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Is there a clear protective coating you would recommend for a new corvette? If so who manufactures this product, cis it applied professionally or DIY, and how long will it last?
You need to determine if you want a film (Xpel) or a paint sealer (Opti-Coat Pro Plus). I would go look at cars that have a film and see if you can see it or not. To not see the lines you need to cover entire body parts, which can start to cost more.
My personal preference was to take potential for paint chips and just go with a paint sealer.
As others have suggested, I would go with a high quality detailer/professional installer.
If you do it DIY, there are threads with folks that have done the paint sealer route (i.e. NMCVette), but you need to be prepared to do a lot of work. NMVetteC7 seems to have a lot of time to do these types of projects and his results are spectacular.
Although coatings are "sealers" they are called coatings as they Lay Down a microscopic shield that is tougher than any paint sealant or wax ,however it will not stop rocks, so therefore if you're looking for rock protection you have to do a film. Some common coatings that are used by installers are opti coat pro, cquartz finest and in the DIY class, cquartzuk, pinnincle, blackfire, 22 PLE and Modesta.
You need to determine if you want a film (Xpel) or a paint sealer (Opti-Coat Pro Plus). I would go look at cars that have a film and see if you can see it or not. To not see the lines you need to cover entire body parts, which can start to cost more.
My personal preference was to take potential for paint chips and just go with a paint sealer.
As others have suggested, I would go with a high quality detailer/professional installer.
If you do it DIY, there are threads with folks that have done the paint sealer route (i.e. NMCVette), but you need to be prepared to do a lot of work. NMCVette seems to have a lot of time to do these types of projects and his results are spectacular.
I am available to answer any questions about using a ceramic paint coating vs an exterior filmshield.
NM have you used the Pinnacle? I will be applying a coating myself when she comes in and was leaning towards the Cquartz but looks like there is little room for error and seems a bit difficult to work with. The Pinnacle looks much easier to work with but probably won't last as long. I will be doing this as soon as I get the car home so I'll be doing the following:
IronX, wash, Nanoskin, polish then coating. Just trying to decide which one. Dealers want 1k.
IronX, wash, Nanoskin, polish then coating. Just trying to decide which one. Dealers want 1k.
That is an utter rip off. I got my Opti-Coat Pro Plus for $600 from a local installer/detailer. I haven't been in town yet to get decent pictures of her and it has been raining the last two days...
I agree that's why I'm doing it myself. I live in Chicago so maybe that's why. They wanted $1295 to do Modesto and $1900 for Xpel. I am not afraid of tackling the ceramic coatings myself just trying to decide best bang for the buck.
NM have you used the Pinnacle? I will be applying a coating myself when she comes in and was leaning towards the Cquartz but looks like there is little room for error and seems a bit difficult to work with. The Pinnacle looks much easier to work with but probably won't last as long. I will be doing this as soon as I get the car home so I'll be doing the following:
IronX, wash, Nanoskin, polish then coating. Just trying to decide which one. Dealers want 1k.
Yes, what you see in my photos above are all Pinnacle Black Diamond products from autogeek.net.
That is an utter rip off. I got my Opti-Coat Pro Plus for $600 from a local installer/detailer. I haven't been in town yet to get decent pictures of her and it has been raining the last two days...
Easy there...you have no idea of the condition of the paint of his car. It is easy to see these jobs vary by 2-300 bucks due to the level of paint correction needed.
Easy there...you have no idea of the condition of the paint of his car. It is easy to see these jobs vary by 2-300 bucks due to the level of paint correction needed.
Yes, you are correct. His handle indicates he has a '14. The detailer I went to had two costs for paint prep. One was fpr cars > 4yrs. old and other for new model cars. They then did an inspection to see the condition of swirl marks, clear coat etching, etc.
My bad for assuming that a C7 owner would have not been taking care of their car, be on this forum and have swirl marks, bug guts that have etched into clear coat along with hard water marks from not using soft water and not being dried off appropriately. I guess I am so **** about my car that I couldn't imagine that ever being the case.
But assumptions are bad. So you have a point, but even with full paint prep on a >4yr from my detailer the cost would have gone up to $800. I have yet to come across a Chevy dealer that does this stuff in house, they have all farmed it out and then they want to take a mark-up for driving it to the detailer to do the actual work.
Well consider my car is being built in two weeks I would say my paint will be perfect except for the mandatory orange peel :-)
The detailer I went to says that isn't the case and they would have still done a full clay, polish and clay before applying the Opti-Coat Pro Plus. My car was three weeks old by the time I got it to them and they still did the above. I had a cheaper paint prep cost as I didn't have swirl marks or clear coat etching that they need to polish out.
Started installing my invisiblemask Z06 kit this past week. Check out the pics.
I do have some "errors" in the install, like cuts in some sections where I had to get it around some tight curves and a bubble here and there, BUT, this isnt a Fing show car and something is better than nothing.
And Im the kind of guy who cant shell out 2-3k when Im capable of doing 80% of the quality myself.
I will be taking delivery of a black convertible soon. I plan on having a clear film such as 3M (or if anyone can recommend something better here in the LA area) put on the front bumper and outside mirrors. However I would love a recommendation for a great product that I can use or have professionally applied that can protect the body from swirl marks. My cars never go to a car wash. I have used Rejex in the past, which provides good protection, but have not used it on a black car.
Any of the coatings will help with a black car. Opti coat pro and cquartz finest will be installed professionally. Look for a local AUTHORIZED installer via the mfr sites using toogle.
Seriously look at your paint...., if you think the job is absolutely perfect and want to lock in the surface right now, very little correction is needed a quik polish (real polish) job by hand and Then wipe on a coating… See YouTube for any of the manufactures application..
08-31-2015, 10:03 PM
Protective paint coatings
