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Norton

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Everything posted by Norton

  1. Welcome to the forums, @CyanBurrito! All of my vehicles are ceramic coated. The fun cars were done professionally and I did my daily. There's no hard & fast answer about how long a coating lasts. It's dependent on host of factors including surface prep before install, the coating used, storage & driving condtions, and maintenance regimen. Just because a coating is rated to last up to "one year" or up to "seven years" doesn't mean it will. Neither does it mean it's "gone" at that time. It is, therefore, appropriate to continuously evaluate when re-application is required. When it's not, you still need to maintain the coating with periodic use of things like Adam's SiO2-Infused product line. At some point, you'll determine simple maintenance no longer produces the shine and beading a coating should. That's when you re-coat. Notably, however, you should not simply re-apply the coating. To be effective, you need to properly prep the surface (again). Skipping that process will likely produce less-than-satisfactory results and/or a coating life well-below what it's rated.
  2. My wheels and brake calipers, all of which are coated, usually clean-up nicely with whatever I'm using to wash the entire car (i.e., shampoo).
  3. Shortly after ceramic coating my black-on-black '13 GT500 a couple of years ago, I participated in a local car show. Without knowing it, I was staged downwind from a maple tree that was weeping sap into the steady breeze. By the time I figured out what was going on, hours in the bright summer sun had passed, baking the misted sap onto the entire car. Figuring I'd have to clay, correct, and re-coat the car, I began by washing it (2-buckets, Adam's Car Shampoo, and an Adam's Wash Pad). Much to my surprise (and elation) the baked-on sap came off with a simple, standard wash - the car was as smooth and shiny as it was right after coating! I'm relatively certain things would have been much different with wax and even sealant as LSP. Everything we drive is now ceramic coated.
  4. Welcome! As @falcaineer said, there are several options available. My go to is VRT. If it goes on shinier than you want, hit it with a little Matte Detailer. Both work well for your stated purpose, but they are temporary and require periodic reapplication.
  5. Welcome! Three of my vehicles are professionally coated and I did the fourth with Adam's Graphene. Ceramic Boost works well on all of them, but YMMV with other manufacturer's coatings, so you should definitely test them in inconcpicous locations before applying broadly. That said, I recommend against H2OGG on coated surfaces. It's a good product for uncoated vehicles but, IMO, it's a step down from any ceramic coating with which I'm familiar.
  6. A "Malibu" - yeah that's it. Now, let's race for pink slips... LOL! 😂 Thanks! My fun cars have all been black, until the C7Z. Its body lines are better accented by lighter colors, like Elkhart Lake Blue Metallic. 🍻 ELBM isn't marketed as a color shifting paint, but it shows some color shift when the sun hits it at oblique angles, as it does on late afternoons in the summer.
  7. IMO, ceramics don't really need "extra protection." Short of PPF, they're probably the best protection you can apply. If they're good quality and properly applied, almost nothing should "stick" to them. Ceramic coating can (and should), however, be "boosted" by products designed to complement them. Adam's Graphene and SiO2-Infused lines are great places to start. Here are a couple of examples of the shine (and protection) ceramic provides...
  8. While you CAN apply paint sealant on top of ceramic, you shouldn't. It won't bond properly and there's no good reason to do so.
  9. That may be part of your problem with machine polishing. The PC is a great entry-level unit, but it's harsh on the hands and arms, and it's a bit bulky. As @GXPaycheck said, newer DA polishers, including those offered by Adam's, are much nicer to use and more versatile.
  10. "The most bang for the buck" on just about any car, including a Shark Gray C7, is found in proper cleaning, correction, and ceramic coating. My C7Z is Elkhart Lake Blue Metallic, rather than Shark Gray, but the shine shown here was accomplished with all of the above. Limiting yourself to "hand polishing only" limits the shine you'll achieve, increases the level of effort to maintain it, and forces you to repeat the "hand polishing" process more frequently. YMMV, but that spells low ROI to me.
  11. Ceramics are designed to bond to washed, clayed, and polished paint. Moreover, they don't require additional top-coats. Apply your Ceramic Graphene Spray Coating. Skip the glaze, sealant, and wax. Enjoy a beverage of your choice in the time saved. 🍻
  12. Everything Jimmy has is nice! Ask him to post photos of his Shelby, that he wet-sanded himself. 👍👍
  13. Someone else's operator error should not scare you. Take your time, follow the instructions, and you'll be fine.
  14. Is your car ceramic-coated? If so, try washing it. (This worked perfectly on my ceramic-coated black Shelby after having maple sap misted onto it from a nearby tree weeping it into a steady breeze in thehot August sun. The ease with which it came off made me a ceramic believer.) If not, I recommend TAR and clay, as necessary.
  15. Which is one of the reasons I pay no attention to swag. I'm here for the detailing products and long for the good old days when that's about all that was sold by Adam's.
  16. VRT is my product of choice. I've used it to improve the appearance and protect my vehicles' Vinyl, Rubber, and Trim, along with my hot tub covers, for a decade. Graphene Tire Dressing is another option. In my experience, however, it looks and works better on tires than vinyl.
  17. FWIW, @falcaineer, I agree. Everything is ceramic coated, so I'm not polishing as often, but I do miss the orange and white combo of Correcting and Finishing Polish.
  18. Ceramic works well over vinyl, including matte. While matte picks-up a little gloss, everything picks-up a LOT more gloss, so it works. Here are a couple shots of my Shelby, which has matte black stripes over gloss black paint, after ceramic coating everything...
  19. FWIW, I coated my truck (including trim pieces) months ago and it still looks great. Prep the surfaces properly (as it sounds like you have), apply the product as directed (without over-applying), level as needed, and buff to great shine. Maintain with Graphene Detail Spray. Post some pics when you're done.
  20. I remain interested, but weather look less than optimal, again. 😕
  21. I, similarly, use one of those "cones" that goes on the end of a drill, along with metal polish. Be nice if Adam's offered some of those "balls" and/or "cones" for this...
  22. In my experience, exhaust tips need a bit more "elbow grease" than you get with a woolie and APC. I've gotten better results hand polishing with Metal Polish and Edgeless Utility Towels. For heavily-soiled/stained tips, quicker and easier results are possible with mechanical solutions that, unfortunately, Adam's doesn't offer. I wouldn't worry too much about water in the exhaust, as long as we're not talking about a lot of it. One of the ingredients of exhaust itself is water, albeit vaporized water. Moreover, the exhaust sits lower than the engine, so engine damage is unlikely. All of that said, I recommend either inclining the car with the tailend down when rinsing the exhaust, or taking it for a drive when you're done.
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