2020 Stuart Corvette Club Ceramic Coating Class at Autogeek

[Mike Phillips]

2020 Stuart Corvette Club Ceramic Coating Class at Autogeek


The Stuart Corvette Club





This Saturday, from 9:00am to noon we are honored to host a HANDS-ON ceramic coating class for the members of the Stuart, Corvette Club.




The class will start wit a short 15 minute explanation on the differences between,

Traditional Car Waxes - Synthetic Paint Sealants - Ceramic Paint Coatings





After the presentation I will go over all the various orbital polisher options available on the market today. Installing a ceramic coating doesn't start with the actual applying of the coating to the paint, it starts with paint correction and this includes,

Step 1: Washing and drying the car.

Step 2: Inspecting the paint for above surface bonded contaminants and if discovered, using detailing clay or a clay substitute to remove the contaminants.

Step 3: Paint correction - this can include machine polishing for cars in excellent condition with only SHALLOW swirls and scratches, or machine compounding followed by machine polishing for neglected vehicles with deep swirls and scratches.

Step 4: Panel Wipe - using a solvent or panel wipe to chemically strip the paint.

Step 6: Installing the ceramic coating.

Step 7: Inspecting the final results for high spots, (excess coating), using a powerful swirl finder light.

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Had a great class this last Saturday, March 8th, 2020 with the members of the Stuart Corvette Club. Two of the members volunteered their Corvettes to be our training cars as we don't teach classes on demo hoods, we train on the REAL-DEAL.

And considering this is the first time any of these guys has installed a ceramic paint coating, when you see the results, I think you'll agree... they did a stellar job for their first time!



Here's the club members using SONAX Glass Cleaner as a waterless wash to remove any light dirt and dust and to also help remove any previously applied, waxes, sealants or the ingredients used in spray detailers. Basically the idea being to remove anything that would keep PAINTERS TAPE from sticking to the plastic trim and paint. This is why I don't use most waterless washes or spray detailers to PREP a car for detailing and that's because MOST of these products LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND THAT MAKES TAPE NOT STICK TO PAINT AND PLASTIC.

Think about it - if a glass cleaner will leave a STREAK-FREE FINISH ON GLASS - that kind of means it's not leaving anything behind. Plus SONAX Glass Cleaner is just a great product for dang near any wiping needs.





FREE-FOR-ALL TOOL CHOICE

I laid out ALL the current and popular tools on the market today, walked the class through each of the tools explaining what they are and how they work plus how much they cost, and then let them choose which tool they wanted to use for the paint correction step. That's why you see so many different tools being used on both cars - I let the guys decide which tool they wanted to use.






The Forrest Green Edgeless towels are what I call my PAINT CARE TOWELS. It's real simple, I use these for touching paint on the finishing side of a process. They have a flat weave and are low risk for contamination like long weave or plush microfiber towels.






At this point in the day, the guys are now installing the BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating.


















And here are the results!





















Product used in this class


SONAX Glass Cleaner for our Waterless Wash
BLACKFIRE Clay Lube
BLACKFIRE Clay
BLACKFIRE Polish
BLACKFIRE Paint Prep
BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating



Towels used were,

Cobra 530 for waterless wash and removing clay lube residue
GYEON Bald Wipes for using with the BLACKFIRE Paint Prep
Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Towels for removing any high spots and the final buff



Nice work guys!

Thank you for trusting Autogeek!

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Here's the products used,

(If you click on the image, a larger version should appear if you want a closer look)


From left to right,

Cobra 530 towels, GYEON Bald Wipes, SONAX Glass Cleaner, BLACKFIRE Clay Lube, BLACKFIRE Clay, BLACKFIRE Polish, BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating and the Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Towels.







Here's the tools they guys had to choose from,
(If you click on the first image, a larger version should appear if you want a closer look)


From left to right,

Griot's G8, Griot's G9, Griot's 3" Mini Polisher, Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher, Griot's BOSS 15, Griot's BOSS 21, Porter Cable 7424XP, Meguiar's MT300, FLEX Cordless Finisher, FLEX Corded Finisher, FLEX BEAST, FLEX Supa BEAST, RUPES Mille, RUPES BigFoot 15 Mark III and RUPES BigFoot 21 Mark III










And of course, all of these tools are available at Autogeek.com

[Mike Phillips]

Continued,


Because I sent the link to this e-mail to the members of the Stuart Corvette Club....


Guys, if you remember, I answer the question,

How long will a ceramic coating last?


Here's my article on that topic.

How long will a ceramic coating last on my car?











For this question,

How should I wash my ceramic coated car?


Here's my article on that question,

How to safely wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips - Traditional Hose & Bucket Approach






And remember the story I told you about the guy that installed a ceramic coating to his BLACK Tahoe and the next day discovered he left high spots all down the side of the SUV?

Here's how you avoid that issue,


Installing a Ceramic Paint Coating? You MUST have a GREAT hand held light to avoid high spots!




One of the lights you use and the one I recommend for enthusiasts is this one. It's super high quality from the people that invented this type of light and it's affordable.

SCANGRIP MiniMatch







And if you have ANY questions about ANY car or boat detailing topic, usually if you type in a few key words about the topic and add my name

MIKE PHILLIPS

Google is very good at finding my articles.


If there's anything I can ever do for you please don't hesitate to contact me. Pat has my cell phone number.