Detailing a car with Opticoat/Ceramic 9H Pro

[Wise]

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to detailing. I've had the car (which has mostly been garaged) for 6 years now and I got a Ceramic 9H Pro coat put on in the first two months.

Now I'm thinking I'd like to get it professionally detailed and following that begin a regular waxing regimen.

Is there anything important to consider when detailing a car with a ceramic clear coat? I don't want to do the usually process and completely screw the paint because of some small detail. Any advice appreciated.

[86geek]

Did you do the ceramic coating yourself? There's no need to wax if you have ceramic coating. I have Opticoat pro on part of my car & Cquartz on 3/4 of my car. Long story as to why I have 2 types of ceramic coating! I just use either optimum instant detailer or Carpro Reload on my ceramic coating. Adds more gloss & slick to ceramic coating. Dunno how long your ceramic coating lasts. You could get the ceramic coating redone since it's been 6 years since you got it. If you're doing it yourself the car would need to be clayed to remove the original ceramic coating before applying new ceramic coating. Just my 2¢

[Wise]

Originally Posted by 86geek

Did you do the ceramic coating yourself? There's no need to wax if you have ceramic coating. I have Opticoat pro on part of my car & Cquartz on 3/4 of my car. Long story as to why I have 2 types of ceramic coating! I just use either optimum instant detailer or Carpro Reload on my ceramic coating. Adds more gloss & slick to ceramic coating. Dunno how long your ceramic coating lasts. You could get the ceramic coating redone since it's been 6 years since you got it. If you're doing it yourself the car would need to be clayed to remove the original ceramic coating before applying new ceramic coating. Just my 2¢

Thanks for the advice!

I had it applied by an expert. I mostly just want to get rid of little imperfections like micro swirls and those tiny scratches that only show up in bright light.

[86geek]

Originally Posted by Wise

Thanks for the advice!

I had it applied by an expert. I mostly just want to get rid of little imperfections like micro swirls and those tiny scratches that only show up in bright light.

Take it back to shop that did coating for you. They can probably do a light clay to remove swirls as long as those swirls appeared after original coating was done. If swirls were not removed before coating was originally done then the expert may not have done a good job in prepping the car before the ceramic coating was applied. Hoping he did paint correction before coating was done. If swirls weren't removed before coating then swirls are beneath coating. I would assume the original coating would need to strippe. Then new coating reapplied after swirls are removed & paint correction is done. Ceramic Coating car is not difficult, it's the prepping of the car that's labor intensive. Car washed using dawn soap or any car shampoo to strip car of waxes or polishes that is on there. Then use a clay bar to remove old coating & remove swirls. Then use a polish & then paint correction if needed. Then wash car again & dry then apply new ceramic coating.

[aceangel]

I was wondering about this too. I have a car that has been Opticoated professionally since I've gotten it. It does need a lot of paint correction though. Dawn + clay-barring removes the Opticoat?

[tomm.brz]

i wouldn t use too much aggressive prewash/shampoo on a coated car, an alkaline one yes, just not a stronger caustic one
Usually you can use then an iron remover safely, but the clay in my opinion tends to weaken the coating

[JIM THEO]

Is there an easier way to remove an alcaline sensitive ceramic coating except the clay bar?
I applied Sonax CC36 7 months ago and recently found many swirls, not existed before coating, so before I apply a Mckee's 37 sio2 coating I wonder if with a very alcaline shampoo/cleaner I could remove the old one.
Clay bar can sometimes cause more problems in the paint if not professionaly applied!

[tomm.brz]

to be sure of removing everythjng and make it fast you should need to use a light polish/pre wax cleaner

[Magyarman]

Besides my 2016 FRS 2.0,I have a 2002 Toyota Avalon ii White Diamond Pearl paint.
It has held up well over the years. I wash it every 2 months or so and wax it twice a year
with Nu-Finish (yeah I know),but it does last a good while.

Here the rub,I'm 70 yo and my body isn't up to a good wax and wax anymore,so I'm considering a detail shop in the area. I've heard good things about them and BBB has them at an A+ rating.

This is what they provide:

Super Pro (A Three Step Process)
$99.95*
Hand wash, interior vacuum, and thorough cleaning of interior windows followed by out extraordinaire three-step process:
A special deep-cleaning compound is applied that removes the dead-paint pigment
A polish is applied to shine the painted surfaces
Application of a carnauba wax with an orbital buffer to deepen and improve paint gloss
Super Pro takes approximately 3 - 5 hours to complete.
Complete Detail (The Showroom Appearance)


$149.95*
All Services From the “Super Pro” Package
Interior “Q-Tip” Cleaning
Carpet and Upholstery Shampoo
Leather Cleaning and Conditioning
Tire Shine

It seems the cover all bases especially the compound/polish and wax.

PS,
It's a gift for my wife as it's her car.

What say you?

[Decep]

Nufinish... try a modern sealant like meguiars ultimate wax before you trust a detailer with your car.

So much easier to apply and doesnt matter if its blazing high noon sun, still dries in 10 minutes and wipes off super easily. Throw that nufinish in the trash. My car sits outside 24/7 and after 8 months water was still beading off the paint when it finally rained here in NorCal.

Even their "quick" wax spray is quite good, lasts months and literally just spray it on and wipe it off.

[Magyarman]

Originally Posted by Decep

Nufinish... try a modern sealant like meguiars ultimate wax before you trust a detailer with your car.

So much easier to apply and doesnt matter if its blazing high noon sun, still dries in 10 minutes and wipes off super easily. Throw that nufinish in the trash. My car sits outside 24/7 and after 8 months water was still beading off the paint when it finally rained here in NorCal.

Even their "quick" wax spray is quite good, lasts months and literally just spray it on and wipe it off.

I hear ya,but,here in Maryland we get sun,rain,ice,sleet and snow.

Nu-finish does absolutely nothing for shine,but, I've used to use Meguiars polish before NU-finish with pretty good results.
My fingers are a bit arthritic arthritic (from using Classic Car wax back in the day) and they begin to hurt by the time I get to the fenders and doors.

Wait until you are 70 yo and tell me how easy it is to wash ,polish and wax a car in the same day. I'll give them a shot on my 16 yo Avalon in any event.

[Decep]

Im not talking about polish, just wax. Polishing by hand is a huge waste of time and energy when you have easily affordable products like the Porter Cable these days.