SOFT custom black paint: Opti-coat or no?

[66gtk]

My car has new custom paint (March, 2013) - wet sanded and buffed so no orange peel. It scratches and swirls by looking at it wrong. Clay bar marred the crap out of it - I gather it is very soft?

I have it all polished out now and resealed - looks great, but I haven't touched it yet with anything. It is garaged and is a fair weather show type car. I refuse to drive it or show it dirty - even dust bothers me, especially with Black. The problem is to keep it clean means to scratch it...

Would Opti-Coat or another product such as HD Nitro Seal provide a coating that can more easily be detailed (wiped down with QD and such regularly) without swirling/scratching it?

Would something such as Opti-Coat be better in this regard than merely keeping the paint top coated with liquid spray wax regularly? I don't mind keeping it up with such spray waxes, but if there is added scratch/swirl protection with Opti-Coat I would be up for using it. This would be my primary goal/purpose. Long lasting protection from elements is the least of my concerns since it is NOT a daily driver. Am I making sense?

I appreciate the thoughts/recommendations.

[6supersport7]

This is a good question. I have thought about the same thing. I have a black 67 chevelle that I try and keep perfect. Like you, I can look at it the wrong way and scratch it. I like the look of carnaubas personally so I have just been waxing it and every couple of months a go over it with 85rd and a finishing pad. Sometimes I will use a glaze in between polishing.

[66gtk]

bump?

[Evan.J]

If the paint is that soft the. I would go with either opti coat or c quartz. Both are great coatings. The only thing is that waxing will be lost but with soft paint I would go the coating route.

Now coatings are not scratch proof the are just more scratch resistant that a clear coat so keep that in mind

[Vegas Transplant]

My car has new custom paint (March, 2013) - wet sanded and buffed so no orange peel. It scratches and swirls by looking at it wrong. Clay bar marred the crap out of it - I gather it is very soft?

I have it all polished out now and resealed - looks great, but I haven't touched it yet with anything. It is garaged and is a fair weather show type car. I refuse to drive it or show it dirty - even dust bothers me, especially with Black. The problem is to keep it clean means to scratch it...

Would Opti-Coat or another product such as HD Nitro Seal provide a coating that can more easily be detailed (wiped down with QD and such regularly) without swirling/scratching it?

Would something such as Opti-Coat be better in this regard than merely keeping the paint top coated with liquid spray wax regularly? I don't mind keeping it up with such spray waxes, but if there is added scratch/swirl protection with Opti-Coat I would be up for using it. This would be my primary goal/purpose. Long lasting protection from elements is the least of my concerns since it is NOT a daily driver. Am I making sense?

I appreciate the thoughts/recommendations.

The clear layer of paint, with a solid color under it makes it easy for our eyes to see defects on the surface easy.

Clear coat paints are scratch-sensitive, that means that even though they are harder than single stage paints they still scratch very easily.

Black isn't a color, it's a full time job"


I owned a black SUV one time and I would never do that again. I would own a "cool" car in black, but not a daily driver and certainly not an SUV





No coating I've tested resisted scratching either so pick your poison, wax, paint sealant or coating. Finding a good spray wax and then using it often should get you and keep you at the 98% to 99% flawless category.

6/4/12