________________________________________________________________
* Originally posted in the forums - Reposted into this build thread for reference
________________________________________________________________
Coated The Pony With Ceramic Paint Protection
The best time to ceramic coat a car's paintwork, is obviously when it is new.
The underlying paintwork will be in better condition, fewer imperfections, no swirls marks and scratches from months or years of washing, and less contamination and waxes to remove.
I had applied C-Quartz Ceramic coating myself on my previous car and was happy with the protection, shine, and hardness it gave the car, so decided to use CarPro's excellent "UK" edition this time around on the Stang.
First I gave the car a thorough wash using a wax-free super cleaning car shampoo...
Autobrite Magifoam, which contains a blend of cleansers, detergents and foamers for the removal of traffic film, dirt and light grime.
This is the most concentrated snow foam you can get, and its cleaning ability, when used as a car wash detergent with a microfibre mitt, is second to none in my experience!
Next up, a light clay bar with a lubricant to remove any contaminants on the paint surface.
(My car was manufactured in June 2017, shipped to Australia and probably stored along with others in less than ideal conditions till sold.)
So while I bought a brand new car, the reality is, as with many imported cars, they can be 12 months old or more before a buyer comes along.
This means there is bound to be some contamination on the paintwork even though they may have been wrapped in protective plastic for much of the time and the long time at sea.
Normally I would do a stage one correction using my DA polisher and quality Menzerna cutting compound and polishes, but being a new car and on inspection with my detailing lights found it was not really required.
On the couple of fine scratches and blemishes I did find, I removed by hand using Meguiar's Scratch X2.0, however, the paintwork was in otherwise excellent condition.
The final prep to remove any grease, oils or crap wax detailers the dealer might have applied on pre-delivery was a good wipe down using Gyeon Prep, my "go-to" paint preparer and cleaner.
After 3 hours of washing and pre-coating prep, I was then ready to apply the CarPro CQuartz Ceramic Coating.
C-Quartz is a revolutionary nanotechnology SiO2 (silica) based glass coating whose protection is measured in terms of years, not months or seasons.
It gives an immense gloss, and a "wet look" finish, with increased resistance to water spots, all contaminants and traffic film as well as light scratching.
Giving additional thickness on top of the manufacturers clear coat, C-Quartz has the ability to both resist and absorb damage that commonly occurs to vehicle paintwork.
It makes car washing and maintenance effortless, often only needing a pressure washer to remove everyday dirt and dust.
I prefer to use the "UK" edition, which is virtually the same strength formulation as the regular C-Quartz, but curing times using the UK edition is much faster especially in colder weather, we have at the moment in Victoria, Australia.
After allowing an hour to cure, I then followed up with a second coating of Gyeon CanCoat, which is also a Silica Quartz coating...
When you apply a ceramic coating of any sort, you cannot afford to get the car wet for the first 24 hours, otherwise, water spotting can be a problem.
Rainy weather in Melbourne at present makes it harder to keep it dry, and it is my daily drive.
To get around this problem, you need to coat the car with either Gyeon Q2M Cure or CarPro Reload, both are the same product by different manufacturers sourced from the same factory.
I used Gyeon Q2M Cure this time but prefer Reload as it is much less expensive, and I use it on a regular basis for ceramic coating maintenance.
This is the key to prolonging the life of your ceramic coating.
This spray sealant will enhance the gloss of the coating and adds further hydrophobicity to your existing ceramic coating.
It also leaves a super-slick finish on the surface and has a high concentration of SiO2 so provides a good ‘booster’ to coatings.
Ceramic coating a white car is so much easier than doing a dark car like my former Kinetic blue Falcon FG XR6Turbo, as white does not show the streaks and hides any coating imperfections very well, not being a metallic paint.
So much happier to be back in a white car.
Some photos of the car, that does not really give the ceramic coating justice being overcast when I took them.
The car is silky smooth to the touch and looks like it is covered with a thin layer of wet glass in the flesh.
After 24 hours when finally cured, the finish gets even better.
