounds of pressure against the head of the polisher. And then, only buffing out sections about the size of a microfiber towel, that is 16" by 16".

Also just to note - I started by machine scrubbing the tires to get the "crap" the dealership put on them off. I did not wash the car while washing the wheels and tires I did a waterless wash with the BLACKFIRE Paint Prep.

Feel free to ask any questions...

 

[PaulMys]

Also just to note - I started by machine scrubbing the tires to get the "crap" the dealership put on them off.

I cringe at the stuff my dealer puts on the tires. Looks like a gallon of used, thin motor oil. Smells awful.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Update

Saw this Vette at Cars & Coffee this morning - looking great!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Finick]

I cringe at the stuff my dealer puts on the tires. Looks like a gallon of used, thin motor oil. Smells awful.

The shop I worked at was a unique situation where we had dealers from the auto park come to us (not all - like 6 dealerships used us) and we would do work for them.

Our standard operating procedure was absolute butchery, and I hated it. But what was even weirder to me was that they used name brand stuff to do it.

Nanoskin clay pads, TRC towels (creature, edgeless 300s for interiors, and their standard waffle weave towels), their compound was essentially 3D hd cut +, and their polish was hd speed.

Anyway, our tire shine was megs all season dressing. Which I hate. I just find it weird a shop would go through the trouble of buying real products to destroy cars with, instead of just getting generic stuff.

Worlds a weird place. I feel bad for anyone that has a dealership touch their car in any capacity after working for some.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The shop I worked at was a unique situation where we had dealers from the auto park come to us (not all - like 6 dealerships used us) and we would do work for them.

Our standard operating procedure was absolute butchery, and I hated it.

But what was even weirder to me was that they used name brand stuff to do it.

When you say, butchery, what do you mean? Just a rough idea?

 

[Finick]

When you say, butchery, what do you mean? Just a rough idea?

The prep process involved soaping down some of the dirtiest cars I’ve ever seen and then spraying that dirty soapy car with their dedicated detail spray/lubricant and claying the entire car with a medium nanoskin disc.

That was after using a bug sponge block across the bottom 1/3 of the car and all the high impact areas. We used an adhesive/tar remover and APC to lubricate this process. But it didn’t matter because the car hadn’t been washed, just rinsed.

The interior process utilized melamine sponges pretty much exclusively and citrus degreasers. Carpets were absolutely saturated by people.

There’s a lot of other things that’ll probably come to me later, but those were the things that bothered me the most.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Desertnate]

To date, I have NOT seen any of the well known car detailing gurus write an article that makes the case for multi-year coatings, (the opposite of the case I make in the above article), but then again, I don't really see anyone else writing articles now days, gurus or anyone.

I'm not a guru, and will never claim to be...just a normal guy trying to keep his family fleet in the best shape possible.

If someone is looking to keep a vehicle in a car show winning state, leaving a coating on for several years is probably not the way to go. However, I've found coatings made maintaining my daily drivers easier and less time consuming. Here are my thoughts.

• Vehicles stay cleaner longer. Things like dust and pollen don't tend to stick to the surface as easily and are blown off, rinsed off in a good rain. Normal road grime doesn't accumulate as fast.
• Easier to wash. The grime doesn't cling as well to the coated surface which makes washing and rinsing faster and easier. Drying has less water spotting as well.
• Multi-year durability means I only have to fully detail each vehicle every 18~24 months. I can put our vehicles on a rotation which leaves me more time for family, work and other responsibilities
• Snow removal is easier. This was a new one for me. While McKee's 37 Paint Coating v1 was no different than 845, but CanCoat and CQuartz UK made snow removal MUCH easier. Light fluffy snow just wafted away, while heavier, wet snow simply slid off the surface with very effort. After a bad ice storm, the ice on the coated car was mostly beads and narrow frozed streams vs a solid sheet on other vehicles. This made the ice melt faster and it was easier to scrape off the glass.

I fully agee the coating will hold on to road grime over time and after a year or so won't look it's best. I've witnessed this first hand. However, when balancing life, I'm OK with the coating not looking 100% after a year because the coating is still performing and looks better than 99% of the other cars on the road. I would never go more than 2 years.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

However, when balancing life, I'm OK with the coating not looking 100% after a year because the coating is still performing and looks better than 99% of the other cars on the road.

100% agree and for the record - I keep a coating on the wife's car.

I would never go more than 2 years.

That'll work. And you're right, your car will likely always look better than 99% of the cars on the road.



:dblthumb2: