In expensive ceramic coating

[gray owl]

We all know the cost of ceramic costing at a detailer, and a pro job is probably worth it. But i like to do things myself, its³ part of the hobby.
So i bought a 100.00 kit off Amazon, a clay bar, 3m #1 rubbing compound and Maguires finish polish. And a six pak of Molson Canadian (google).
Took my time, clayed the whole car, washed it and started with rubbing compound, don't bother with the McGuires scratch remover it doesnt cut enough to work, go straight to the 3m.
I used a micro cloth pad on my machine at speed 2 and went over each area 8 times using a cross hatch pattern. The cloth cuts better than sponge. I did larger sections than recommended hood, each fender, doors and rear quarter s and trunk. After a micro fibre buff i went over bad spots again. The 3m rubbing compound works great.
Then the finishing polish using a sponge applicator an micro fiber cloth to buff. ***WARNING*** do not ever use terry cloth, old towls, soft rags, they are what made the micro scratches you are now trying to remove , use only micro fiber cloths!!!!
Applying the ceramic coating is easy just follow the instructions.
My car is black so the paint is high maintenance. The results were amazing way better than i expected.
The main take away is NEVER touch your paint with anything but a micrl fiber cloth. They are cheap on Amazon, i bought a pak of 50.

 

[Noobz347]

I'm going to move this over to [Sound and Shine] as it applies to anybody with a painted car.

 

[gray owl]

 

[General karthief]

Leaves me out, well there is Brand X. Oh, and the Kia. I just wax that junk, looks good and lasts but it was torture.

 

[Noobz347]

Leaves me out, well there is Brand X. Oh, and the Kia. I just wax that junk, looks good and lasts but it was torture.

Patina is a 'thing' now. Make it flat and clear-coat it.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I think I showed my work a few times before of when i DIY'ed my paint correction and ceramic coat. IMHO it really saved my car.

My Process was:

• Wash with stripper car soap
• clay bar each panel
• First pass with DA buffer with a medium pad
• 2nd pass with DA with a finer polishing pad
• ceramic coat

DId one panel at a time. Estimated about 13-14 hours total into the project, spread out over a few nights in the garage.

But made a HUGE difference. Below shows the improvement. This was before adding the ceramic coat.

I splurged a little on materials but even so it was under $300 for everything including the buffer. But i have enough materials to do a 2nd car.

 

[gray owl]

Ceram coating is the latest trend in the revelution of paint care. But like anything else the actual results though initially impressive are exaggerated. It doesn't protect, yes water will bead, but after putting your car cover on a off a few times you will see the little surface scratches return (black paint). I use a super soft cover for dust even though the car is garaged.