Question on ceramic coating DIY project

[Gaggz]

Hi everyone, need some advice on a 9-hour DIY ceramic coating project with Adams UV graphene ceramic coating. I am a a complete novice when it comes to ceramic coating! I did research on Amazon on YouTube and found out Adams UV Graphene Ceramic coating is the best coating I could do as a beginner, so here is my experience and some questions...

 

My Pearl White color Tesla Model Y had 'Car guys sealant wax' on which was beading water. So prepared the car with Adams strip wash (washed twice), Adams iron remover and a clay cloth. The car was always garage kept with sealant on and had no swirls or defects. Still went ahead with Meguiars M205 finishing polish with a white finishing pad using DA polisher. Used IPA- Adams surface prep after polishing and before ceramic coating. However this is where my lack of expertise created issues.
 
1. After applying ceramic coating, I was too nervous about leaving "high spots" so removed the coating just when the rainbow effect went away in "majority" of treated area. It is a very practical point that coating cannot be applied perfectly evenly, so while buffing away, there were some small points(a few millimeters out of a 3x3 foot treated area) which were not perfectly "dry" at time of buffing ... Hope that was okay?  [Waiting for minute "wetter" points to dry would  definitely cause high spots at the areas that would have been dry for a longer time...]

 

2. I mistakenly used plush towel instead of suede towel, this should not be an issue in my opinion

 

3. Since the car was pearl white in color, after the buffing, there was no good way to see a treated versus non-treated area even with UV light. At least I was having a very difficult time making out if there was a layer of ceramic immediately after the buffing was done, very difficult to see. Not sure if this meant that the coat I applied was way too thin or everything just buffed away?

 

4. As per point #3 above, I panicked that I would lose my day's effort. After 3 hours of initial coating, I used an extra bottle of purchased (same) ceramic coating to apply another layer and buffed it off with the suede towel that was provided. 

 

5. About 18 hours later, I used the UV lamp and observed that there is an extra coating layer that appears thicker (see blue streaks in UV pictures attached)... Note that the car DOES have at least some layer whether thick or thin. When observed with a flashlight or in the sun, there are no high spots. Entire car is shining real nice! Without the UV lamp, there would be no way to tell that some areas have a thicker coating. (In some YouTube videos, I did see that even single treated coating layers are never "perfectly" evenly coated)

 

Hope my effort was okay and I did not mess up? If I did anything wrong, what could be corrective steps? Thanks so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Gaggz
added images and some text in beginning

[PHOKUS]

Much ado about nothing. Your car's paint is protected. In fact, doubly-so. 

 

With a hand-applied coating you will have high and low spots - it's quite simply unavoidable. The more experience you get with coatings the more level you can get the coating. You can knock some down with leveling cloths, but it's never going to be perfect. I assure you, it's all going to be okay.

 

To fix this, assuming the coating has fully cured, find all the high spots which will show up mostly as smears, swipes, etc. using the UV light to guide you. Use painter's tape to mark your target areas - go 30% larger than the area you need to cut. Take your DA with some medium/fine polish and a cutting pad to the known high spots.

 

Do NOT cut to the tape edge. Use the tape as a loose guideline but keep the pad a couple inches from the tape edge. Go slowly, very little pressure on the DA machine. Once you've knocked the high spots down, re-clean those areas with Adams prep spray, and re-apply coating to those areas. 

 

Just like the DA machine, do not coat to the edges of the tape. Use a VERY thin layer of coating. Focus on your timing. Once the coating flashes, wipe it to level it. Then let it cure. 

 

That's it. Fixed and perfect. Good luck!

 

EDIT: Take a look at the video below which will fully flesh out the process for ceramic coating corrective actions. 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by PHOKUS
Added video

[Gaggz]

Thanks Phokus! Well explained and your instructions were great. I did watch the above video (Infact several videos from Adams as well as detailers having their own YouTube channels). I think Adam not only market good products, but make sure they are high quality and user friendly. As far as the "thicker layer" issue - the car looks great. I have already spent 9 hours of the car now, and my family is bit concerned I am clingy to my car! So no DA polisher steps for now as you suggested, maybe later? I plan to wash the car after 10 days of application of UV Graphene Ceramic coat, using a pH neutral and no wax car soap. Then I will use the Adams ceramic boost after cleaning the car. This should make my car look more glossy. Adam's is my new favorite brand now.....

PS> never seen any of my cars that I owned, looking so amazing. As days pass after initial application, the ceramic coat is settling well and looks better!

Edited July 26, 2021 by Gaggz

[PHOKUS]

You're welcome. I am glad you found the information helpful.

 

Another couple products you might find helpful are Graphene Car Shampoo and Graphene Detail Spray. I use them both and maintenance has never been easier (I've been "hobbyist" detailing for 30 years ... 30 years wow time flies). 

 

Ceramic Boost is a great product as well. Welcome to the addiction.  

[Gaggz]

Thanks again, Phokus. My first wash will be simple pH neutral shampoo with no ceramic or graphene so that I could apply ceramic boost. However, just wanted to ask why you prefer graphene shampoo / graphene detail spray over silicon shampoo / ceramic topper sprays? Is the graphene spray bit better than ceramic one and suited to Adams UV graphene ceramic coating?

[RayS]

The Adam’s chemists hit a home run with the Graphene coatings combined with their Graphene shampoo and Graphene Detail Spray.   The Graphene shampoo does an excellent job at knocking all grime off the vehicle, including bugs.  Then the Graphene details spray can be used as a drying aide or just to make it spotless after a week in the garage.   
 

The two of them have become my favorite products for washing coated vehicles.  

[PHOKUS]

4 hours ago, Gaggz said:

Thanks again, Phokus. My first wash will be simple pH neutral shampoo with no ceramic or graphene so that I could apply ceramic boost. However, just wanted to ask why you prefer graphene shampoo / graphene detail spray over silicon shampoo / ceramic topper sprays? Is the graphene spray bit better than ceramic one and suited to Adams UV graphene ceramic coating?

 

I find the graphene product family goes hand in hand. The Graphene Shampoo FAR outperforms the old Car Shampoo. Then drying with Graphene Detail Spray adds an absolutely crazy amount of slickness. I don't get the same performance from the Car Shampoo + Graphene Detail Spray as I get from the Graphene Car Shampoo + Graphene Detail Spray. 

 

I am 100% sold on the graphene product family. Much to the chagrin of the dozens of other, fine Adams products currently lining my shelves.  I will probably start using those older products in my F&F detail jobs and give them some product. It needs to get used, and it's not - because I only use the graphene stuff now. It's just THAT good.

[PHOKUS]

I came back and re-read what I've written here and I wanted to clarify that I DO have the Graphene Ceramic Coating on my vehicle as well, which negates the need to apply the Graphene Ceramic Coating Spray. 

 

To sum up: I applied the Graphene Ceramic Coating. Then maintain when Graphene Car Shampoo and Graphene Detail Spray. That's it. My car looks amazing and contaminants literally fall off the paint. It's amazing!

Edited July 29, 2021 by PHOKUS