Brianoconnor

Hi,

I am considering coating my car, the problem is, I have almost no knowledge on it, I just know that it protects the surface on which it is applied from stains, dirt and micro-marrings.
I don’t really know what characteristics I should look for when I make my choice: Almost all companies promise a better look, more shine, … But then it gets more complicated: some advertise the hydrophobicity (if someone could explain this to me that would be great ahahah). Some others, heat or UV resistance etc…

So my question is, what should be the characteristics I should look for in a ceramic coating?

PS: sorry if I did not post in the right section, I am new to the forum and I got a bit lost, I just thought here was the most relevant place to post.

AR1975

Hi!
So ceramic coatings were designed for several things:

• They protect your car from micro scratches (or micro marrings), the indicator you're looking for here is the hardness, they often use the pencil hardness scale. Do you remember what was written on the pens you used at school? B1, HB, etc... it uses the same ranking, 10H being the hardest. if you want more info here is my source. It know that some companies advertise the thickness too but TBH I don't think it plays a great role. They are not a well know company but I like their educational stuff ahah
• The second characteristic provided by coatings is the hydrophobicity (and oleophobicity), it case you don't know these words they mean water and oil repellent. This has several advantages: first it prevents dirty from sticking to your paint. To put it simply: the coating creates a surface on which water cannot stay, and water is the a good medium, which means it carries dirt quite easily, hence the water will trap the dirt and just fall off the car. Some coating companies even recommend not washing coated cars with anything but water. It will also make it (almost) impossible for a graffiti to stay on your car. The indicator you're looking for is the contact angle (given in degrees), consider anything above 110-120 degrees hydrophobic enough to be good.
• Finally most coatings are also UV resistant, which means they'll prevent your paint for fading.
• Some companies also advertise heat resistance with temperature going up to 2200 F, but quite frankly unless you plan on driving in a volcano, such a high heat resistance is not necessary.

These would be the main characteristic I can think about right now, It is up to you to determine which ones are the most important for you.

apisarski

Do you have a brand you recommend?

acdii

I just finished doing a 2 stage coating on mine. I put on 2 coats of Cquartz UK, and a topping coat of GLISS. Both are Carpro products and designed to work together, and the results are AMAZING!

Here is the trick, the finish needs to be flawless to start or you just wind up making flaws stand out more. First step, wash, second spray it down with Iron X following directions, then once dried, claybar it. If there are swirls, scratches or anything, compound with a DA to remove, then go over the entire paint with a final polish and DA. Wipe it all down well with a 50/50 alcohol/water solution, and then go to town with the coating. There are videos on how best to apply it, and depending on the temps and humidity, can flash fast, or go slow, so that is the trickiest part of the whole ordeal. If you let it set too long, then it becomes very difficult to remove, and if left to cure it has to be polished off.

Gliss is less demanding, and if left to cure can be leveled off with more GLISS applied and buffed off quickly.

The surface is super slick, bugs don't stick, water flies off, and light scratching/swirls are pretty much eliminated. It will still scratch, but it protects against light scratching from wipe downs or a dirty sponge.

It has been a week now, driving through fog and having water form while driving, and it doesn't even look like it.



Picture doesn't do it justice, it is very detailed in RL.

Nufmed

looks amazing! total time spend?

Ryan_2020

I am not going to lie, I am a huge fan of the Magma Red color and the work/detail you have put into yours probably makes it one of my favorite on the forum.

AricsFX

iTrader: (3)

acdii

I spent 3 days on it, one day for the protection film, then the next for the paint correction and CQ, and then Gliss the next day. I would say at least 24 hours or more time spent on it.

Thanks! The hard part now is keeping it clean. She needs a bath now, and its just too cold and windy for me to be hauling out the power washer and hose. Hopefully this weekend will be dry and calm enough for a good bathing. I also have to winterize my trailer so will be another busy weekend.

Ryan_2020

I hear you on keeping them clean, my '13 tuxedo black during the winter was brutal......plus we get freezing temps from mid-October through April so a real pain.

.....we also winterized our trailer a month ago

hvfc6040

Don't waste your time, I have it on my truck and my boat and neither made it to a year before it needed to be re-done.

Truck has micro scratches from washing (I pressure wash with low pressure nozzles, foam, re wash, re foam and use 2 buckets with grit guards and a microfiber mit) which the entire point of the coating was to not have to worry about micro scratches.

Boat coating lasted about a month tops, and never did clean as easily as they advertise. Boat stays in a covered shed, only exposed to sun when in use.

Both truck and boat stopped beading water after a month. Now the ceramic coating manufacturers all sell "rejuvenation" products that you are supposed to apply to the coating to keep it fresh.

Cant tell you how many times I hear people say "never wax again". You're in for a rude awakening.