So I want to do a paint correction and ceramic coat my z is machine silver. The paint is a 9 out of 10, and only has minor swirls. I have a 6spd porter cable. So this is your car, what are you buying? Pads and all! I will be buying a clay mitt and iron remover Wheels are done with ceramic coating already.. some pics of the trunk, hood, and side.



thanks

 

I used a 7424XP to correct my Z's paint the first time. I was new to paint correction, and learned quickly that C5 clear coat is hard as a diamond. My car also had minor swirls and a few deeper scratches, and I ended up using a couple compounds and a variety of pads before finding a decent combo that worked.

That being said, if I had to do it over using a PC again, I would keep it simple using effective products that don't remove much clear coat...

Step 1:
Buff and Shine "UroFiber" microfiber pads
3D One compound/polish
Speed setting 6

You could probably stop there, as the hard clear coat won't show any hazing afterwards. However, for more gloss, finesse it again...

Step 2:
Lake Country CCS green foam medium polishing pads
3D One compound/polish
Speed setting 5

 

Fyr knows the deal! That is solid but I’ll offer a slight variation.

Its difficult to know what combo will work best without walking around the car in person with a scan grip

that being said, eurofiber 50/50 and 3D One with an LHR 15 on 3.5 or 4 moving at correction speed - 1 inch per second.

finish with sonax perfect finish, maybe white rupes pad, yellow if you need a little more bite

maybe I’d swap out the sonax for Xtreme solutions LVR404 Helios...have to see how it would respond to the 3D one passes first

same settings and speed on the LHR15

 

The only reason I recommended speed setting 6 is because he said he has a PC. No way will a PC tackle compounding Vette clear on lower speeds. I had to use speed setting 6 with my 7424XP and 3D HD Cut+ compound with Buff and Shine microfiber cutting pads (not UroFiber) to correct my C5 paint. It was a chore.

 

of course, I completely understand.

My recommended settings were based off of a specific machine. I have no experience with the one you talk about and use . If you say that works for you, then your work obviously speaks for itself...uncontested.

you are the official Jedi Master if this thread.

 

I no longer use my Porter Cable for anything but 3" work. However, the OP said he is using a Porter Cable machine, and was looking for tips on what to use with it. I definitely agree that using a different machine would be optimal! The sweet spot for compounding with MF pads using my G9 is the 4.5-5 speed setting. I use 3.5-4 when polishing with foam pads. 1000W and a short 9mm throw with 5" pads focuses a lot of energy in a small space. I have only used the 6 speed setting once, but not for long. Things get too hot too quickly!

 

With the PC your gonna need to crank it up high- PC is a GREAT machine for folks who dont do a lot of machine polishing. That being said-- I am a big fan of rupes pads and Sonax Polishes. I would start my test spot with the yellow pad and perfect finish, if that didnt get the results i needed then I would step it up to 04-06 on the compound. Just remember that since your doing a coating to have some IPA / panel wipe and dont use a one step polish as they have protection in them and you dont want that.
Good luck & let us know how it turns out

Get the fine clay mitt, not the medium

 

Our black C5 was one of the first cars i took a machine to and these worked well w the 'ol Griots 6" DA that generally mirrors the PC as far as speed/OPM.

Porter Cable/GG6 speed/OPM
1 -> 2500
2 -> 3360
3 -> 4220
4 -> 5080
5 -> 5940
6 -> 6800

Heavy stuff like the etched water spots this car had ( Thanks, Zaino 🙁 ) Megs D300 w their microfiber cutting discs.

Speed just a touch under 4 (Megs recommendation of 4800 opm), low & slow, 4 to 6 passes. Blow/brush out pad after each section as microfiber gets matted down quickly. This outdid Megs M101 on yellow LC foam as far as effort/time goes. D300 has a nice cinnamon smell for added enjoyment!

That did leave a bit of haze on the black paint which cleaned up w Menzerna 3500 white Lake Country pad.

In the OP's case and the light swirling mentioned, I'd start w an 8oz bottle of Sonax Perfect Finish, a yellow Rupes pad, 4 to 6 passes, speed 4 to 5, w 10-12 pounds of pressure (practice pressure w bathroom scale to get a feel for it) and see if a 1-step will suffice. With the lighter color like silver that might be enough. If that works for ya grab a few more Rupes yellow to finish quickly. I usually use around 6 pads per car (of each type; clean pads are such a treat)

If ya need a bit more refinement, Jescar Finishing Polish on a polishing pad will probably do nicely. A little heavier cut, the previously mentioned HD One w UroFiber will likely suffice.

Total personal preference but I found HD One to be a bit oily for my tastes; really liked the bottle pop top w 3 small holes as opposed to normal single one though. Can work that stuff forever though; is it SMAT or DAT? Griots Correcting Cream also works well w UroFiber for 1-step although the mushroom pop tops on those bottles are messy/irritating.

3D/HD Polish was nice for light work too, sometimes a good SMAT abrasive entertains me for some reason

Try a few things, test spots...tons of fun, effective stuff. Buy small bottles though; for some dumb reason i liked the look and feel of 32oz bottles and bought accordingly. Man, that was just plain dumb.

I've used many different things on our C5 as it wore 3 different ceramic coatings in 36 months before we sold it but the above were some useful & effective choices.

For the folks who use HD One w Uro-Fiber, I see that combo mentioned relatively frequently; does someone in particular recommend it or is it just one of those combos that organically grew into a standard on its own?

 

a few known guys on the internet started talking about it and it’s now (in my opinion) come to be a classic combination that depending on the clear you are working with, is a standard place to start.

a similar combo is perfect finish and rupes yellow pad. But that’s been common for a longer time I believe

 

Hey Guys,

Soooooo....possible stupid question as I’ve said previously to Loki, how does this apply to ceramic coated Vette’s as is my black C8....

Gratefully, Mike

 

Loki summed it up nicely, and I agree 100%. YouTube regulars like Brian @ Apex Detail pretty much set the tone for that combo, testing it out on multiple occasions in a variety of ways. It just works really well.

The 3D One / UroFiber 50/50 combo is probably what I use most of the time on the weekend corrections I have been doing over the past year. On harder clears, this combo makes for a perfect one-step job. It won't get out the deeper defects, but will finish down nicely enough to call it quits and move to protection. On softer clears, it makes the perfect compounding step if I am doing a 2-step correction. It will tackle deeper defects, but will finish down leaving just a very mild haze that is super-easy to clean up with a soft finishing pad.

I am a HUGE fan of 3D One. I still prefer 3D AAT 501 and Meg's M100 for the tougher compounding jobs when I break out the Meg's MF cutting disks or wool pads, but I try to use the 3D One first. Virtually no dusting, and a reeeeally long work time. It truly is pad-dependent, and I have been using it more frequently as a finishing polish. I rarely bring a separate finishing polish with me when doing corrections. Just my bottle of 3D One and a wide variety of pads. It works with MF cutting disks as well as it works with black foam finishing pads. The only negative is the amount of oils in it to give it that work time. Cleaning up with a panel wipe spray is mandatory. I always do that with any compound and polish anyway, but I go through more panel wipe spray when using 3D One.

 

I’m the one who feels stupid here. I don’t understand your question and I don’t remember when you asked me the question in the first place.

I’ve been sniffing too much PAHG I guess...😲😮😬

 

Loki,

We spoke here some time ago. As you and Fyrarms said previously, DA Polisher on ceramic is a no no. What I’m asking is, reference your discussion here regarding the consummate list of products, is their application appropriate on ceramic coating. Also, if yes. What’s the application method? Better said?

Mike

 

In addition, here’s my current ammunition:

 

Sooooo, I am not sure what you are asking. This discussion is about correcting paint, so I can only assume that is the subject you are talking about as well. Please choose A) or B) below.

A) "What correction steps should I do before applying a ceramic coating?"

B) "What correction steps are possible after applying a ceramic coating?"

 

extremely short answer...

if B) CarPro essence plus all day long!

I hand applied mine by the way!



Amazing for bringing a ceramic coating back to life with no abrasive jeweling agents.

 

Wow....never heard of it. I’m on it now. I have finally acquired PA Cosmic Spritz and Kamikaze Overcoat. Could I keep going with those or am I set with your suggestion?

Mike

 

Mike,
You could go down the rabbit hole and purchase many bottles, but what you have selected are two absolutely wonderful products. You have a sacrificial layer/top coat to your ceramic coating and then you have a "detail spray" sealant and gloss enhancing product that adds protection on top of that. There is a mind-numbing amount of just those two types of products on the market, but you have 2 extremely legit and solid choices right there.


Overcoat will be applied first and function as your sacrificial layer to your ceramic coating. I suspect this product will need to be re-applied every three months or so.

Cosmic Spritz will be applied on top of Overcoat and will be your LSP (last step product). It acts more like a sealant and coating lite as it does as a mere "detail spray", but in this application, it would be used as an LSP after a wash. This product will last for 3 months, but if you are like me with PolishAngel products, you will find yourself using it way more frequently than that...maybe even after every wash if you don't have another LSP product in your arsenal. The PA products are very easy to use and yield ridiculously satisfying and compelling results.

To make it easier on your wallet, you might want to go out and get an additional LSP so you don't find yourself constantly reaching for PACS after each wash - assuming you wash your car every week or so like I do. Or just go total baller and get some PA HighGloss and alternate! I have a few different things I'll use in between PAHG applications - I like to change it up and experiment. (there's that rabbit hole I mentioned...son of a crap!)

Best of luck and let us know if you need more help.

Loki6

 

Thanks for the info, not much of a YouTube guy so that explains that .

I actually found the Uro-Fiber pads pretty soon after they released 'em as unless you wanted to go with wool or the LC Force Hybrid foam, the Uro-Fiber was the closest to a microfiber pad, the prevailing theory at the time being microfiber doesn't work so well with forced rotation and I was big into the Flex 3401 at the time. Remember doing some somewhat weathered Ford paint w/ the 3401, Uro Fiber & GG Correcting Cream and was pretty surprised that it ended up being 'good enough' for that particular circumstance; can really get some nice cut with the Uro Fiber. The Flex w/ the gray Force Hybrids and M101 can really do some heavy lifting, albeit ya go through the pads kinda quickly...and if ya get up on the edge of the pad it'll go thru the clear (and color coat) in, uh...short order.
Heretic!

 

I'll just leave this here in a desperate effort to avoid any further persecution and clear my name...

That being said, I am the god of mischief and chaos after all

Loki6


You’ll have to pry this bitch out of my cold dead hands to get me to stop using it.
Conjured in small batches from the finest German Crack and Witch Craft!