Coating Removal

[PDC]

Had a bit of a melt-down today. I ‘think’ I’m on the right path. Guidance / advice / encouragement appreciated.

Garage Queen. PPG Base / Clear Jet Black.

I corrected the bejeezus out of this paint last season and applied 2 coats of Wolfgang Spray Ceramic Sealant. This is the liquid in the spray bottle but ceramic based. Not the heavy serum in the syringe.

Recently, the car went into the shop for lots of small mechanical projects that were just one step beyond my skill set. The guys were VERY careful with the car - but black is just so damn unforgiving. No worries. I had planned on running one round of something like CarPro Essence to smooth about any light marring and add another layer of WG Spray Ceramic.

WRONG! As I worked the car with Essence, it looked fantastic under a normal light bulb, but under my Scangrip light, I could see this weird milky, hazy, spotty pale blue ‘film’ which I believe to be the Wolfgang Spray Ceramic Coating being ‘partially’ physically removed. So I step up to Rupes ‘Fine’ polish - the gray product in the Yellow tipped bottle with the firmer Yellow pad, and it is removing some more of this weird milky hazy crap, but its slow going. And the finish it leaves behind isnt as sharp and clear as I want for this Jet Black cruise night car. So I went over those sections with the Rupes Ultra Fine in the White tipped bottle with the White pad and finally, those sections look like I hoped they would - but there are still random, scattered areas of that milky filmy spotty mess that I find the Ultra Fine Rupes just isn’t removing.

So - I think I am down for a very thorough round of the entire car with a firmer Yellow Rupes Pad and the Rupes ‘Fine’ polish before then sharpening the reflections with the White pad and the White Rupes Ultra Fine polish.

I just want to be sure that what I am running into is just another day at the office when correcting a car that has a ceramic coating on it.

My 2 cents: if I cannot afford to go with Self-Healing Feynlab or equivalent, then I am NEVER - EVER putting another consumer grade ceramic coating on another car I own. Consumer grade ceramics will still show marring and fine toweling scratches just like the factory clear coat would. The only difference is the removal process of a consumer grade Ceramic coating in order to get the paint crystal clear again is literally its own hell.

[98CayenneTA]

I have never had the slightest issue removing any brand coating with any fine polish. It removes very quick and easy.

I'm guessing it's something else

[Coatingsarecrack]

Yeah had no problem removing CQUK3.0 with essence (fine polish) and a yellow polishing pad. The stuff your talking about is more sealant than coating.

But it’s also a garage queen. I would either move up to a full coating to get that candy gloss or just use a sealant/wax and just apply before every cruise season.

These in between products are more designed for ease of use on daily drivers. I would personally give it a chemical decontamination 1st to break down protection, clay, then polish.

Your planned polishing step sounds good to me.


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[DanaDetailingPros]

Just would re clay and hit it with Mild of some sort. I would go FCC or One. Don't worry to much it's an easy fix.Hit with Orange LC

[PDC]

SOLVED! I wont bore everyone with the litany of firmer pads and more aggressive polishes that I went through to figure this out - I’ll just cut to the chase. Yellow pad with Yellow Top Rupes Fine was working - but it was SLOW going. During a break, I grabbed a super soft foam wax applicator pad and tried a few drops of Car Pro Fixer on a particularly bad area, and the crap I was seeing just sort of wiped away with almost no pressure. Just a few swipes and you could literally see it wiping away and leaving crisp black paint behind. Even under the Scangrip light. So I swapped back to a soft White Rupes pad and gently walked the whole car with Fixer and the filmy mess is now completely gone. Im taking a break to enjoy a huge sigh of relief, then I will get a fresh white pad and do the whole car with CarPro Essence. I may decide to use Essence Plus as the LSP for this car since it gets such limited fair weather weekend car-show use.

[PDC]

Here she is. CarPro ‘Fixer’ on a Soft White Rupes pad. CarPro Essence on a Soft White Rupes pad. CarPro Essence Plus as my LSP. This will allow for quick and easy spot ‘fixes’ with Essence and Essence Plus - without the need to remove a more durable coating just to address areas of light toweling marks.

I will say, even though it is advertised as a more aggressive product, CarPro Fixer with a soft pad left a near final finish. One or two passes with Essence was all that was needed to really sharpen the reflections.

[Paul A.]

Happy to hear the outcome.

[noorth]

How did you like essence plus? I will be using it sometime this year. Probably in a few more weeks for a topper.

[PDC]

Essence Plus went on just like and ‘old school’ liquid paint sealant. I applied to the entire car, took a break, and wiped off an hour later. Literally wiped off easily and left incredible slickness behind. No idea about durability yet. Time will tell. Plan on maintaining with Reload 2.0.

[SNP209]

If you want to simplify your process even further then I would just use 3D Speed and maintain that with 3D bead it up. Any problem areas can be treated with Speed and you can apply bead it up right over it. Just some food for thought.