Blackfire Pro Black Edition - First Timer's Experience

[KevinWarren]

Wanted to share my experience with Blackfire Pro Black Edition. To start, this was my first time ceramic coating a vehicle. I've been using sealants for years with TW Seal and Shine as my latest goto. I've always been happy with sealants but wanted something more durable , longer lasting, and that offered more protection for the clear coat so I decided to go with ceramic.


Here's a few bullets:
Overall, I'm extremely happy with the product and the results.
This was my first time ceramic coating. Coated a full size Pickup
I'm 60. Took my time so the project took longer than what I think it takes most folks. I spent the better part of 5 days from decon to completion.
Installed the coating in high heat and humidity. (70-95F and 60+ humidity)
Installed in the OKC area during July.

I bought two 30ML bottles. Reading this forum, I predicted I would need two bottles for 2 coats. This proved to be spot on for me. I ended up using about a 1/4 of the second bottle. So a bottle and a 1/4 was sufficient for two coats on a 2020 RAM 1500.


I decon'd and polished the paint before coating. The truck was in pretty good shape, very little scratches. Mostly just some oxidation that polished right out. The truck has never seen a tunnel wash. Actual polish time (minus my many breaks) was about 12 hours. Was in no rush. Like many of you, my OCD kicks in and things just take longer.


I applied the product using coating saver applicators. A few drops on the applicator and spread with a cross hatch pattern. Did 2x2 foot sections at a time. For the hood of the truck, this equated to 3 sections. I divided the doors into 4 sections as I did for the roof as well. Each side panel of the bed ended up being around 4 or 5 sections.


Application was as expected and as described by others. Easy on, easy off. However, I did run into difficultly as the temp and humidity rose. I found that as the temp pushed 90, the coating would flash super quick. Between 70 and 80, I had plenty of time to apply and level. I'd say I had around a minute after applying before I had to remove excess and level. Over 85 or so and I really had to work fast basically applying the coating and almost immediately leveling. I started getting nervous about high spots so I learned to stop once the temp got too high. This meant installing each coat of the Blackfire Pro Black edition took a couple days as I only had a few hours a day before the temp got too high. Again, I was in no hurry. I could have worked faster and got it done before the heat of the day.


As long as I didn't try to push through the heat and subsequent fast flashing, I had zero issues with installing or leveling.


I ended up with three small high spots. All were due to my leveling technique. Once I figured out how to avoid pushing product around while leveling, I had no further issues.


For me, I found that initially wiping/leveling INTO my section of work (being careful to not push product into the surrounding sections) I had no further issues with high spots. It was all about containing the product to the section I was working on. The high spots I ended up with were clearly the result of my wipe off cloth pushing product were I didn't know it was. I suppose that's where a light would help but my eyes are bad and though I tried, I couldn't get the hang of seeing the high spots with the light I had.


So I really just applied the coating as best I could and hoped for the best. Turns out, I did pretty good. Just three small high spots. I simply repolished those three very small areas and recoated. Easy peasy.


I did not use Blackfire on the plastic trim or glass. I used GTechniq C4 on the trim a couple of weeks prior to coating the paint and then taped it off.


I spent over a year reading this forum and watching countless YTube videos before I felt comfortable enough to proceed. Glad I did. It's helped me understand heat, humidity, paint polishing, surface prep, installation and removal technique, and how to correct errors like the previously mentioned high spots.


The end result is amazing. Extremely glossy. It definitely looks like there's now some sort of shiny 'shell' added the paint. Seems to repel dust a bit and there's truth to the self cleaning. We've had several rain showers since and each time, the truck comes out pretty clean though not as clean as a contact wash.


Coating a car is definitely something any decent home detailer can do but it's not fast, easy or cheap. Take you time with the wipe off and leveling. Be careful when wiping off the product to avoid pushing it on to unwanted areas. 1 30ML bottle could easily coat (2x) my wife's Avalon. I needed just over one bottle for my full size truck.


Thank you to all that helped me in this coating journey. I'm an IT guy. With the world the way it is these days I work from home full time so a project like this gave me a nice break and some physical work that I love.


If you're considering installing a coating, I say go for it. It's not too hard. Just take your time and pay attention to details. You'll be fine and your ride will be awesome.


Now I'm struggling with whether or not to top it. I'm considering topping with Griots 3 in 1 or Beadmaker. Or maybe the Griots topped with beadmaker. Still don't fully understand the arguments for and against topping. Pretty sure my OCD is going to drive me to top it. I'm leaning toward the Griots 3 and 1. Fact is though, Blackfire is super shiny and the beading and sheeting are great so a topper is probably not really needed. You could put the work in and have a coating (Blackfire Pro Back) that lasts for years without periodic topping if that's your preference.


My truck is one of the shiniest rides in town.