[Glen e]

Most of those threads about blackfire on the corvette forum (in C7 gen disc forum) are mine, and using my process with blackfire total polish and seal and Crystal seal. It's still great stuff, but just recently I think carpro essence and reload are better durability, ease and gloss.

Essence/reload
http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-essence-xtreme.html

http://www.autogeek.net/cquartz-reload-spray.html

How to apply reload:

https://youtu.be/PsAheg8Wtdk

[datboi448]

1000 for 3 coats of opticoat pro and paint correction on surfaces not covered by ppf including wheels and front grill. was a little tacky to the touch at first but it is smooth and buttery like freshly waxed paint now.

[hashtag]

Originally Posted by ZL*Won

Looking for input from those that have put ceramic coatings on previous cars or have long term experience with it. How did it hold up over the years, especially if you used the car as a daily driver? Do you really see a difference in the coatings or all they all pretty much the same?

Best price I have found on 4 coat Ceramic Pro is $1600 for car including paint correction plus extra $300 for rims/calipers. Not an insignificant amount so appreciate any input.

I see the reason for the clear bra and did that. Just trying to figure out if I should ceramic coat the car or its just a scam.

Thanks.

I purchased two bottles from chemical guys & the product is amazing. It took about four hours & the carbon flex cost $300 for two bottles. Brake dust has been significantly reduced & bugs are no longer an issue.

"Carbon Flex C9 Protective Coating Kit"

[flyinlow]

Got around to detailing my car today. Used the chemical guys clean slate wash to strip it down, then clay bar. Dried it, then applied the Blackfire Total Polish and Seal, followed up by two coats of Blackfire Crystal Seal paint sealant. I applied it by hand, the instructions for the polish say to apply and keep rubbing until it clears. Using the applicator pad it really wouldn't clear, so I waited about a minute, then used another MF applicator to buff off, worked very well. This is easier to apply than Zaino and results are very good. This photo was taken with my iphone on a completely overcast day, the gloss is better in person than this photo. Can't wait to see it in the sunlight.

[IMG]IMG_0743 by Mike Jundt, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Glen e]

Never understood that in the total polish and seal directions, it never comes off completely clear, I always have had to buff it off by hand, it's easy, but you still have to buff off.

[bobby35ny]

Originally Posted by Glen e

Most of those threads about blackfire on the corvette forum (in C7 gen disc forum) are mine, and using my process with blackfire total polish and seal and Crystal seal. It's still great stuff, but just recently I think carpro essence and reload are better durability, ease and gloss.

Essence/reload
http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-essence-xtreme.html

http://www.autogeek.net/cquartz-reload-spray.html

How to apply reload:

https://youtu.be/PsAheg8Wtdk

Agreed!!
I LOVED Blackfire too. The durability was my only knock on the product. That's why I moved to Cquartz and essence/essence Plus and reload

[pkincy]

Does it make any sense to use this product over a Xpel or Suntek film? Certainly given it talking about removing small swirls makes me think it would be way too aggressive to use over a film.

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by pkincy

Does it make any sense to use this product over a Xpel or Suntek film? Certainly given it talking about removing small swirls makes me think it would be way too aggressive to use over a film.

It's worth it, it keeps the film clean , however don't let your installer charge you a lot for it. Your installer charging a lot for coatings on paint is because you have to do a lot of polishing..... you don't do anything with the coating on a film except wipe it on , after cleaning the service with something like alcohol. So it should be cheap. Cquartz is $80 on autogeek. Do it yourself.

[cellsafemode]

So i spent about 8 hours saturday getting my car ready and applying cquartz UK.

The cquartz uk went on pretty easy. I bought the 50ml bottle and judging for the nearly 2 coats i did on the camaro, i can probably consider this a lifetime supply. easy. Storing it in my fridge for now.

Buffing cquartz out can be a bit annoying though. It's all hand buffing so that takes forever but also if your application is a bit on the heavier side, your buffing out wont be complete and you'll have to go back and re-buff a few minutes after your first buff.

48 hours comes tomorrow..then i'll be able to take it out in the sun and see how it looks.

[timmy8784]

Originally Posted by cellsafemode

So i spent about 8 hours saturday getting my car ready and applying cquartz UK.

The cquartz uk went on pretty easy. I bought the 50ml bottle and judging for the nearly 2 coats i did on the camaro, i can probably consider this a lifetime supply. easy. Storing it in my fridge for now.

Buffing cquartz out can be a bit annoying though. It's all hand buffing so that takes forever but also if your application is a bit on the heavier side, your buffing out wont be complete and you'll have to go back and re-buff a few minutes after your first buff.

48 hours comes tomorrow..then i'll be able to take it out in the sun and see how it looks.

How long did you wait before buffing it off? Depending on temperature and a few other things, you may have waited to long to buff off which made it difficult. It really shouldn't take that much effort.

[Burly]

Originally Posted by Glen e

Never understood that in the total polish and seal directions, it never comes off completely clear, I always have had to buff it off by hand, it's easy, but you still have to buff off.

I just used the TPnS with a fresh 6.5" white pad and because I was near bottom of bottle I used it kind of sparingly. I did prime pad making sure it was totally coated, then added 3 drops to pad for each area to be worked. Spritzed pad with water and spread area on speed 1 and went to speed 4.5 and worked it in, I was surprised it did vanish. Any areas that looked hazy and looked like it needing buffing, I just worked that area again with my already saturated pad. Honestly, it looks great.

The last time I used it, i didn't use it as sparingly and I had to buff it off.

If the sun comes out today, I'll get a picture.

[cellsafemode]

Originally Posted by timmy8784

How long did you wait before buffing it off? Depending on temperature and a few other things, you may have waited to long to buff off which made it difficult. It really shouldn't take that much effort.

It's not that it was hard to remove. It's that it took multiple passes to buff out. You'd do one pass, then when finished the next panel, you'd go look over the previously buffed and notice that it's not quite done. Then you'd have to buff it out again. And all done by hand.

Still, far easier than BF crystal coat. But hardly a quick job. I did not have to wait to apply a second coat as it took over an hour to do the first so I just went around to the first panel again and repeated the process.

I used BF crystal seal on my windows and mirrors. That went on pretty much exactly as it instructs. It's a shame crystal seal doesn't have the anti-static properties that cquartz is supposed to have. Otherwise, i'd be fine with applying crystal seal every 3 months or so.

I should do my wheels but i just dont have the motivation to take them off and scrub them clean and apply the cquartz and wait 2 days, especially after spending 8+ hours on the rest of the car. I'll probably just clean the outside and crystal seal them and call it done.

Overall, cquartz uk went on like it's supposed to. However, the prep work needed and the difficulty (and necessity) to ensure it's buffed completely before curing takes a non-insignificant amount of time, as does the curing process where the car should remain garaged since i dont have thousands of watts of IR lighting.

I'll know if it was all worth the extra effort over BF Crystal seal in the next couple days. That should be more than enough time to test it's anti-static claims.

[DougCBJ]

Well, I'm giving up the blackfire products and going with carpro.

I bought 30 ml cquartz 500ml reload, 500ml iron x, 250ml essence, 1 liter ech20 waterless wash, and 6 shine & buff waterless wash towels.

Hope this works well for me. Going to wash with dawn to strip the black fire i just put on like 3 weeks ago. double check that I don't need to do a quick claying, spray the iron x to remove any of those contaminents, go over it with dawn again just to insure the paint is really virgin and ready for essence. Will polish with the essence, then after apply 2 coats of cquartz. I will use the reload after the cquartz cures then use it after when needed. I'll do mostly rinseless for the weekly/biweekly maintenance.

Sound like a good plan? I've spent to much money on detailing products lol, I hope this is the "money" plan where I don't go chasing other products. Black cars suck. In this case, once I've gone black, I'm never going with a black car again after this car...

[Richard0nee]

Good info.. thinking about doing my rims with one of the products.