Quote:
Originally Posted by Coz3z3
I have a question. I have been getting more and more interested in doing something like this for my car. I have never done anything like this to my car, just the normal waxing every couple months (using Adam's). What do you recommend for someone like myself to start off? Using a certain product, paint correction, doing a full ceramic coating first? You mention that if it is bare and clay barred, this can be applied. Is it harder to apply or doesn't adhere as well as yours does?
Thanks, sorry for the ignorance.
And great looking car! Shine is amazing!
|
Thanks, I spent about 30 hours correcting the paint 4 1/2 years ago when I bought the car! That's where the shine comes from.
The benefit of SI02 is the protection it provides vs. wax or a standard polymer sealant.
Adams sells 2 different carnauba paste waxes, Americana and Patriot.
The Americana, like most "waxes" sold today also contains some polymers, so the durability lasts longer versus a wax made from only natural ingredients like their Patriot wax is. The Patriot though will give a much deeper/warmer look, because it contains a higher level of carnauba.
If your car is garaged, and not driven much, wax will last a lot longer vs. a car that's exposed to the elements.
Especially during the summer. Wax begins to evaporate off the surface when the temperature of it reaches 130* F.
While it won't get that hot outside, the surface of your paint, especially on a darker colored vehicle will easily exceed that during the summer when it's in direct sunlight.
Sealants, which contain mostly man-made materials, polymers, SIO2, have melting points of around 300*F, although many products are mislabeled. If it contains mostly natural ingredients, it is a wax.....if it contains mostly man made ingredients, it is a sealant.
Coatings provide the best and longest durability of any protection product. The reason why is after application they are 75-100X thicker than a wax or a sealant, and they cure as hard as the clearcoat on your car is, in some cases even harder.
Coatings however do require an initial cure time of at least 24 hours inside out of the elements, and cant be washed for at least 5 days after application.
If you want the best shine your car can get, there is no way around it, it must be compounded and polished, to remove defects. You can use glazes, waxes, and sealants to somewhat fill defects instead, but it's like putting makeup on your face, after it comes off the defects are still there.
Compounding removes the defects, like doing plastic surgery, and polishing brings your clearcoat to it's brightest shine and clarity.
As far as what to recommend for you, that's kind of hard to do, because everyone is different when it comes to paint care on their car.
Do you want it as perfect as possible? Do you want 70-80% of the defects removed? Do you just want something fast/easy to protect your paint and provide some extra gloss?
I like SI02 products because they provide great protection against acidic things (Bug splatter/bird bombs), and leave a surface that stays cleaner than a standard polymer sealant does. Because my car sits outside 24/7, this provides the best protection I can use.
If I had a garage, I would definitely have a coating on it, but being that it's an outdoor car, I can't do a coating, because it can't be left outside to cure.
The wash/coat is a topper for me, I use it on top of another SI02 product. I've found if you layer an SIO2 on top of a polymer sealant, or a carnauba wax, it wont bond very well and wont last very long.
You can use this as a stand-alone sealant as well, I just like to layer for added protection and increased durability of the bottom layer.
If you enjoy waxing your car (many people do), and you want to try SIO2, Adams has a Ceramic Paste Wax, that they state has double the durability of standard wax, so this could be a good option for you.
Before you put SIO2, or any protection on your paint, you must first prep the car properly.
1) Strip wash to remove old waxes/sealants.
2) Clay or use a Clay alternative.
3) Wipe the paint down with IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and distilled water, about 15-25% IPA, or a paint prep. Wear nitrile gloves when doing this, you want your paint to be completely free of any oils that come off your hands, which will effect the bonding of whatever protection product you are using as your base layer.
4) Apply protection based upon MFG's recommendations, and keep those gloves on. No hand oil on the paint at all!