Remove sealant for Cquartz?

[roarf]

Hello all. I just purchased a new (to me) car from an individual who used to be a professional detailer. So, the paint correction has already been done, there is nothing for me to improve upon. The seller told me that he used a spray on Dodo Juice sealant. I would like to remove the sealant and apply Cquartz instead. Can I strip the sealant just by washing it with Dawn and/or going over the car with CarPro Eraser spray? Or do I need to get my buffer out (PC 7424XP) and go over the entire car with a light polish? Or something else...? Any help is appreciated.

[Bruno Soares]

Eraser might be enough but perhaps a cleaning wax would be a better way to go. Wait for more opinions as I haven't done what you intend to do yet.

[RippyD]

I wouldn't use a cleaning wax, or else you'll have to remove that as well. You you'll likely want a paint cleaner with no wax or sealant or a light polish. Look at Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer (http://www.autogeek.net/wg2000.html) as an example.

[kb2ehj]

60304

Try Rust-Oleum Wax & Tar Remover (it's $5/quart at Walmart or Amazon and i bet similar to the Wolfgang product mentioned above), I just used it before putting down a coating. Cleaned up the paint nicely.

The other thing you can do is simply repolish the paint that will removed it also.

[Nix]

polish it with light polish to make sure nothing is left behind from previous sealant and use Rust-Oleum Wax & Tar Remover before coating..

[custmsprty]

Car Pro Essence

One and done, ready for CQuartz.

http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-essence-xtreme.html

[Desertnate]

I wouldn't use a cleaning wax, or else you'll have to remove that as well. You you'll likely want a paint cleaner with no wax or sealant or a light polish. Look at Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer (http://www.autogeek.net/wg2000.html) as an example.

Agree. Cleaner wax is not what you want to use when prepping for a coating.

The Wolfgang product might not be a good option since it was designed for sealants or waxes and not a coating. It may leave something behind and for a coating you'll need a squeaky clean surface.

There are a number of non-abrasive paint cleaners that are designed for a coating prep. Pinnacle Black Label coating prep, McKee's 37 coating prep, and Carpo Essence would all be good choices. There are probably more.

The other option would be to do a light polish to remove the sealant and then hit the surface with a coating prep spray to remove the polishing oils.

On another note, please don't wash your car with Dawn. Any good car wash soap followed by a product like I mentioned above will suit you well.

[Bruno Soares]

I wouldn't use a cleaning wax, or else you'll have to remove that as well. You you'll likely want a paint cleaner with no wax or sealant or a light polish. Look at Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer (http://www.autogeek.net/wg2000.html) as an example.

I could be wrong but I think that Paintwork Polish Enhancer is by definition a cleaner wax and that's what I meant. There are products meant to be used before a coating and that don't need removed and I think Mike calls those cleaner waxes.

[Mike Phillips]

Car Pro Essence

One and done, ready for CQuartz.

http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-essence-xtreme.html




That's a great approach.






Cleaner wax is not what you want to use when prepping for a coating.



Agree. Waste of time, energy and product. Don't use product that leave behind "protection ingredients" when prepping for a coating.






The Wolfgang product might not be a good option since it was designed for sealants or waxes and not a coating. It may leave something behind and for a coating you'll need a squeaky clean surface.



Correct. Paint cleaners would not be the right or the optimum product to use to prep for a coating.





There are a number of non-abrasive paint cleaners that are designed for a coating prep. Pinnacle Black Label coating prep, McKee's 37 coating prep, and Carpo Essence would all be good choices.



Correct.





The other option would be to do a light polish to remove the sealant and then hit the surface with a coating prep spray to remove the polishing oils.



Correct. This would be the standard operating procedure.





On another note, please don't wash your car with Dawn. Any good car wash soap followed by a product like I mentioned above will suit you well.



I don't think Dawn would be a deal breaker if the next steps are to machine polish it's just not necessary if a normal car wash is the same walking distance to obtain.







I could be wrong but I think that Paintwork Polish Enhancer is by definition a cleaner wax and that's what I meant.




Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer is a non-abrasive paint cleaner. I believe it does offer some filling characteristics but I don't know off-hand if these are water soluble or non-water soluble. Regardless, any paint cleaner would be (in my opinion), the wrong product to use to prep paint for a coating.

The best way would be to use a synergistic approach i.e. if you're going to use CQuartz coating then you could synergistically use CQuartz Essence.

The next best non-synergistic option would be to use a high quality, (that means great abrasive technology), fine cut polish and do a dedicated machine polishing step to the paint. This would remove or obliterate 100% of anything previously applied as well as refine the surface by removing minor defects while maximizing gloss and clarity. Then chemically strip the paint to remove the polishing oils and then apply the coating.







There are products meant to be used before a coating and that don't need removed and I think Mike calls those cleaner waxes.



No - not correct at all.

A cleaner/wax or cleaner/sealant that uses any form of traditional waxy type substances like Carnauba or Montan Wax would hinder the coating for bonding to the surface. Same goes for any cleaner/sealant that uses a traditional synthetic substance for protection. (I hate to use the word polymer because human skin is a polymer and most people don't think of their skin as "synthetic").

There are two hybrid cleaner/waxes that use ceramic coating particles for protection ingredients and these wound work because they are chemical compatible with the coating. These would be CarPro Essence and GYEON Primer.


:)

[RippyD]

Got it. Fillers not in WPPE not good under a coating. My bad. I typically use the prep polish specific to the coating I'm using.

EDIT: I was thinking no need to go with abrasives to remove a sealant (unless you're already polishing, which he wasn't). I wasn't considering fillers...

Feeling especially silly since I have McKee's coating prep sitting on my shelf and didn't recommend that as a non-abrasive cleaner.

[SWETM]

Since you are going with cquarts coating I would also go with carpro essence. That way you gain a really good prep with a light finish polish and a layer of ceramic quarts with some filler ability. And you can just wipe of essence when it has cured and directly apply cquarts coating without any chemical wipe of.
Before you start polish with essence how does your paint feel? If it feels rough and not smooth you can do a chemical cleaning with some products from carpro and maybe with a finegrade clay. First I would rinse of all loose dirt and then apply carpro trix which take of tar and iron and bugs then rinse again. If you see water spots on the clearcoat I would use carpro Spotless to remove the water spots and mineral stains. Now you can feel the paint again and if it is not smooth yet then I would go with a finegrade clay and use the great claylube carpro Immolube. The greatness in Immolube is that it's not containing any sio2 or gloss enhancers in it. It just get your clay a really good lubrication and can be used when you sanding also. If you need to clay a wipe down with carpro eraser is needed. You can do the eraser step also after trix or the Spotless step. Or you just do a wash with carpro reset if you don't do the claying.
Why this steps? For me it is importened that I have so much of a clean clearcoat as I can have before I start polishing the car. It is up to you to assess what level of cleanliness your clearcoat is at. If it's not long ago the car where sealed then it may not be needed to do this steps I wrote. Then you can get away with a wash with carpro reset and a wipe down with carpro eraser :-P

[roarf]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I certainly wasn't going to use a cleaner wax, and I wasn't sure if Dawn would be enough to remove all the sealant. Hence why I ask about polishing it or other methods. I want to avoid spending a lot of time on it if I don't have to, since it is already in great shape. I think the sealant was done fairly recently.

So basically the foolproof method would just be to do a quick pass with the 7424 and a fine polish. I have Menzerna SF4000 on hand and Lake Country CCS pads in orange, white, and gray. Would a single pass with the Menzerna and a white pad be appropriate? I would of course follow that with Carpro Eraser or IPA to get rid of any oils left behind.

I hadn't heard of the Carpro Essence until now. Maybe I will try that. How does it compare to the SF4000 (more/less cut? more/less gloss?) Is that meant to be machine applied like any other fine polish?

[Bruno Soares]

No - not correct at all.

A cleaner/wax or cleaner/sealant that uses any form of traditional waxy type substances like Carnauba or Montan Wax would hinder the coating for bonding to the surface. Same goes for any cleaner/sealant that uses a traditional synthetic substance for protection. (I hate to use the word polymer because human skin is a polymer and most people don't think of their skin as "synthetic").

There are two hybrid cleaner/waxes that use ceramic coating particles for protection ingredients and these wound work because they are chemical compatible with the coating. These would be CarPro Essence and GYEON Primer.


That's why this forum is great. We can be wrong and learn from the master very quickly before we keep saying something wrong. Thanks for taking the time and correcting my statement.

[custmsprty]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I certainly wasn't going to use a cleaner wax, and I wasn't sure if Dawn would be enough to remove all the sealant. Hence why I ask about polishing it or other methods. I want to avoid spending a lot of time on it if I don't have to, since it is already in great shape. I think the sealant was done fairly recently.

So basically the foolproof method would just be to do a quick pass with the 7424 and a fine polish. I have Menzerna SF4000 on hand and Lake Country CCS pads in orange, white, and gray. Would a single pass with the Menzerna and a white pad be appropriate? I would of course follow that with Carpro Eraser or IPA to get rid of any oils left behind.

I hadn't heard of the Carpro Essence until now. Maybe I will try that. How does it compare to the SF4000 (more/less cut? more/less gloss?) Is that meant to be machine applied like any other fine polish?

Click on th elink I posted and it will answer your questions. It will cut out those other steps. Like I said, one step and done. You go right to applying the C Quartz, the Essence gives a light polish and the surface is prepared for the coating. No other prep is necessary. And the key is it's "Synergisitc" with C Quartz as it's made by Car Pro. I have it and it's a pretty cool product on it's own.