Suggestion for new car

[JohnB56]

I bought a new car, Audi Q7 in Samurai Metallic Gray, and want to put a DIY ceramic coating on it before I start driving it. The finish has no swirl marks but there are 4 or 5 long straight scratches right next to each other on the hood, and a quarter sized blemish further down the hood. Neither of these can be seen unless looking at the right angle and they don't catch my nail. There are maybe 3 or 4 other scratches on the car and several small dots I can feel and see when running my finger over the surfaces in a plastic bag, but overall the paint is in great condition.

My thought was to wash the car thoroughly, clay it using a fine grade Nanoskin sponge with lots of detail spray, wipe down using xx = not sure, then polish with my PC7424 and Menzerna SFP-3800 with a black (or blue) CCS pad. Clean before ceramic coat with xx = not sure. Please fill in the blank for cleaning after clay and cleaning after polish, before ceramic coat.

Most importantly I'd like to know if this is a solid approach or if you'd recommend something different / product too? Please don't hold back as I want to do this right.

Thanks,
John

[Bill D]

Clay only if the car doesn't pass the baggie test and even with that I would attempt chemical decontamination first before resorting to it. You don't want more scratches.

[The Guz]

What coating?

[dgage]

I don’t think a CCS blue pad will get the scratches out and maybe not the black pad either. But since you’re only talking a few defects, I’d probably try getting those with a microfiber applicator by hand. This way you can just focus on the few areas with scratches and defects and leave the rest of your paint alone. Everything else looks good except you’d want to clean after polishing with a prep spray such as Blackfire Paint Prep, Carpro Eraser, or Gyeon Prep. Oh, and probably do a complete wash after claying and before polishing.

[JohnB56]

Armor Shield IX, although I haven't bought it yet

[The Guz]

Have you thought about using a coating from an established brand.

[JohnB56]

what do you recommend?

[dgage]

CQuartz UK 3.0 is popular. Blackfire Ceramic Coating is as well. There are so many full ceramic coatings to choose from. CQuartz Lite, Gyeon CanCoat, or Pinnacle Diamond Paint Coating are light coatings that should last a year with an SiO2 topper/drying aid.

[The Guz]

what do you recommend?

Depends on what you are looking for. Are you looking to get into a full blown coating or a coating lite.

From a coating lite perspective Gyeon CanCoat or Cquartz Lite. Lite has the edge on durability. I have IGL Ecocoat but don't have longevity updates other than ease of use. But it is a 1 year coating like the others.

From a full blown coating Cquartz UK 3.0 gets my recommendation. I did like Cquartz TiO2 and just from a sample size area of applying their new SiC coating I can say it is going to be good. The popular combo is UK topped with SiC.

[2black1s]

This was kind of mentioned in dgage's post but I'll repeat it anyways as this was my first thought...

If you only have a few real defects and they are somewhat isolated like you describe, I would hit those areas first with whatever it takes to remove them. Once those are removed to your satisfaction then proceed with your overall polishing and prep for the coating.

[dgage]

And I reread my statement and realize I didn’t convey everything I meant to say clearly. If you have a few defects and the rest of the paint looks good, only address the few defects so you can limit your “attacking” of the paint. As Mike points out in the article linked below, clear coats are thin and will be attacked from day 1 by dirt, road contaminants, birds, etc. You want to keep the clear coat as thick as possible for as long as possible so I wouldn’t necessarily abrasively polish an entire car just to get a few scratches out. It would be different if you had swirls over the majority of the car. I would however use a jeweling (high gloss polish) polish and pad over the entire car because it is minimally aggressive and would increase the overall gloss before applying a coating, which is essentially what you laid out with Mezerna 3800 and the CCS Blue/Black pads.

Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/87410-clearcoats-thin-mike-phillips.html)

[Coatingsarecrack]

I wouldn’t recommend wiping down with anything after claying just wipe down with alot of microfiber as clay lube will have lubricity. Use a detail spray.... griots speed shine is great.

As for after polish I’d recommend CarPro Eraser. Works well smells great. It gets the edge over Gyeon prep.

I used CqUk 3.0 couple years ago as my 1st coating and it was great. Easy to use, great beading and GLOSS!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnB56]

Thanks for the advice and recommendations everyone! So much great information.

I have a few ounces of Menzerna's PF2500. Would it make more sense to use that on the scratches I described in my post or I've got a CCS white pad that I could try with the SFP3800 if you think that might work (and be more gentle on the clear coat)?

[dgage]

Thanks for the advice and recommendations everyone! So much great information.

I have a few ounces of Menzerna's PF2500. Would it make more sense to use that on the scratches I described in my post or I've got a CCS white pad that I could try with the SFP3800 if you think that might work (and be more gentle on the clear coat)?

With any polishing, you’ll need to start with a test spot to refine your repair recipe (pad and polish). You always want to start with least aggressive polish/pad combo and work up to more aggressive pads/polishes until you find the combo that corrects sufficiently. So I’d say try the 3800 and a more aggressive pad on the scratches and if that doesn’t work then I’d try the 2500 with a less aggressive pad until you get the combo that addresses the scratches and do those areas only. Then after correcting the scratches and other minor defects, work on a jeweling (high gloss polishing) recipe to get the maximum gloss that you want and run that over the entire car. Realize that as soon as you put a coating or sealant on, it will slightly alter the look so I wouldn’t necessarily go for show car shine if this is a daily or frequent driver.

[Mike Phillips]

I bought a new car, Audi Q7 in Samurai Metallic Gray, and want to put a DIY ceramic coating on it before I start driving it. The finish has no swirl marks but there are 4 or 5 long straight scratches right next to each other on the hood, and a quarter sized blemish further down the hood. Neither of these can be seen unless looking at the right angle and they don't catch my nail. There are maybe 3 or 4 other scratches on the car and several small dots I can feel and see when running my finger over the surfaces in a plastic bag, but overall the paint is in great condition.

My thought was to wash the car thoroughly, clay it using a fine grade Nanoskin sponge with lots of detail spray, wipe down using xx = not sure, then polish with my PC7424 and Menzerna SFP-3800 with a black (or blue) CCS pad. Clean before ceramic coat with xx = not sure. Please fill in the blank for cleaning after clay and cleaning after polish, before ceramic coat.

Most importantly I'd like to know if this is a solid approach or if you'd recommend something different / product too? Please don't hold back as I want to do this right.

Thanks,
John


Hi John,

Apologies for the delay - I've been a tick busy.

Pictures: 2021 Boat Detailing Class - SOLD OUT! (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/pictures-2-day-boat-detailing-classes/128660-pictures-2021-boat-detailing-class-sold-out.html)


Menzerna makes great abrasive technology - you're approach is sound for removing the defects. It's better to only improve versus try to 100% remove because clearcoats are very thin. If you remove too much, i.e. burn through the clearcoat, you'll then be getting quotes for new paint.


When it comes to cleaning before ceramic coating - the technical description for this is,

Chemically stripping the paint

Most all the detailing gurus in the world simply state to use a panel wipe. They are correct in that is what you do, but your don't

panel wiping the paint

That just sounds ignorant. :dunno:


You, chemically strip the paint with a panel wipe.



I guess I'm the only guy that thinks these things through and the correctly describes them using the correct words no matter what the media or touch point?


Back to you question. LOOK to see if the brand of coating you want to use also makes a PANEL WIPE. If so - buy both and follow the directions.

See this article,

Synergistic Chemical Compatibility by Mike Phillips (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions-/125615-synergistic-chemical-compatibility-mike-phillips.html)


Hope that helps...







:)