Finished My Ceramic Coating .... Finally

[SS LeadFoot]

First let me say a BIG thank you to everyone on this board for your help but a Special BIG thank you to Dan@Adams. He was able to help me behind the scene and gave me the extra confidence I needed to attempt this.

 

So I did it. After washing, claying, paint correcting, touch up paint,, then the ceramic process I am done. I will say this, When I first finished I was a little disappointed. When I was paint correcting I used too much compound and it exposed a lot of rock chips that were not as visible as before because of the white compound getting in there. No big deal a oft of those came out when I used the spray prep. The ceramic was not as hard to apply as I thought. It smells horrible though. I did it in my garage and it was very humid. Took about 3.5 minutes to be able to wipe it off. Once I was don, or so I thought, I pulled it outside. This was the best thing I did. I saw immediately all the spots I missed when removing. Some were easy to get off others were not. Took a long time to get it right. Not sure if I did it right but I would try and buff them off and if that didn't work I reapplied ceramic and wiped down after about 40 seconds to a minute. My initial thought was I wasn't going to like the end result. I was sure I messed it up in a lot of areas. I pulled it out this morning to apply the boost and was really happy with the result. all the areas that  thought were going to be bad seemed to have disappeared. There are a few small areas that I will follow up with BG to address. The beading is amazing! I haven't touched it with water yet but while spraying the boost on it dripped right off the car. I had to spray the towel  and then wipe for the boost to stay. 

 

I would say the ceramic only part took me a little over 5 hours. The car looks amazing don't get me wrong, just not sure I would do this again. I will have to wait to see how long this last. 

 

Some helpful tips and tricks that I learned:

I started with the roof and worked my way down. Found this helpful so I knew were I was going. I also used a stopwatch. I timed how long the roof took to cure to wipe then timed each other section accordingly. I figured if I messed up the roof who cares

 

The stop watch helped me a lot because after a minute I wanted to remove it because it felt like 3 minutes  

 

Don't put ceramic on the pad while standing over the car. 

 

A detail cart would have helped big time.

 

Get your bucket to sit on.

 

I used three applicator pads. Well really only 2 but I dropped one so I threw it away. I turned the applicator every section. 

 

Best thing I did was move it into the sun after I was done to see where I missed. 

 

Let me know your thoughts 

 

Last two pics are after the ceramic was applied and was in the garage. First 5 are from after the 2 hours plus boost. 

 

[Rich]

NICE JOB!!!  

[RayS]

Hi Seth, That sure does look great.  Given the number of Red vehicles that I've done and many of them from the GM product lines, I think you absolutely nailed it.  

[Chris@Adams]

Looks real good!

[The Guz]

Came out great.  I used to like how my brothers red 03 looked polished and ceramic coated before he sold it a few years ago.   

 

Don't beat yourself up.  High spots are part of the learning curve when first starting out.  Even the best of us still get them.  The good thing is the coating is forgiving.  You will also get faster applying it and learning you can work larger areas if the temperature allows.  Lighting is important as well as you saw once you pulled the car out in the sun.  

 

Once you start washing it you will realize it was all worth it.  

 

 

[BRZN]

Lookin' Good!

[SS LeadFoot]

Thank you everyone! I am sure I will love it once I wash it. Unfortunately, that won't be for a long time. I am not going anywhere with the COVID cases so high. If I do go anywhere it will be in the wife's car. So I will cover her tonight and then start the other car this weekend.   Not ceramic since the other car is a garage queen. 

[falcaineer]

Great work, Seth!

[The Guz]

4 hours ago, SS LeadFoot said:

Thank you everyone! I am sure I will love it once I wash it. Unfortunately, that won't be for a long time. I am not going anywhere with the COVID cases so high. If I do go anywhere it will be in the wife's car. So I will cover her tonight and then start the other car this weekend.   Not ceramic since the other car is a garage queen. 

 

Coat the garage queen .  My Camaro is the garage queen as well and I coated both of mine .  But then again I have not touched a wax or sealant in years.  

[BRZN]

5 hours ago, SS LeadFoot said:

So I will cover her tonight

 

Wait, you did all that work, and now you're going to put a car cover on it? Think about it before you do. Do you regularly wash your car cover? Is it spotlessly clean? When you put it on and take it off can you do so without it moving, or sliding across the finish?

 

If you answered no to any of those questions, your car cover is going to begin to swirl your finish. Let it get dusty; take care of it with Waterless Wash, Rinseless Wash, CS3, or a two bucket wash.

[SS LeadFoot]

45 minutes ago, BRZN said:

 

Wait, you did all that work, and now you're going to put a car cover on it? Think about it before you do. Do you regularly wash your car cover? Is it spotlessly clean? When you put it on and take it off can you do so without it moving, or sliding across the finish?

 

If you answered no to any of those questions, your car cover is going to begin to swirl your finish. Let it get dusty; take care of it with Waterless Wash, Rinseless Wash, CS3, or a two bucket wash.

Dan said the same thing. I have never had any issues with covering the car. But now you guys are making me thing twice.

[SS LeadFoot]

1 hour ago, The Guz said:

 

Coat the garage queen .  My Camaro is the garage queen as well and I coated both of mine .  But then again I have not touched a wax or sealant in years.  

Man we have almost the same cars!

[Beemer]

29 minutes ago, SS LeadFoot said:

Dan said the same thing. I have never had any issues with covering the car. But now you guys are making me thing twice.

 

This argument comes up from time to time with sides taken immediately. (Kinda like the whole "California Car Duster" argument.)  

 

I cover my Camaro often.  Only in the garage when it's just been washed and I'm not planning on getting it out again for a while.

 

It's over 10 years old and looks better than showroom.

 

It really depends on the quality of the cover and how you use it.

 

[Beemer]

Besides that:  If the ceramic coating can't keep a carefully applied indoor car cover from swirling up your paint then what's the point of a ceramic coating?

 

[BRZN]

You can swirl the Ceramic Coating. The paint underneath is still protected.

 

I used to use a car cover on my GTO. No more, I went through three covers in about five years. Once you see the damage and realize what it's from, you can't un-see it.

[SS LeadFoot]

To cover, or not to cover? that is the question. I just think it looks so cool in the garage when both my cars are cleaned and covered. I am not sure it has happened in this house yet. This might be the only time. Maybe just once for a nice pic I do agree though. A cover will cause more damage then if it wasn't on the car. I have used one for years and never had any issues. Guess I can see both sides.

 

I do wash them every year before I put them on the car. They are in a storage bad when not used.

Edited May 27, 2020 by SS LeadFoot

[RayS]

I used to be pro-cover before I had access to quality products that last for many months to product the vehicle.  Then came along other quality products like Wasterless Wash and now CS3 that allow me to easily take the dust off the vehicle.  This allows me to leave the vehicle uncovered if we want to take a drive or show a friend.

 

If the vehicle was going to be untouched for multiple months, then I'd be inclined to cover it just to cut down on the many layers dust that would build up.    I did learn early on that during pollen season you are better off with the vehicle uncovered.  The pollen still goes through the cover and the cover I had was a pain to get all the pollen washed out of.

[The Guz]

8 hours ago, SS LeadFoot said:

Man we have almost the same cars!

 

Yeah we do.  Been tempted to sell both.  I have both coated.  Everyone thinks that once it is coated then all detailing is done.  That is completely false.  It still needs proper maintenance.  

 

I also don't use any covers.  I don't even use a waterless wash to remove the dust.  I will just give it a rinseless wash or full wash.  I try to avoid touching the paint to induce any marring.  

 

The GP sits outside 24/7.  Just recently polished and re-coated it.  

[BRZN]

6 hours ago, The Guz said:

 

Everyone thinks that once it is coated then all detailing is done. That is completely false. It still needs proper maintenance.

I try to avoid touching the paint to induce any marring. 

 

Two very true statements.

 

Remember the less you touch the paint, the less the chance of marring it.

[SS LeadFoot]

9 hours ago, The Guz said:

 

Yeah we do.  Been tempted to sell both.  I have both coated.  Everyone thinks that once it is coated then all detailing is done.  That is completely false.  It still needs proper maintenance.  

 

I also don't use any covers.  I don't even use a waterless wash to remove the dust.  I will just give it a rinseless wash or full wash.  I try to avoid touching the paint to induce any marring.  

 

The GP sits outside 24/7.  Just recently polished and re-coated it.  

 

I am lucky to have a 2 car garage so they both sit inside. I have been thinking about selling the GP as well. I have been kicking the idea round of getting a S6. I have a 2nd kid on the way and the wife wants me to get a 4 door car and a new car because she thinks the GP isn't safe. Can't argue with a pregnant woman.