DIY ceramic coat paint protection.

[VS 5.0]

I'm not sure how I feel about it. Bear in mind I had not ordered it so it was just stock sitting in a yard - not on display etc. They'd obviously removed the factory wrap and it was just sitting right out the back in a corner under a tree! But, it was my local dealer, I liked silver and the deal was good.

To be honest, I'm kind of glad it was just left sitting rather than being wiped with a dirty chamois every day whilst out on display. Those cars had plenty of micro scratches and swirls. At least this one only went through one wash so the paint was actually in pretty good condition.

I just find it astounding that the dealer would allow what is/was a marquee vehicle for Holden.....their swansong if you will.....to be allowed to get in that condition.

 

[DJ_m]

I've got the same color so i can only say great choice

I do really like the Nitrate. I was always keen on white and I love black cars but I do a fair few KMs and silver is very forgiving with dirt and minor marks. The sticker pack, of which I'm not the biggest fan, was contrasted best by the silver in my opinion.

However, i had the dealer apply paint protection, tint and a towbar.
It's the first time i've had paint protection and tint on a car.
Reading how bad dealers are at applying paint protection is not comforting

I had the tint done also by the dealer. I could have got the same thing for less elsewhere but for a couple of hundred dollars I'm happy to have only one place to return to should I have any issues.

Don't stress too much about the paint protection. You'll get good wear from it I'm sure. If they did the protection straight after unwrapping the car it should be fine. Silver is also very forgiving so huge amounts of paint correction should not be necessary. My issue with the dealers is that you do not know who exactly is applying the paint protection and I like to talk to the person doing it and know exactly what they are doing for the money. They also tend to use some sort of rebadged coating so there isno way of knowing if they are buying the best or the cheapest. Ultimately, all paint protection has a limited lifespan. It is a very thin coating. Don't be fooled by the marketing. Even the best detailers will tell you that they polish and re-apply after 2-3 years.

Try using an easy to apply coating topper or semi permanent coating on top (Gyeon Cancoat or dozens of others).

Sadly the dealer did not apply paint protection to the wheels which is rather anoying

I'll be doing my rims with Gyeon Rims in the next week or two. The wheels are quiet a lot of work.

Are bubbles on windows tint a problem that gets worse in time or will they remain as they currently are, small and innocuous?

I have had some tiny bubbles on window tint but they have disappeared in a day or two after application

Anyway, my tint may need to be replaced on one windows due to some small bubbles though it may be better to just live with it rather than have the dealer reapply tint so i just end up with bubbles somewhere else on the window

There is no acceptable level of fault in window tinting. It is either 100% perfect or it needs to be taken off and reapplied. I would not accept any kind of dust, dirt or bubbles under/in window tint.

Snow foam looks like an interesting product as does the gritt guard and wasboard. Where did you buy these items from?

I've bought a fair bit from Carcareproducts.com.au. Snow foam attachments (you need a pressure washer to attach to) are expensive at about $100 but they should last most of a lifetime. There are items on eBay for around $20-25 that are probably worth trying. So long as most of it is brass it should be fine. Detailingworld.co.uk has plenty of advice on products. I'm goign to switch from the Gyeon product as it is expensive. I've read that good old CT18 Superwash is good as a foam and you can buy 6 litres for $40 (should last a couple of years as snow foam).

For microfibre, some of the best are from The Rag Company. I use Eagle Edgeless 500 gsm for polishing, buffing and taking off product, Twist and Shout towel for drying, and I think Eagle Edgeless 365 or The Wizard for other general cleaning and applying product. If you search for 'The Rag Company' products on Amazon you'll find their shipping charges are much less than going direct.

 

[DJ_m]

OK. So the car is clean. Well mostly. I've not done much at all with the wheels as I plan to take them off, clean, decontaminate, polish and coat them separately. Same with the glass...
I'm hopeful I can get away with not claying the car. Much of it feels pretty smooth but the bonnet, roof and the top of the front panels feel a little gritty with a thin plastic bag over my fingers. So i get to work claying and decide I may as well do the whole car as I'm going to polish anyway.

Here is the clay after doing about one half of the boot lid, not drastic but quite a bit of crap coming out of the paint.

One good thing is that I do come across odd tiny spots of tar, tree sap etc but they are quickly removed with the clay bar or tar remover.

I'm finished claying at about 1.00pm. Allowing for a few interruptions I'm probably about 3 hours in.

Dependent on what you read and who you believe, there are people who will say categorically that you will always have to polish after claying a car. It will mar the paint. Dependent on how much crap is on the paint and how soft the paint is (Holden paint is on the softer side) and the colour will depend on whether you can actually see any marks. Silver is very forgiving (good for OCD people like me), flat black or red is very unforgiving - easy to spot light marks and swirls. With my last car (a Prussian Grey Redline), I found it needed to be clayed after about 2 years and 40,000km (much on the freeway) - this car was coated with Opticoat Pro and was ok after I clayed it - no marks that were easy to see. Don't make a habit of claying unless you really need to and be prepared for a machine polish when you do.

So now, finally the car (paint at least) is very clean.

Now for my nightmare. About 1 week before this process, when the car was just two weeks old, I'm picking my son up from soccer and walking back to the car I spot a horrible jagged scratch on the rear passenger door. It has gone right through the clear coat and into the paint. I'm speechless and close to having a heart attack. Gutted.

First I think it is a deliberate act that has just happened. Then I consider it could have happened where I was parked earlier that day. I'll never know.

I'd already planned to do the ceramic coating the coming weekend. Thinking through my options of a partial or total respray of that side of the car and I don't like them very much. Do I do the ceramic coat or deal with the scratch? I decide to plod on and worry about the scratch later. I'd like to get to the paint before I do too many KMs.

Whilst silver metallic paint is great for hiding minor marks it is horrendous for repairing and matching the colour...any experts on here?

So, polishing. I know I have an irreparable scratch on the door. I inspect the rest of the car with an LED work lamp. The paint is much better than I expect. I'm thinking the shitty storage of the car and lack of washing at the dealership has probably done me a favour. I find one nasty mark on the bonnet, looks like someone has tried to rub away some bird **** and marred the paint, there is another light but long scratch on the other rear passenger door (similar to what you would expect if you drove alongside a small bush), there are two etchings on the roof that look like bird **** that has eaten the paint slightly and quiet a few swirls in the roof. Bear in mind this is mostly only visible on an exceptionally clean vehicle and with a lamp looking very very closely. You may or may not be able to spot one of these marks below (just below the blue tape). The rest are too hard to photograph but I mark them all with tape so I know where to polish.

I am using a Mint DAS Pro DA polisher. For the obvious marks I hit them with Menzerna 400 compund and a microfibre cutting pad.

A few passes and all the marks are gone. My bad scratch looks a little better. Still feel teary though. Next I jump to Menzerna 2400 and go over only the areas I hit with the compound. I make sure I completely remove any marks the 400 compound put in and the paint is starting to really pop.

Now I start going over the whole car with Menzerna 3500 polish. I use an orange pad rather than a black finishing pad in the hope that it has a bt more bite (it is this or go back to the 2400 polish and then have to go over it again with the 3400). I know if I have some micro swirls on the black roof then they will be on the rest of the paint... I just can't see them on the silver. I start on the roof to make sure the 3500, technically a finishing polish, has enough cut with the orange pad to get rid of the very fine marks. It does and the roof is gleaming. I go to the bonnet and work carefully in sections making sure I cover each area really well in a cross hatch pattern. It is pretty slow work but the paint is looking great.

The front spoiler is the hardest part. I use a smaller pad and have to do some parts by hand. I spend an hour at least on the spoiler.

The results, hopefully speak for themselves.

It's 5.00pm. I've done a solid 7 hours and am knackered. I still have most of the car to polish but time for a beer.

 

[dgp]

Awesome job, well done. I am gutted for you just looking at that scratch mate, some people just don't give a crap about other people's property.

 

[Anthony121]

I just find it astounding that the dealer would allow what is/was a marquee vehicle for Holden.....their swansong if you will.....to be allowed to get in that condition.

It's just a car to them. A lot of dealers have stock sitting in yards. What about the stock that sits in each states capital city? In the years before the dealers get their cars? What about all those Directors sitting around waiting to get the outs trim on the doors sorted?

 

[VS 5.0]

I hear you @Anthony121....they're just a tradeable commodity that needs to be traded for profit.....still grinds my gears though.

 

[DJ_m]

New day and fresh arms. I'm careful to mask of any rubber or plastic trim and also the sticker decals on each panel.

The rest of the machine polishing is fairly easy but takes some time given lack of experience. I also machine polish the lights and can't believe the difference it makes. I spend most of Saturday morning working from panel to panel but finally the polishing is finished. The car looks great.

Next is the final step before the coating. The paint needs to be completely clean and free of any polish or other residue. I use Nanolex surface cleaner as I happen to have a bottle hanging around. I have read that an isopropyl/water solution will do the job but the instructions on the ceramic coating say it may not. The Nanolex should get the paint really clean.

I go around the car panel by panel, and then all the way around again to make sure I've missed nothing.

For the ceramic coating I have opted for Gyeon Q2 MOHS. I opted for this after reading plenty of good reviews on detailing forums and also because some online videos showed the application and removal to be very easy.

The MOHS kit is $170 and comes with everything you need including 50ml of product which should be good for a couple of coats.

I start on the bonnet doing about a third of the panel. The instruction say that the product should go off in 30sec-2min dependent on temp etc. It is over 30c with a reasonable breeze so I'm thinking it is going to go off quickly. Dependent on the panel I wait between 30 secs and a few minutes. The product definitely comes off more easily if left a shorter time. After a few minutes it becomes quite grabby on the microfibre but it still comes of with a slightly firmer rub.

After a couple of panels I realise I have used nearly a quarter of the bottle. Oops. The problem is that it is very hard, impossible in fact, to see the product going on. My poor setup, lack of lighting and the silver paint and I can't see the film that is obvious in the videos I have seen. I'm torn between using much less product on the applicator and the thought of not putting enough on! I decide to carry on as I have been, making sure I cover every square centimetre.

It takes me a few hours with constant looking and checking each panel with a light to make sure I'm not missing anything. The bottle just lasts for one coat....hopefully a thick one!

That is it. Leave the car for a long as possible to cure (min 24 hrs) and try not to get it wet for a week.

For maintenance and as an additional coat. I'm going to use Gyeon Cancoat every 4-6 months. This is a paint protection with SiO2. It is a very easy to apply wipe on/wipe off paint protection. If you believe what you read then it offers superior gloss, water beading and self-cleaning properties over the Gyeon MOHS but is nowhere near as hard - Cancoat should last up to 6 months as a stand alone product or a top coat. There are plenty of other similar products. I'll also use Gyeon Cure after each wash - probably not necessary but it is like a disease!

Sometime soon, I'm going to remove the wheels and take them through a similar process to the paint and coat with Gyeon Rims. My experience with painted black wheels are that they are much harder to maintain than the paint. The glass will get Nanolex premium glass sealant. Unsure whether this will make much difference but will give it a go and see if it is worth it. All of this is really just to make the cleaning process easier and lessen the chance of introducing scratches from dirt build up on the car. As for that scratch, well I think I will attempt a wet sand followed by compounding and polishing and see if I can get it to be almost unnoticeable. All of this will have to wait a week or two. This week I've had enough of car detailing.

 

[Skylarking]

@DJ_m thanks for the links now i’ll have to go shopping

Many years ago, on the second drive of my new ‘white’ car, while turning left I ran over a coat hanger I didn’t see. The coat hanger went thought the right rear tyre treat/sidewall junction and spun around with the wheel scratching the rear quarter and door panels. It was a deep but sharp thin scratch. I needed a new tyre but I used touch up paint supplied by the dealer with the vehicle. With a really fine brush I made from a few bristles, I filled the scratches with paint and later buffed flat. Carefully inspecting the surface, you could still see where the scratch was as the applied paint was a slightly different hue but most wouldn’t notice it. I felt this was better than a re-spray and it protected the panels from rust for the almost 20 years I had her. It was rather annoying when it happened but I soon forgot about it and just enjoyed driving the car.

With the nitrite MSE i’d be even more wary of re-sprays compared to a solid colour. Matching the sparkles could be challenging but i’m no automotive paint expert by any means. Possibly filling the scratch with (even a solid silver) paint and then compounding/sanding/polishing when completely dry may yield acceptable results, especially if the scratch is thin. Then i’d add paint protection after the scratch repair.

But from what you’ve written, you seem to have it all sorted and know what your doing
And when you next go for a drive and you’ll soon forget about the scratch

Me, i’ll check out my tint really carefully and chat to my dealer about all the bubbles. I’ll also have the dealer clarify what paint protection they used and whether they should have also applied it to the wheels, though I suspect I may just apply the wheel protection myself

Looking forward to the next instalment

 

[panhead]

Sometime soon, I'm going to remove the wheels and take them through a similar process to the paint and coat with Gyeon Rims. My experience with painted black wheels are that they are much harder to maintain than the paint. The glass will get Nanolex premium glass sealant. Unsure whether this will make much difference but will give it a go and see if it is worth it. All of this is really just to make the cleaning process easier and lessen the chance of introducing scratches from dirt build up on the car. As for that scratch, well I think I will attempt a wet sand followed by compounding and polishing and see if I can get it to be almost unnoticeable. All of this will have to wait a week or two. This week I've had enough of car detailing.

You done a fantastic job on your car.

When you remove the rims to coat them make sure you clean and also apply a couple of coats of protection to the rear plastic inner guards (wheel wells) and something on the felt fronts to seal them from dirt, I just used a few layers of Scotchgard on mine but there are also dedicated sealers for car carpets available from detailing retailers that work well.

Also a few coats of protection on the brake callipers makes for easy cleaning.



.

 

[DJ_m]

You done a fantastic job on your car.

Thanks.

When you remove the rims to coat them make sure you clean and also apply a couple of coats of protection to the rear plastic inner guards (wheel wells) and something on the felt fronts to seal them from dirt, I just used a few layers of Scotchgard on mine but there are also dedicated sealers for car carpets available from detailing retailers that work well.

Will definitely bear this in mind.

Also a few coats of protection on the brake callipers makes for easy cleaning.

Yep. Was planning on using the Gyeon Rims as is is rated for very high temps.