Ceramic coating

BADBOYSVT

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
521
Location
TX
Yes ! Just bring to the guy know what’s he doing . FUll wash . Buff and polish . Remove all swirl scratches mark . Before apply ceramic coat
 

NTd4444

New Member
Established Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Messages
13
Location
New York
THanks! Yeah, there is a guy in town whos supposed to be great. IT seems like the way to go.
 

BADBOYSVT

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
521
Location
TX
I think you might have to leave the car to him for a day or 2 . Cause those stuff take time to cure
 

BADBOYSVT

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
521
Location
TX
Do it yourself lol . It’s not hard . You need a buffer $200 . Buff polish compound 20-30 dollar . Pad 5-10 dollar . Tape . Ceramic coat I use carpro I think it was $100 a bottle . It’s small bottle but you can do 2 cars with it . Just make sure the paint is clean once you apply the ceramic coat what ever under it will stay there . It’s been a while since I’m into it .
 

c6zhombre

E85 NutSwinger
Established Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
5,430
Location
League City, TX
I did mine myself, for about $100. But I have very good equipment, and a garage....so it was done in a very sterile environment. I used wolfgang uber ceramic....and its one of the friendliest DIY ceramics you can use.....but it's still unforgiving if you screw up and are not in a clean environment.

The coating is just that.....it's on top. So, the job will only be a as good as the underlying paint condition is before applying. Decontaminate the paint, polish out the swirls, get it really clean and smooth before applying because ceramics are going to stay on for YEARS. Thats the reason people get big money.....there's a ton of prep involved. I coated everything.....paint, glass and trim.

42589651444_98097d0bfa_b.jpg


35360897182_50b5000847_b.jpg


35360896722_fd1c465a90_b.jpg


35360896922_149204d0d3_b.jpg


29437770658_5a2f40ec38_b.jpg
 

techi14

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
91
Location
Loves Park, Illinois
Do it yourself lol . It’s not hard . You need a buffer $200 . Buff polish compound 20-30 dollar . Pad 5-10 dollar . Tape . Ceramic coat I use carpro I think it was $100 a bottle . It’s small bottle but you can do 2 cars with it . Just make sure the paint is clean once you apply the ceramic coat what ever under it will stay there . It’s been a while since I’m into it .


Truth is the thought of putting a power tool on my paint concerning lol. Will look more into it.
 

tones_RS3

I like members members.
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
21,281
Location
MA
I had my truck professionally done with Cquartz Finest a little over a couple years ago.
I highly recommend it.
 

KEVINS

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
521
Location
EARTH
I had been researching different DIY brands for about a year and I just did my car over the July 4th week with Crystal Serum Light topped with EXO V4 and I'm glad I did it but it's a LOT of work to do it right. When you have it done what you're really paying for is the labor to polish the car to a flawless finish and this alone is worth it. The coating is then wiped on and wiped off to help protect the polishing they did.

I learned that it takes a lot of knowledge and experience to polish a car correctly so if you've never done it save yourself a lot of hassles and have someone do it for you. I learned the hard way which pads, chemicals, rpm's, polishing time, etc on my car but I did learn it after many attempts and it's as perfect as it can be without repainting it.

Yes, get the ceramic coating done but have an expert do it if you've never polished a car to a perfect condition.

ks
 

tones_RS3

I like members members.
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
21,281
Location
MA
I had been researching different DIY brands for about a year and I just did my car over the July 4th week with Crystal Serum Light topped with EXO V4 and I'm glad I did it but it's a LOT of work to do it right. When you have it done what you're really paying for is the labor to polish the car to a flawless finish and this alone is worth it. The coating is then wiped on and wiped off to help protect the polishing they did.
I learned that it takes a lot of knowledge and experience to polish a car correctly so if you've never done it save yourself a lot of hassles and have someone do it for you. I learned the hard way which pads, chemicals, rpm's, polishing time, etc on my car but I did learn it after many attempts and it's as perfect as it can be without repainting it.
Yes, get the ceramic coating done but have an expert do it if you've never polished a car to a perfect condition.
ks
100% percent correct sir!
If not done properly, you can have "high" and "low" spots on your paint's finish which will not look right. Plus, as mentioned before in this thread, you have to make sure that the paint correction/paint prep is 100% spot on before applying the ceramic coating.
 

KEVINS

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
521
Location
EARTH
I practiced on my truck a month before doing the car and glad I did! There was several areas where I didn't fully quite wipe off the top coating and it left dark/milky splotches that can only be removed via buffing and reapplying. After seeing my mistakes I made extra, extra care to keep wiping to make sure I got it all off when doing the car. None of it's hard you just have to be damn perfect with every step which is a pita if you've never done it before.

ks
 

1Kona_Venom

US Army (Ret)
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Messages
4,938
Location
Savannah, Ga
I'm a self taught detailer. Go to you tube, search CHEMICAL GUYS. There no shortage of tutorials of how to properly do a paint correction. If you are a first timer and this is your initial investment, you want to stick with a Porter Cable. And lots of info on our board that covers ....w/e that sections called, lol, paint and pictures or something

To the original question, yes it's worth it. But not for $1500.00! You can DIY
 

2004cobra615

sssvtsnake
Established Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
968
Location
Chicago
Used 3 different brand ceramic coats so fair. Car pro uk, crystal serum light plus v3 and my favorite thus fair gyeon syncro. Think I have done 5 cars total now. It's worth the time to learn to do it right. Prep is key. Cobra has been washed by hand 10 plus times over summer over 4 months with syncro I still don't have any swirls, or marring and car is super easy to keep clean. I would buy the tools and do it yourself if you have a clean garage

2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top