X-Kote Job 2003 Jetta

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Flygti32

New member
I did this car on Fri. It's a black 2003 Jetta. scratched and some swirls. It's a used car for the VW dealership. Started at 3pm and finshed the car at 7pm. Sat morning I put a coat of Meguirs quick wax spray on it and took it back to the dealer.



We didn't do any prepolishing on this car but did do allot of pre cleaning to get all the waxes and sealers off the car.



This is what came off!



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Here are some before and after pics



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Pic of the car with the flash on

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This is with the flash off

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I had to wash this car bare handed with Luster Glaze Formula XD degreaser to get all of the dealership propack junk off. Once I found the paint surface we then washed the car with soap and water. I use dawn dish soap, unlike traditional car washing I am trying to strip off all the wax and contaminents on the surface what better product to use than dish soap. After that I clayed the car then rinsed it again. Once dry I went over the car with Azko Nobel Lessonal degreaser. It is very similar stuff to a wash and wipe an autobody shop would use. After that I apllied the X-Kote and let it dry. There were no really deep scratches in this car so no need to polish or wetsand out any stains or deep scratches before hand.
 
Car looks great....Does x-cote have to be applied in a booth or can they apply it in a regular garage? What does the whole process involve?
 
This car you see was done right where it sits. That being said I built my shop just for X-Kote. You do not need to have a booth but the smell it leaves is like a fresh paint job. I have an exhaust fan installed in the wall and the front of my shop is sealed off from the back so I have a place to hang out while the car is drying for hour or so.



As far as the process goes, basically you want to have a completely! clean surface, no wax, tar, sap, sealants etc. However you choose to reach that goal is totally up to each X-Kote installer. I am still trying different degreasers and cleaners to try and get that perfect surface. This is where the majority of you time goes into an X-Kote job, prep is key. As you can see the car is taped with 3M painters tape. We tape off all the rubber seals and windows edges so that we do not drip the product all over the glass and seals. X-Kote can like a degreaser cause seals to leave a black residue on your rag. We do not want that so we tape them up. The X-Kote process itself takes about 30 - 45 minutes. I like to take my time. I do one panel and then watch it for a couple minutes for problems before I move on to the next panel. After the car is covered just walk away for about an hour and let the product do its' thing.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, I paint cars for a hobby so i know what you mean by prep being the key. Is there a learning curve to this procedure, and how much does it cost to to purchase this material?

Thanks again
 
roadmaster_Tx said:
Thanks for the quick reply, I paint cars for a hobby so i know what you mean by prep being the key. Is there a learning curve to this procedure, and how much does it cost to to purchase this material?

Thanks again
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Yes there is a learning curve with this product. I am still learning some new things as I go. As for purchase cost I would call or email the X-Kote head office in BC Canada. I do not see a distributor or dealer in Texas at the moment. I unfortunately am limited to my provincial territory here in Canada.
 
joyriiide1113 said:
bump! :faint:
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OK, i just went to the X-Kote website and read a little bit about it (procrastination.....i should be writing about the relationship between the modification of police powers in response to terrorism and article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights... Law School is LAME)...!



Anyway, it appears to be a sort of permanent protective cover for the paint ? I could be extremely wrong though. If I am correct though, wouldn't it be advantageous to polish the paint before applying it? Perhaps it fills swirl marks and whatnot, in which case, i guess polishing would be redundant....?



Seems like a neat idea though, assuming the stuff doesn't harden and swirl itself!!!!
 
99ITR_SC said:
OK, i just went to the X-Kote website and read a little bit about it (procrastination.....i should be writing about the relationship between the modification of police powers in response to terrorism and article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights... Law School is LAME)...!



Anyway, it appears to be a sort of permanent protective cover for the paint ? I could be extremely wrong though. If I am correct though, wouldn't it be advantageous to polish the paint before applying it? Perhaps it fills swirl marks and whatnot, in which case, i guess polishing would be redundant....?



Seems like a neat idea though, assuming the stuff doesn't harden and swirl itself!!!!
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You are close to being correct. X-Kote is a product the reconditions the clear on a vehicle by basically laying a new layer down by hand. It hardens to the surface as does not wash of like polish. Now X-Kote will of course scratch just like a regular clearcoat surface over time if peopele don't wash and dry properly. Some cars I do a little prepolishing on deep scratches and if need be a little wet sanding in spots. What it does for my business is cuts down on the extensive labor I put into reconditioning a car and product cost is quite good for what I get in results. The customer now has a free layer of clear to work with if he chooses to do a polish job later. Our product is power polishable after it's cure time and from experience it can take about 2 cut polish jobs before you will burn through it back to the original clear coat surface.
 
Flygti32 said:
It doesn't need to be taken off. X-Kote can go right over decals
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Oh, I thought it was for a customer who bought it from the dealer. I always remove the dealer emblems for my customers. I guess if it is going right back to the dealer, they want it on there.
 
So is this "stuff" clear or colored? If it's clear you would see all the swirls still right, so it must be colored. I would like to see a side by side, under bright lights and in the sun with a car properly polished and sealed. I have my doubts as to the clarity and depth one can achive using this product.
 
Flygti32 said:
You are close to being correct. X-Kote is a product the reconditions the clear on a vehicle by basically laying a new layer down by hand. It hardens to the surface as does not wash of like polish. Now X-Kote will of course scratch just like a regular clearcoat surface over time if peopele don't wash and dry properly. Some cars I do a little prepolishing on deep scratches and if need be a little wet sanding in spots. What it does for my business is cuts down on the extensive labor I put into reconditioning a car and product cost is quite good for what I get in results. The customer now has a free layer of clear to work with if he chooses to do a polish job later. Our product is power polishable after it's cure time and from experience it can take about 2 cut polish jobs before you will burn through it back to the original clear coat surface.
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Sounds way too good to be true. If it is, WoW!!!
 
DSVWGLI said:
So is this "stuff" clear or colored? If it's clear you would see all the swirls still right, so it must be colored. I would like to see a side by side, under bright lights and in the sun with a car properly polished and sealed. I have my doubts as to the clarity and depth one can achive using this product.
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No this stuff is not colored. It is a clear liquid. Dude you live on the island right? Check the X-Kote website. I'm pretty sure they have a dealer on the island now. Go check it out for yourself 1st hand.



The next dark car I get I will take some video of the application process and also set up my halogen lights.
 
joyriiide1113 said:
Sounds way too good to be true. If it is, WoW!!!
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Everything I have said is true. There are a couple guys on here Invigor and Salty that have seen this product work up close and personal. Hopefully they will add there 2 cents on what they witnessed. Here are a couple more pics of a truck we did about 2 weeks ago. The deepness and gloss this product brings out in dark finishes is like nothing I have seen before in my life.



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