[JWMotoring]

Looks great. Time well spent

[4mulafastech]

Looks awesome! Doing it yourself is a lot of work but you can take your time and focus on the details, plus the satisfaction of doing it yourself. Well worth it IMO.

[ninetres]

Put in about 5 hours today getting the calipers and wheels prepped and ceramic coated. Stripped them all clean, and decontaminated then using TRIX and IRONX. Then wiped down with eraser.

I polished the calipers by hand using BLACKFIRE polish but there was NO WAY I would be able to effectively polish the OEM ZL1 rims. They are just overly intricate. I wasn’t confident I could get any effective hand polishing in.....and remove any residual polish, with the time and effort I planned for this job.

I used Pinnacle Black Label Diamond wheel coating. It is DAMN USER FRIENDLY. Nothing like the CQUK I used on the paint. This stuff almost feels more like a reload. I rubbed it in with a finger foam mitt and it almost just disappears into a glossy finish. I then buffed it with a MF to make sure I got any left over coating off.

My only issue is so many of my micro fibers lint. It drives me bat shit crazy because they are all high end towels, and I wash them using a dedicated MF wash solution, and dry them on low heat (which barely gets warm in my dryer). I forgot I bought a suede MF towel specifically for this job until the last wheel damnit lol.

Anywho, here’s some pics. Ran out of daylight for the finished wheel pics so snapped a couple in my garage.

[ninetres]

Of course this websites shit server flipped several pics.

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

If you have towels that are collecting lint, (I had this problem in the past as well) there are a few things you can do that will eliminate/minimize it.

The first thing is to get a couple of those cheap Wal-Mart 2 for 88c microfibers and throw one in the washer with your good towels. Any lint that is in the washer will stick to the cheap towel.

Before putting them in the dryer, spray some IPA or Eraser on the other cheap towel, and wipe down the inside of the dryer. This will pick up lint and remove fabric softener residue you don't want on your good microfiber towels.
If cotton clothing has been ran in the dryer previously, you'll be shocked at how much lint is inside the dryer when you wipe it down.

Never wash or dry microfiber with cotton, all the lint from the cotton will get stuck on the microfiber.

Lastly after you've ran towels in the dryer for several minutes, then allowed them to air dry, store them in one of those Sterilite plastic containers with a lid on it. This will prevent lint settling while in storage. Don't put a damp towel in and close it though, you'll have mildew in your container, make sure it's dry.

EDIT- Don't mix towels used for sealant/wax/polish/compound with towels used for drying and other purposes, wash them separately. I've tried several of the microfiber soaps, and only use them for towels used for sealant/wax/polish/compound removal, as they do a better job of breaking down the residue.

For drying, rinseless, waterless, and interior towels, I've tried all the Free & Clear soaps available. Purex is cheap and works great. Don't mix towels used for cleaning wheels with anything else, you don't want brake dust getting in your other towels.

[wrankin]

Originally Posted by ninetres

Put in about 5 hours today getting the calipers and wheels prepped and ceramic coated. Stripped them all clean, and decontaminated then using TRIX and IRONX. Then wiped down with eraser.

I polished the calipers by hand using BLACKFIRE polish but there was NO WAY I would be able to effectively polish the OEM ZL1 rims. They are just overly intricate. I wasn’t confident I could get any effective hand polishing in.....and remove any residual polish, with the time and effort I planned for this job.

I used Pinnacle Black Label Diamond wheel coating. It is DAMN USER FRIENDLY. Nothing like the CQUK I used on the paint. This stuff almost feels more like a reload. I rubbed it in with a finger foam mitt and it almost just disappears into a glossy finish. I then buffed it with a MF to make sure I got any left over coating off.

My only issue is so many of my micro fibers lint. It drives me bat shit crazy because they are all high end towels, and I wash them using a dedicated MF wash solution, and dry them on low heat (which barely gets warm in my dryer). I forgot I bought a suede MF towel specifically for this job until the last wheel damnit lol.

Anywho, here’s some pics. Ran out of daylight for the finished wheel pics so snapped a couple in my garage.

Looks awesome! I wish my SS was red

Bill

[Adam's Polishes]

Looks real good!!

[ninetres]

*FIRST WASH UPDATE*

HOOOLLLLLYYYYYY SHIIIIITTTTT until you’ve seen the hydrophobic effect of CQUK+Reload in person.....you haven’t seen it at all! Being a detail enthusiast the past 19 years I have always had fresh wax or sealant in my Cars. I knew ceramic was another level, and seen countless videos of their effect on water, but geeeeeez is it impressive to see the water immediate running off the car! Even the soap mix wouldn’t really stay put haha.

I tried out Mkees’s Si02 auto wash after seeing another member say it’s great. It’s designed for coated vehicles. Here my thoughts:

—Smells great
--lubricates great
--doesn’t foam for shit (at least not with my Karcher which isn’t amazing for foam anyway)
—Definitely contributes it’s own hydrophobicity because my wash and rinse buckets interiors were super hydrophobic after rinsing them during clean up

During drying I sprayed with a mix of distilled/ech20/Reload and the car looks great. So stoked to finally be DONE with this massive over haul. Now off to dinner this evening with the wife to enjoy it

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

I knew you would like how easy your car will be to clean after coating!

I've been using Carpro Reset shampoo for a little over a year, it foams really well with just 1oz. in both my foam gun and cannon.
Haven't tried the McKee's yet, will order a sample size bottle, if they have one on Autogeek.
I think the Reset is somewhat stronger though, as McKee's recommends using 2oz.

[ninetres]

Originally Posted by Joe M 2012 2SS

I knew you would like how easy your car will be to clean after coating!

I've been using Carpro Reset shampoo for a little over a year, it foams really well with just 1oz. in both my foam gun and cannon.
Haven't tried the McKee's yet, will order a sample size bottle, if they have one on Autogeek.
I think the Reset is somewhat stronger though, as McKee's recommends using 2oz.

I was being impatient as my bottle of Reset was out for delivery yesterday haha. I kinda like the “idea” that Mckees adds a little Si02 to their soap. Might not do anything but maybe it adds a bit of shine or protection (theoretically).

I don’t plan on doing full washes all that often. I drive the car 1-2x per week in town, and keep it in the garage under a cover. As soon as it gets dusty I do a rinseless. I have a big ass jug of ech20.

[KirkH]

Originally Posted by ninetres

*FIRST WASH UPDATE*

HOOOLLLLLYYYYYY SHIIIIITTTTT until you’ve seen the hydrophobic effect of CQUK+Reload in person.....you haven’t seen it at all! Being a detail enthusiast the past 19 years I have always had fresh wax or sealant in my Cars. I knew ceramic was another level, and seen countless videos of their effect on water, but geeeeeez is it impressive to see the water immediate running off the car! Even the soap mix wouldn’t really stay put haha.

I tried out Mkees’s Si02 auto wash after seeing another member say it’s great. It’s designed for coated vehicles. Here my thoughts:

—Smells great
--lubricates great
--doesn’t foam for shit (at least not with my Karcher which isn’t amazing for foam anyway)
—Definitely contributes it’s own hydrophobicity because my wash and rinse buckets interiors were super hydrophobic after rinsing them during clean up

During drying I sprayed with a mix of distilled/ech20/Reload and the car looks great. So stoked to finally be DONE with this massive over haul. Now off to dinner this evening with the wife to enjoy it

The McKee’s SiO2 auto wash will clog your foamer. You will probably need to soak your foamer screen in CLR.

[Badmojo]

What did you do for the carbon fiber hood insert? Looks great!

[Joe M 2012 2SS]

Originally Posted by ninetres

I was being impatient as my bottle of Reset was out for delivery yesterday haha. I kinda like the “idea” that Mckees adds a little Si02 to their soap. Might not do anything but maybe it adds a bit of shine or protection (theoretically).

I don’t plan on doing full washes all that often. I drive the car 1-2x per week in town, and keep it in the garage under a cover. As soon as it gets dusty I do a rinseless. I have a big ass jug of ech20.

I only use the Reset as the prefoam/rinse part of the wash. My car gets dirty! It does an excellent job of removing almost all the dirt and road film, and I have very little dirt in the rinse bucket upon completion. The wash bucket is always as clean as when I started.

The Reset cannot be allowed to dry on the surface, and I like to wash the whole car before rinsing, so the McKee's would be something I would like to try in the foam gun/cannon to compare to Reset, especially in the summer when the water dries faster even when the car is in the shade and the paint has cooled off, because the McKee's can dry with no issues, unlike Reset.

I put Carpro Hydrofoam on top of Reload once every 3 months and my paint repels almost everything (especially water) that touches it.

I occasionally waste time when doing the last rinse (pool rinse) watching the water fly off the paint.

I'm a hydrophobic junkie!

If your car only has light garage dust on it, you can use a California Duster and your ECH20 mixed to waterless dilution 1-15, and safely remove it. The whole key is using the CD properly as shown in this video.

[Glen e]

Just my opinion but I only use reset every quarter for a true deep clean wash.

reset is intense....


Other than that hydrofoam occasionally, ech20 gets it done.