Coating question

[rmcnamara]

Looking to apply a coating in the spring. Looking at some the options it says they must be applied to a perfect swirl free finish.

I have some scratches and swirls on my car. But I don't want to go to crazy with fear of compounding or polishing off to much of the clear. Can anyone recommend a coating that can be applied to less than perfect paint

Thanks


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[Whiplash Willy]

You can apply any coating to a "Not Perfect" finish, you will just continue to see those swirls and scratches, and not be able to get to them after the coating is on. I can understand wanting the protection of a coating, even if your paint isn't perfect, you just have to make sure you are ok with being able to see them.

However, you should try to use a light or finish polish to remove some defects. It would be hard to take too much off that way.

For a coating, I would recommend Optimum's Gloss Coat. I applied mine in June, and it has protected well, and still looks/feels like it did when I applied it. It even saved me from some horrible water spots (That were able to be removed by Carpro's waterspot remover without effecting the coating!)



Here is my thread for more info:

2016 WRX Limited ISM New Car Prep and Optimum Gloss Coated!

If you are going to tackle applying a paint coating, you should be comfortable compounding and polishing paint. You may want to practice on another car you don't care about first, until you are.

[rmcnamara]

Thanks for that. I bought my car used. It wasn't taken care of too well. I have gotten some of the scratches out by polishing. Some of them are fairly deep. The color is fairly light and you really have to get up close to notice them.


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[k20trick]

Looking to apply a coating in the spring. Looking at some the options it says they must be applied to a perfect swirl free finish.

I have some scratches and swirls on my car. But I don't want to go to crazy with fear of compounding or polishing off to much of the clear. Can anyone recommend a coating that can be applied to less than perfect paint

Thanks

Hey RMC if you dont want to compound polish I heard many good reviews on carpro essence. Do a little research, it removes defects while preping the car for cquartz.


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Thanks for that. I bought my car used. It wasn't taken care of too well. I have gotten some of the scratches out by polishing. Some of them are fairly deep. The color is fairly light and you really have to get up close to notice them.


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Unfortunately in the real world the majority of people on the road cant even maintain a proper protection on their car, basically rolling around in their bare clear coat as the main form of protection =( My car was previously leased and clearly shows these signs.

You shouldnt go for the deep scratches, but the essence should work great for your application and you can try out different pads to see what works best for you. I believe Joe@ next level detail did a comparison on a black car with different combinations of pads showing the different levels of cut/finishes.

[Desertnate]

I wouldn't chase after the deeper scratches if you are afraid of polishing off too much clear. However, I would at least hit the surface with a mild polish. This will get rid of some of the lighter defects, remove any possible layers of old LSP used by the owner, and deep clean the paint. Even if you don't do any heavy polishing you should at least see some improvement in the color by removing years of "crud" from the paint surface.

If you do polish, just make sure to clean the surface to get rid of any polishing oils before applying the coating of choice.

[Paul A.]

All great advice up to this point and i agree 100%. ANY LSP can be applied on any paint. The advice of cleaning up a paint's finish before a coating is based on a coating lasting so long and levelling the paint for maximum bond. If you are going with a coating you are effectively locking in and under any paint imperfections not removed first. Personally I would want to hit it with at least a light or mildly aggressive polish and pad combo to not only clean it up but remove any of the lighter scratches.

Another point that I'll offer is that even with an aggressive approach, I don't think you should fear thinning the clearcoat much. I don't mean a really heavy compound on a wool pad with a rotary but more of a medium to heavier cut product on say a LC orange pad with a DA machine. My favorite is Menzerna HCC 400 and orange pad on my flex 3401. However, even that approach done too frequently could be hazardous to that clear thickness. There shouldn't be a need to do even that 5-6 times a year!

I am fully aware of the typical clearcoat layer depths and ALWAYS remember Mike Phillips cautionary description of "about as thin as a Post-It note". That is always in my mind but after cutting and buffing ONLY WHEN NECESSARY i don't fear thinning my clear over the life of my vehicles. My point is that a semi aggressive cut down and then shine buff before your coating is applied just might be all you need to see dramatic improvements. Plus, if you're going coating anyway, you won't be doing anything that aggressive for a while. And practicing good, sound AG methods during the interim will keep you from needing to.

Now, the trump card is the paint's history, age and living environment before you acquired it. That's the big unknown for us here but you have it in front of you. And, the best clearcoat saving advice is to NOT chase any deeper scratches!!! Learn to either fill them in with paint or live with them.

[WillSports3]

When it comes to coatings if you want the full durability and protection it offers, a light polish is needed to apply to bare paint. Now I understand you don't want to cut too much clearcoat and quite frankly I don't think anyone does. However, something like Essence will do wonders for you. Because it has long term fillers and it corrects, I don't really bother with compounding anymore unless it's an extremely difficult to work paint system. For anything else I'll use essence with an orange cutting pad and if needed, essence again but with a white polishing pad. Something like a coating is not just smear it on and buff it off like a wax or a sealant so if you want to go the coating route, do the full polish at least and then coat, your labour and hours spent will be much more worth it.

[rmcnamara]

Thanks for the essence recommendation. Can I put a coating on top of the essence. If so do I have to use cquartz. Or will any coating be fine.


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[Rsurfer]

I have not heard of any coating that was not compatible with Essence.

[The Guz]

Thanks for the essence recommendation. Can I put a coating on top of the essence. If so do I have to use cquartz. Or will any coating be fine.


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It was designed with cquartz in mind. But many have used it with other coatings. But I would at least use some sort of prep spray to remove the polishing oils left behind from essence to avoid any issues.