Matt@flyingchipmunk
New member
- Sep 1, 2015
- 85
- 0
Hi folks! Long time reader of the forums, figured I would add my two cents after learning so much from other people posting.
We're all stoked about this Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating, and I had a great project car to use it on. A metallic black BMW that got destroyed by a dealer washing it, and it's my personal vehicle.
I made a little photo journal of this corrective process and thought I would share it with everyone here also.
There were two new products that I tried out that I'll add my thoughts about for you, first up was the Nanoskin AutoScrub and Nanoskin Glide for paint decontamination.
Pros: The areas I used the autoscrub on vs manually with a claybar were slicker. It did do a great job at speeding up the process where I used it. Glide? Yes it served it's purpose well, but you probably do not need to specifically use their Glide for lubrication honestly.
Cons: A little pricey. Marring. I'll weigh this with the fact I'm working with a very very soft black paint. Any, and I mean any non-flat body line this autoscrub fine pad left its mark. After two attempts of altering techniques and even using it in my hand off the DA (flex on speed 1) I gave up on non-flat body panels with the autoscrub pad. I'm not talking about sharp raised body lines, but anything that caused the pad to not lie flat. I did the rest of the car without problems, just stayed away from edges and raised body lines and followed up with claying those areas.
Final Thoughts: I am hesitant to use the autoscrub on a vehicle that I wasn't planning on polishing. I might leave it off the DA and use it by hand only especially on soft paints.
Ok so on to the main show, Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating -
I am a long time Zaino user making a leap to trying out a coating for the first time. If you are familiar with Zaino products you know the adage, "a little goes a long way, you probably used too much." Years of Zaino application has embedded that in me, and was equally true of the Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating. That picture above is after coating the entire vehicle and all the glass except the front windshield. See what I mean about a little goes a long way?
There aren't that many instructions that come with it, but a little common sense and you are on you're way. Do yourself a favor and use pliers to remove/insert the needle tips, your fingers will thank you. Take a set of pliers and untwist the white plug, then twist in tight with pliers the blue tip. A little tip if you are going to put this in storage, write somewhere on the box or the syringe the date you broke the seal.
The applicator pad that comes with it is a Lake Country Coating Applicator, firm enough, but not too firm. The MF towel that comes with it is a rectangle sized edgeless towel. If I had to guess somewhere in the 480gsm range. Excellent MF towel for the job. As with most edgeless MF towels it can be advantageous to wash them first so they don't leave a trail of lint when you wipe down your vehicle.
Prepping the vehicle: Due to my own ordering mistake my Wolfgang Perfekt Finish Paint Prep was not going to arrive in time for this project. Kudos to the Autogeek phone team for taking my call and answering my questions. Confirmed my normal ~12% IPA wipe down after polishing would be sufficient in lieu of the WG Paint Prep.
Application of the product only took a panel to get use to. The flash time is plenty long enough to give you enough working time to do it right without rushing against the clock. How much to put on the applicator? I don't have a picture of this step so accept my apologies for this rough mock up
I found this pattern of product on the applicator worked for me. Imagine drawing an X on the pad and put a few drops along that X. The applicator has a tendency to "catch" on the body panel at first but after one or two applications of product to the applicator it started gliding smoother. I had a few high spots on my first panel so I decreased the amount of "dots" on my X pattern by 1 in each direction and continued with the rest of the vehicle. It is very easy to work with. The areas where I fought high spots more often were corners and edges around curvy body lines.
Tip: When you are inspecting for high spots get your head down close to the body panel so the angle you are looking at is very small, use the ambient light source with this low angle to inspect for high spots easier. Standing straight above a few feet away you will miss them. I also supplemented the light with the same high power LED nitecore light I use for polish inspection.
The pattern I developed was apply to one "working area", add more to applicator and apply to a second "working area". Go back and deal with any high spots in the first area, then deal with any high spots in the second area. Wait a minute and buff both areas with the MF towel. I say "working area" instead of panel because I found matching the coverage area to the product on the pad instead of loading the pad up more to cover an entire panel more effective.
The nose, headlights, mirrors, and truck loading lid (top of rear bumper) has XPEL ultimate clear bra applied. Application over the clear bra was just like the rest of the vehicle paying attention to edges for high spots. The applicator smoothly glided over the clear bra effortlessly. The front windshield of this BMW has a rain sensor and I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this one. I have been told not to apply rainx coatings in fear of messing up the rain sensor, and out of caution I did not coat my windshield. I would love to hear from people with experience coating or not coating windshields with rain sensors.
The final outcome speaks for itself ...
1 week later I got to drive though rain and snapped these shots of the beading.
I am anxious to see how this holds up to a rough New England winter!
I invite you to enjoy the full gallery of the correction session if you are interested. I've added thoughts and tips to the pictures as well - Behind The Scenes - flyingchipmunk
Any questions or feedback I'm more than happy to answer!
We're all stoked about this Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating, and I had a great project car to use it on. A metallic black BMW that got destroyed by a dealer washing it, and it's my personal vehicle.
I made a little photo journal of this corrective process and thought I would share it with everyone here also.
There were two new products that I tried out that I'll add my thoughts about for you, first up was the Nanoskin AutoScrub and Nanoskin Glide for paint decontamination.
Pros: The areas I used the autoscrub on vs manually with a claybar were slicker. It did do a great job at speeding up the process where I used it. Glide? Yes it served it's purpose well, but you probably do not need to specifically use their Glide for lubrication honestly.
Cons: A little pricey. Marring. I'll weigh this with the fact I'm working with a very very soft black paint. Any, and I mean any non-flat body line this autoscrub fine pad left its mark. After two attempts of altering techniques and even using it in my hand off the DA (flex on speed 1) I gave up on non-flat body panels with the autoscrub pad. I'm not talking about sharp raised body lines, but anything that caused the pad to not lie flat. I did the rest of the car without problems, just stayed away from edges and raised body lines and followed up with claying those areas.
Final Thoughts: I am hesitant to use the autoscrub on a vehicle that I wasn't planning on polishing. I might leave it off the DA and use it by hand only especially on soft paints.
Ok so on to the main show, Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating -
I am a long time Zaino user making a leap to trying out a coating for the first time. If you are familiar with Zaino products you know the adage, "a little goes a long way, you probably used too much." Years of Zaino application has embedded that in me, and was equally true of the Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating. That picture above is after coating the entire vehicle and all the glass except the front windshield. See what I mean about a little goes a long way?
There aren't that many instructions that come with it, but a little common sense and you are on you're way. Do yourself a favor and use pliers to remove/insert the needle tips, your fingers will thank you. Take a set of pliers and untwist the white plug, then twist in tight with pliers the blue tip. A little tip if you are going to put this in storage, write somewhere on the box or the syringe the date you broke the seal.
The applicator pad that comes with it is a Lake Country Coating Applicator, firm enough, but not too firm. The MF towel that comes with it is a rectangle sized edgeless towel. If I had to guess somewhere in the 480gsm range. Excellent MF towel for the job. As with most edgeless MF towels it can be advantageous to wash them first so they don't leave a trail of lint when you wipe down your vehicle.
Prepping the vehicle: Due to my own ordering mistake my Wolfgang Perfekt Finish Paint Prep was not going to arrive in time for this project. Kudos to the Autogeek phone team for taking my call and answering my questions. Confirmed my normal ~12% IPA wipe down after polishing would be sufficient in lieu of the WG Paint Prep.
Application of the product only took a panel to get use to. The flash time is plenty long enough to give you enough working time to do it right without rushing against the clock. How much to put on the applicator? I don't have a picture of this step so accept my apologies for this rough mock up
I found this pattern of product on the applicator worked for me. Imagine drawing an X on the pad and put a few drops along that X. The applicator has a tendency to "catch" on the body panel at first but after one or two applications of product to the applicator it started gliding smoother. I had a few high spots on my first panel so I decreased the amount of "dots" on my X pattern by 1 in each direction and continued with the rest of the vehicle. It is very easy to work with. The areas where I fought high spots more often were corners and edges around curvy body lines.
Tip: When you are inspecting for high spots get your head down close to the body panel so the angle you are looking at is very small, use the ambient light source with this low angle to inspect for high spots easier. Standing straight above a few feet away you will miss them. I also supplemented the light with the same high power LED nitecore light I use for polish inspection.
The pattern I developed was apply to one "working area", add more to applicator and apply to a second "working area". Go back and deal with any high spots in the first area, then deal with any high spots in the second area. Wait a minute and buff both areas with the MF towel. I say "working area" instead of panel because I found matching the coverage area to the product on the pad instead of loading the pad up more to cover an entire panel more effective.
The nose, headlights, mirrors, and truck loading lid (top of rear bumper) has XPEL ultimate clear bra applied. Application over the clear bra was just like the rest of the vehicle paying attention to edges for high spots. The applicator smoothly glided over the clear bra effortlessly. The front windshield of this BMW has a rain sensor and I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this one. I have been told not to apply rainx coatings in fear of messing up the rain sensor, and out of caution I did not coat my windshield. I would love to hear from people with experience coating or not coating windshields with rain sensors.
The final outcome speaks for itself ...
1 week later I got to drive though rain and snapped these shots of the beading.
I am anxious to see how this holds up to a rough New England winter!
I invite you to enjoy the full gallery of the correction session if you are interested. I've added thoughts and tips to the pictures as well - Behind The Scenes - flyingchipmunk
Any questions or feedback I'm more than happy to answer!
rops: