[joekd]

Had vacation this week so decided to finish working on the Camaro paint

Earlier I had washed, prepped with a clay mitt, polished then 2 coats of Gtechniq ceramic.

Few days later topped with spray ceramic detailer and finally covered it up just so the dust would stay off, also helps if some snow blows in when getting snow blowers out.

This year I had added 12 4' 5000K LED strip lights along the base and sides of the garage which made a huge difference when working out here.

[Mich]

Looks great!

I recently made a thread looking for opinions on how to prep my car for ceramic coat (including polish) and what products to use. What are your recommended products for this process?

[joekd]

Originally Posted by Mich

I recently made a thread looking for opinions on how to prep my car for ceramic coat (including polish) and what products to use. What are your recommended products for this process?

I tend to stay with Chemical guys for most of my stuff. Not particular about car wash itself, whatever works in the foam cannon and gives a ton of foam is all that matters. Generally use either Meguiars or Chemical guys wash but have even found Voodoo car wash works really good and can be found cheap.

For clay I use a prep mitt instead of clay bar, same results in about a third of the time and if you drop the mitt simply rinse it off and ready to go. Used an Adam's mitt with Chemical guys Extreme slick detailer as clay lube (that's just because I have a ton of it on hand. Can use pretty much any quick detail spray as clay lube)

Car did not need paint correction so I polished it first with Chemical Guys V36 optical polish then V38 final polish on my random DA polisher using hex pads.

Wiped entire car with Gtechniq Panel wipe then applied Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light, next AM followed up with Gtechniq EXO. When stacking CSL and EXO you can do it immediately but I was done for the day so came back (less then 12 hours later) for the coat of EXO then left it to cure.

Finally a few days later applied a top coat of Chemical guys Hydrospeed spray ceramic detailer onto the entire car including glass and mirrors.

This may seem a bit advanced but i have attended detailing clinics put on my Meguiars in the past plus I have a full open 24x24 garage, so it makes it easy to work on the car and let it sit between tasks.

[Mich]

I am interested in how the chemical guys products worked for you? I was also looking at using the hydrocharge and hydroslick as well as the v36 polish (which I may still use but now I have been hearing about how well Adams polish works. Either way, I am only looking at a one step process since I only have minor swirls) but I believe I am going to use the GTechniq ceramic coat instead, and then use hyrdospeed as a ceramic detailer

[22SS1LE]

Chemical guys is mostly mediocre products with nothing but marketing.
The CG ceramic sprays from all the test I have seen last like week or 2 before they wear off. They are garbage.
Use better products that actually work much better and cost less.
P&S and DIY Detail are both great brands to use and are quality products that are not super expensive.

[joekd]

Originally Posted by Mich

I am interested in how the chemical guys products worked for you? I was also looking at using the hydrocharge and hydroslick as well as the v36 polish (which I may still use but now I have been hearing about how well Adams polish works. Either way, I am only looking at a one step process since I only have minor swirls) but I believe I am going to use the GTechniq ceramic coat instead, and then use hyrdospeed as a ceramic detailer

It's impossible to judge your surface on the internet but I have also had great results using V36 then blacklight. Blacklight is just a glaze though so no paint cutting action at all.

As for spray ceramics I did my own "real world" testing of them, I applied 2 coats of Gtechniq C2V3 spray ceramic on both of my kids cars which are parked outside, rarely washed, etc and after 3 months the water was still beading off and the surface had gloss. I then used the Hydrospeed on my cadillac deville which also sits outside but does see a lot more drive time then the other 2 cars. After 3 months it also was still holding up very well and was a whole lot cheaper then the C2V3 so I bought a gallon of it and have been using it since as a top coat.

[joekd]

Originally Posted by 22SS1LE

Chemical guys is mostly mediocre products with nothing but marketing.
The CG ceramic sprays from all the test I have seen last like week or 2 before they wear off. They are garbage.
Use better products that actually work much better and cost less.
P&S and DIY Detail are both great brands to use and are quality products that are not super expensive.

Personal opinion, I feel the same way about a few other brands as well.

P&S is hit or miss, I think their brake buster is one of the best wheel cleaners around, use it on all my cars and recommend to others. The spray detailer they have "Bead Maker" I thought was absolute trash, used on black paint and it left hazy spots, tried again on a red car, lot less but still same thing so I just gave away the rest of the gallon to the person who told me to try it.

P&S also has a ceramic coating now but Gtechniq CSL/EXO is a little better priced and I have always been amazed at the results so I stay with it.

[22SS1LE]

Originally Posted by joekd

Personal opinion, I feel the same way about a few other brands as well.

P&S is hit or miss, I think their brake buster is one of the best wheel cleaners around, use it on all my cars and recommend to others. The spray detailer they have "Bead Maker" I thought was absolute trash, used on black paint and it left hazy spots, tried again on a red car, lot less but still same thing so I just gave away the rest of the gallon to the person who told me to try it.

P&S also has a ceramic coating now but Gtechniq CSL/EXO is a little better priced and I have always been amazed at the results so I stay with it.

not sure what you are doing with beadmaker but I have never experienced that on any car I use. I only use beadmaker as a gloss enhancer and add that nice slick feeling. it doesnt last long but its good for a car show.
90% of CG line is junk. Not just personal opinion. from use and all the others who have tested and tried. they have a couple decent products but most is all relabel rehash mehh.

I have never used P&S coatings.
I have used on my cars
Gtechniq CSL
Gtechniq EXO v1,v2,v4
Gyeon Can coat evo
Gyeon MOHS evo
Optimum gloss coat
Cquartz UK 3.0
Diamond Protech Body
Adams Graphene

The ones I wont ever use again
Adams graphene as it didnt impress me and it smelled so awful within 30sec I had a headache and needed a respirator to finish using it.
Wasnt to impressed with Cquartz install either

I currently have CSL on the camaro. That will probably change in the summer as I like using new things and messing around

[joekd]

Originally Posted by 22SS1LE

I currently have CSL on the camaro. That will probably change in the summer as I like using new things and messing around

Try the CSL/EXO stacked, still not as good as Gtechniq's pro line but in my opinion one of the best consumer grade systems I have used

[Mich]

Originally Posted by joekd

It's impossible to judge your surface on the internet but I have also had great results using V36 then blacklight. Blacklight is just a glaze though so no paint cutting action at all.

As for spray ceramics I did my own "real world" testing of them, I applied 2 coats of Gtechniq C2V3 spray ceramic on both of my kids cars which are parked outside, rarely washed, etc and after 3 months the water was still beading off and the surface had gloss. I then used the Hydrospeed on my cadillac deville which also sits outside but does see a lot more drive time then the other 2 cars. After 3 months it also was still holding up very well and was a whole lot cheaper then the C2V3 so I bought a gallon of it and have been using it since as a top coat.

I actually was planning on using black light, would I be able to use it on top of a wax, or would I use it before the wax (but after polish)? I think for now I might just stick with a good wax coating, it seems like ceramic coating might not be worth it without spending the money on getting a really good one. I still intend to polish beforehand and then either ceramic coat or wax. I also heard that with a ceramic coating the only thing you want to be using on top of it would be a ceramic detailer and let the coating do the work, what do you think?

[22SS1LE]

Originally Posted by joekd

Try the CSL/EXO stacked, still not as good as Gtechniq's pro line but in my opinion one of the best consumer grade systems I have used

I have already done that on my last Tacoma I had. I have been doing this for a very long time. I have tried most things out there

[22SS1LE]

Originally Posted by Mich

I actually was planning on using black light, would I be able to use it on top of a wax, or would I use it before the wax (but after polish)? I think for now I might just stick with a good wax coating, it seems like ceramic coating might not be worth it without spending the money on getting a really good one. I still intend to polish beforehand and then either ceramic coat or wax. I also heard that with a ceramic coating the only thing you want to be using on top of it would be a ceramic detailer and let the coating do the work, what do you think?

You can use whatever you want on a coating. The issue that happens is like say a wax. The coating won’t let it bond so it will shed it off the surface in like a week. So basically wasting your time. Plenty of products out there meant to use as toppers for coatings. I have really been enjoying DIY Detail ceramic gloss for toppers or stand alone.
A good coating cost between $50-100. They are not hard to put on and don’t let anyone say you need to polish to use it. All you 100% need is a decon. Clay paint, iron remover spray and a hood wash. Then you can coat it just fine.