DIY or Proffessional Coating?

K

KEVINS

New member
I apologize if there is a thread already outlining answers to my questions but I`ve been researching threads on coatings for 12 hours and I haven`t seen any answers to some questions I have. Feel free to post links if easier this way. I`ve save a bunch of links from youtube and Detailed Image on coatings but still have questions.

I have a black car that I show and I want to help protect the paint from two basic things: Bird Bombs and scratches from washing it and I feel that a coating will help protect it better than the carnuba wax I`ve been using. Next year I will be coating it and now it`s time to research options.

1. I am more than happy to pay for a pro to apply an industrial version compared to a DIY kit but what benefits do the professional versions have over the DIY versions? Will these pro versions protect from birds and minor scratches better? There is an Opticoat professional 50 miles away that I could use but there may be others.

2. I read that an IR lamp can be used to "harden" one of the DIY kits (CquartzUK maybe??). Does this help at all or has anyone done any tests using an IR lamp with DIY kits?

I really need something for the bird bombs.

So far the three I`m leaning towards are:
Opticoat Pro
Optimum Gloss-Coat
CquartzUK



ks
 
Are the pro coatings better than the DIY kits, yes, in most cases. They will help with scratches but none seem to make paint immune from life. Pick any product and you`ll see someone posting about problems with it. I had Opticoat (the original version) for about three years. It was a great coating, really cut down the time I spent on the car. It also was pretty lifeless and I was always topping it with a QD to get the look I was after.

That said, if you like to do this stuff, there is no reason to not get Gloss-Coat or Cquartz UK and see how it works for you before you blow the big money. Another thing you may want to try is FK1000P, it doesn`t last as long as a coating, but it is pretty immune to any surface contaminants as long as you keep up with it every couple of months or so.
 
Great Info.. I`ll look into FK1000P.

I`m certainly not made of $$ but the custom projects I come up with for this car tend to go waaay over budget and the latest project (building two molds to mold a custom hood) ended up doubling in cost after I spent $1000 on paint just to paint the friggen hood. So this got me thinking that I better find a way to protect the paint..


ks
 
Where are the scratches coming from ? Poor washing. Too much running on paint to clean it up? Touching at shows by people ?

Coating might help a little but not that much.

They make it easier to clean the car but a show car I would be using glazes and beauty waxes.


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MattPersman said:
Where are the scratches coming from ? Poor washing. Too much running on paint to clean it up? Touching at shows by people ?

Coating might help a little but not that much.

They make it easier to clean the car but a show car I would be using glazes and beauty waxes.


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Click to expand...

Several things:
1. Poor washing technique and wrong washing materials which is something I plan to research this winter. The car can get quite dirty requiring "wiping" with washing materials to get the muck off and being black it shows every little issue if not done properly.

2. I occasionally will rub up against it due to the cramped work area I have which will require me to touch up those areas with the buffer.

3. Simply working on the car..

I`m not expecting a miracle coating to prevent all issues just hoping to find the best option that will simply help minimize them the best possible way.

The bird bombs are the worst. The paint is 100% ruined if it sits more than a few hours in the sun with a bomb on it. I can completely sand/polish it out but it will return within a few months as if I never did anything to it.

Even tho I enter it in car shows it`s not a "show car". Just a project that I enjoy showing: Twin Turbo Mustang.

IMG_8744-2.jpg


ks
 
Do it yourself. I did 3 of our cars last year with McKees 37 coating and they are all doing great. 10 months. Decontaminate, polish, and use a coating prep.
I maintain with Gyeon Cure. Cars stay silly clean.
I have since bought the Mckees V2 coating. I have lots of the V1 as well left over. If you want it for free, shipping free included, just PM me. Another member here just sent me some product for free that I love: I want to pay it forward.
 
KEVINS said:
I apologize if there is a thread already outlining answers to my questions but I`ve been researching threads on coatings for 12 hours and I haven`t seen any answers to some questions I have. Feel free to post links if easier this way. I`ve save a bunch of links from youtube and Detailed Image on coatings but still have questions.

I have a black car that I show and I want to help protect the paint from two basic things: Bird Bombs and scratches from washing it and I feel that a coating will help protect it better than the carnuba wax I`ve been using. Next year I will be coating it and now it`s time to research options.

1. I am more than happy to pay for a pro to apply an industrial version compared to a DIY kit but what benefits do the professional versions have over the DIY versions? Will these pro versions protect from birds and minor scratches better? There is an Opticoat professional 50 miles away that I could use but there may be others.

2. I read that an IR lamp can be used to "harden" one of the DIY kits (CquartzUK maybe??). Does this help at all or has anyone done any tests using an IR lamp with DIY kits?

I really need something for the bird bombs.

So far the three I`m leaning towards are:
Opticoat Pro
Optimum Gloss-Coat
CquartzUK



ks
Click to expand...

If you have the money then have a professional do the work. It won`t be cheap. The pro coatings are designed to be more durable than the consumer version.

The consumer versions still do a good job. I would consider doing it yourself.

Gloss Coat is one of the easiest coatings to apply. From personal experience it`s ok. For me personally it has not lived up to the 2 year claim that Optimum states. On my uncles car it failed within a year. On my dad`s car it had started to diminish right around the 1 year mark. I would consider looking into the mcKee`s paint coating that has just been reformulated over gloss coat.

Cquartz UK is a bit more finicky to apply. But once someone gets used to it, it`s fairly straight forward. This will form a harder barrier compared to gloss coat. I am testing out this and cquartz TiO2. TiO2 is easier to apply between the two. Also no IR lights needed. You can always park it in the sun for a little bit to cure it.

There are quite a few good coatings available on the market from Gyeon and GTechniq as well.

Take up the offer that glfnaz has posted. It will give you a chance to play around with a coating.
 
KEVINS said:
Several things:
1. Poor washing technique and wrong washing materials which is something I plan to research this winter. The car can get quite dirty requiring "wiping" with washing materials to get the muck off and being black it shows every little issue if not done properly.

2. I occasionally will rub up against it due to the cramped work area I have which will require me to touch up those areas with the buffer.

3. Simply working on the car..

I`m not expecting a miracle coating to prevent all issues just hoping to find the best option that will simply help minimize them the best possible way.

The bird bombs are the worst. The paint is 100% ruined if it sits more than a few hours in the sun with a bomb on it. I can completely sand/polish it out but it will return within a few months as if I never did anything to it.

Even tho I enter it in car shows it`s not a "show car". Just a project that I enjoy showing: Twin Turbo Mustang.

View attachment 33904


ks
Click to expand...

Sweet ride. If that’s the case then I agree with Michael “the Guz” he’s a smart guy with tons of experience

Pro coating if possible but make sure you know and will properly care for it. Nothing like spending 1-2000 bucks on a pro coating and tear it up with poor technique in a couple months


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If you are comfortable doing a coating, check out 22ple coatings. I dont think there is easier application and works great even without a topper.

Pro level coatings are typically better but for most it might not be. If your car is darker and you daily it, wash it a lot etc. You may want to repolish/coat every year or 2(as a personal preference). So why pay for a Pro level coating that may last 4-5+ years, if you may plan to remove early. That is what I always tell people.

My daily that is garaged kept and babied went 2 years without a polish and it looked great. Then I decided to polish it and it was so glossy after, Now I wont go more than 2 years without a repolish and coat on my daily. But like I said its personal preference.
 
Legacykid said:
If you are comfortable doing a coating, check out 22ple coatings. I dont think there is easier application and works great even without a topper.
.
Click to expand...

22ple HPC is a great choice. Bizarrely easy application, very high gloss of the molten glass look variety. Very, very good at keeping itself clean.

Kamikaze Miyabi is another sharp gloss coating that is very forgiving to apply. Topped with Overcoat every 3 months or so and self cleaning is exceptional.

If you live in a climate or use car in fashion where rain (And thus self cleaning abilities) are of little concern, Gyeon Mohs is a solid product, nice warmer look, decent self cleaning and reportedly a harder coating so maybe helps with marring. Below is a nice vid, gives overview of process...gyeon centric but still lotsa good info
https://youtu.be/B6F6MWnxnIU
 
Thanks gents for the helpful ideas! I’ll been making notes in a spreadsheet trying to understand the benefits of each of the chems and weighing them against what I feel is most important to me.

So what is the difference between the Pro products and the DIY products? Aside from the extra labor/cost involved to apply the Pro chem’s what would I be paying for? Do the Pro products produce a harder surface finish or last longer or ?? If the extra protection from birds of the Pro chems is only slightly better than the DIY chems then I may lean towards the DIY kits.

I need to find out which chemical within a product actually helps with bird bombs then maybe find a product that contains the most of it.. any idea?


  1. When not driving the car it sits in the garage or outside if I’m working in the garage.
  2. Currently I drive it 3-5 times a month. I would drive it a lot more but I REALLY fear for the birds.
  3. It will get covered in daily dust and bird bombs when parked outside. When I drive it I try to never park under trees but this doesn’t help. At home I have trees all around.
  4. The car will only be driven on clear/sunny days with the occasional drive in the rain when I misread the forecast.
  5. It gets washed about twice a month before a shown-n-shine and an actual car show which can be inside or outside in a tree filled park.

The MOST important protection is from birds and minor scratches from washing or rubbing up against it. Then would be water spots from washing it although I only wash it at night when it’s shady and cool. Water beading, deep shines, etc, are benefits that are secondary to me.

Longevity probably won’t be an issue since I won’t be a DD. I fear the bird bombs so much that I won`t drive so the car sits a LOT due to this fear.

ks
 
KEVINS- Welcome to Autopia!

I`ll second the FK1000P recommendation. Since switching to that I no longer bother cleaning off bird-bombs out of concern over etching (might do it anyhow if they look awful). While all bird [guano] is potentially, uhm...different... and thus !YMMV!, I`ve simply *NEVER* had it etch through a few coats of FK1000P (nor through six or more layers of Klasse Sealant Glaze, but that layering is a pain) and I`ve left it on there for a long, long time upon occasion. Same story with bug guts, which is more than I can say for a lot of LSPs.

I`ve only used the consumer-level coatings from Optimum, and I`ve only used them on wheels because of concerns that they might not be 100% Accumulator-proof, which, BTW, is a long ways from "idiot proof" as I`m not lacking in confidence. The *only* diffs I`ve noticed between the FK1000P and the coatings has been durability; the coatings do last considerably longer but otherwise it`s a toss-up. MAYBE some coatings really do impart such an increase in hardness as to diminish the chances of marring..I simply don`t know and to be honest it`s not a concern of mine as I`m pretty squared-away with regard to my wash technique. BUT that might be a real factor for somebody else, so it`s not like I`m anti-coating or anything.
 
Legacykid said:
I wont go more than 2 years without a repolish and coat on my daily..
Click to expand...

Gee, that`s really frequent polishing IMO, how long do you expect to keep that vehicle? No, not flaming, hope I don`t sound like a [jerk] :o

Eh, guess there`s polishing and then there`s *POLISHING* too...I`m thinking "correction of visible flaws" as opposed to "basically just doing a paint-cleaning", so maybe I`ll completely off-base here..I can see doing the paint-cleaning thing somewhat regularly, but to actually correct/remove clearcoat every other year would be too hard on the paint for me.
 
Accumulator said:
Gee, that`s really frequent polishing IMO, how long do you expect to keep that vehicle? No, not flaming, hope I don`t sound like a [jerk] :o

Eh, guess there`s polishing and then there`s *POLISHING* too...I`m thinking "correction of visible flaws" as opposed to "basically just doing a paint-cleaning", so maybe I`ll completely off-base here..I can see doing the paint-cleaning thing somewhat regularly, but to actually correct/remove clearcoat every other year would be too hard on the paint for me.
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Haha I strictly mean polishing with a light abrasive and a white pad. More cleaning light defects from washes. My current daily is a `15 mustang, and boy is the paint soft. We are talking about 2-3 passes no pressure speed 4. Paint readings barely pick anything up being removed, or is just to difficult to get the same exact location back to back lol.
 
KEVINS said:
The MOST important protection is from birds and minor scratches from washing or rubbing up against it.[/B] Then would be water spots from washing it although I only wash it at night when it’s shady and cool. Water beading, deep shines, etc, are benefits that are secondary to me.
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FWIW, the fleet vehicle I did with 2 layers of Gyeon Mohs (Feb 2017) got hit with a large gift from a bird, square on the center of the hood last summer. Figrd I`d leave it on there for a week or two baking in the summer sun.

Finally rained, washing it off and it left no mark. In that particular instance, the bird dropping had no visible effect. Now I obviously wasn`t able to ask the bird what it`s diet was but regardless, Mohs performed admirably in that case.

Bright red Ford Ranger if that matters. Mohs has somewhat of a reputation of being a `hard` coating so perhaps a bit better resistance to m7nor marring.
 
I Like what the Guz is saying about CQuartzUK. I had an 1992 Black Maxima. If you breathed on it that would make it mar the paint was so soft.

A wax like FK1000P would help with the bird bombs but will do nothing to prevent marring in a paint that soft.

Opticoat Pro would be very expensive. Optimum Gloss-Coat is just a glorified polymer and won`t provide any hardness on a soft paint.
CQuartzUK would be my choice. It`s a hard coating and not too terribly difficult to put on. I think it will help with the marring and the bird bombs.
Used CQuartzUK on a couple of rear quarter panels on my Landcruiser.
The polish used was the Menzerna FG400 with a white pad. Plus HD speed on a green pad.
Car Pro Eraser got what little was left behind for a squeaky clean surface.
Just make sure not to repeated go back over a surface you have applied your initial coat on. That`s how you get high spots.
Pay close attention to covering the panel with your initial pass.
After it sets up wipe off and just let it set in the sun for an hour or two. You don`t need an IR lamp.
 
Legacykid said:
If you are comfortable doing a coating, check out 22ple coatings. I dont think there is easier application and works great even without a topper.

Pro level coatings are typically better but for most it might not be. If your car is darker and you daily it, wash it a lot etc. You may want to repolish/coat every year or 2(as a personal preference). So why pay for a Pro level coating that may last 4-5+ years, if you may plan to remove early. That is what I always tell people.

My daily that is garaged kept and babied went 2 years without a polish and it looked great. Then I decided to polish it and it was so glossy after, Now I wont go more than 2 years without a repolish and coat on my daily. But like I said its personal preference.
Click to expand...

^^^^ this x1000.

If: This is a show car for you and you always want it looking it`s best. You have defects that are seemingly unavoidable (brushing up against it, working on it).

Then: forego the coating in lieu of a show wax.

It sounds like you are capable of polishing since you have taken out etching from bird bombs in the past. Just commit to a care regimen to keep it in pristine condition. I don`t think a coating is going to solve all your problems and feel you will be throwing money away, especially if you go with a pro option.

As far as the bird bombs reappearing, I can think of 2 highly plausible reasons:
1. You didn`t actually remove the bird bomb completely, simply masked it with polishing oils.
2. The sun has opened up the pores of the paint and the bird lime has found its way in there. When the paint gets hot again, the pores open up again and allows the bird line to escape. The way to avoid this is to heat cycle the paint after you think you`ve gotten the etching out. Bring the spot up to 130F, then spray with ice cold distilled water to cool it off. If the bird bomb returned, continue the polishing process. If it does not return, finish with the confidence that it should not return in the future
 
I did some research wanting to find out the differences between the consumer versions vs the pro versions of coatings and found some great info on the Opti-Coat forum for their products. The answers I`m posting below were taken from their forum from different questions but the answers sure help me understand the differences:
Forums - Optimum Forum

Q: Is Gloss coat Sio2 based formula or SiC? Ive read somewhere its SiO2 and Opti coat pro is SiC. Is that true?

A: Gloss-Coat is a hybrid containing both SiO2 and SiC components. Opti-Coat 2.0 was all SiC, just a less robust formula that Pro.

*Unlike SiO2 based coatings the SiC based coating actually bonds to the paint and the SiC is formed as a chemical reaction in that process, not by having Nano particles of the ceramic floating in a resin. SiC is superior to SiO2 coatings chemically.

* Opti-Coat–Pro (SiC) becomes one with the paint instead of suspending nano particles of a harder substance in a resin like SiO2. This gives Opti-Coat Pro far superior chemical resistance, as the chemical must break down the SiC, and not break down a resin holding SiO2 nano particles.
....our technology forms a continuous cross linked polymer that bonds to urethane or other surfaces vs. the silica systems which dry to form particles that are loosely attached to the surfaces. It is easier to layer silica based since you just adding layers on top of each other, however, they wear off which is why they need layering while with our system the polymer is bonded therefore it does not wear off.

ks
 
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