Yeah I agree, it’s a more practical price point for most people. Having protection and ease of maintenance is usually what people are really interested in in a coating. And with these two layered you do get insane gloss. But I’ll have to take some sun pictures when I get a chance, because in the full sun it looks much more original. The coating is very reflective in low light/overcast weather.
I’ve done at least CC’s on 5 vehicles…most recent one to the LEFT…and for me I can not say enough how important the right microfiber rags are…i get everything from the Rag Shop. Some Microfiber rags are for applying cc or wax, different rags for glass, others for drying, etc…long list. Most important some MicroFiber rags are NOT for polishing the cc or wax.
Yeah I agree with you. Trust me as a detailer, it’s hard to not chase perfection. But it’s bitten me in the butt before. Its important to remember that you have a defined amount of clear coat on your car. You’ll never get more without paying for a repaint so the objective is to keep as much of that on the car as possible. Let’s face it, the truck is going to get driven and used so it will get defects over time. Learn to live with them and enjoy your vehicle as much as you can. And when you do feel like it’s time to get it looking right again down the road, you will still have clear to remove and you’ll be able to make it look like new again. So yeah don’t go shaving off all your clear in the first go lol.I love it, Correct, Protect, Maintain!! One of the first things I learned about ceramic coating is that you have to fix before applying and if you can't fix it learn to live with it. Hopefully, with Maverick being brand new and no crappy dealership washing I won't have anything to fix or live with! I think I'll follow your advice and just go with minimal or no paint correction, mostly because as noob to detailing the chances of me burning through thin clear coat is more of a concern than fixing a bit of swirl. I'm not trying for a show truck, but I want to keep my Maverick as nice looking as possible for as long as possible. There's a lot of cars here in Arizona that are perfect examples of what the sun will do to paint not protected. I don't recall as a kid seeing faded paint jobs on cars like I see now, maybe paint was 1/4" thick back then!
No spray gun used. There are guys who do it in the industry, but I dont think it does much other than aesthetics tbh. Maybe helps get in some hard to reach areas but idk how you would remove it then in that case. Seems messy too IMO.
Yes, I plan to use my truck and enjoy what it can do for me. Dings, blems and chips will happen and the ceramic will help minimize, maybe even prevent them. I am going to put some PPF in the areas where there a high likelihood of chips happening so that will go on first then ceramic afterwards.
For a DIY there are a lot of products out there. You could use a wash and wax product that leaves protection behind when you wash, you could use a spray wax or spray sealant, or you could try an entry level coating. I’d say it depends on your skill level and your comfortability is.
You can apply a wax over coating. I apply a strong sealant over my coatings so that the sealant is taking the brunt of the elements and the coating is preserved under it just like the clear coat is preserved under the coating. Theoretically, you do this and the coating will last damn near the cars lifespan.
Yes I ceramic coated the wheels as well. There is another post on that somewhere. They’re Fifteen52 Metrix MX.
Of course, great choice of color
No it’s really a liquid polymer. Typically silica carbide or silica dioxide. It hardens when it’s exposed to oxygen. So it’s mixed with solvent carriers and it’s applied to paint by hand almost like a wax. The solvent carriers dissolve and leave the coating behind on the surface. Over the next week it will harden to your paint and form a bond that really can’t be broken unless you really trying to remove it (sanding, aggressive polishing)
Yeah you’ll be good to go. Of course man ,my pleasure.
I thought touchless car washes use even harsher chemicals to clean the car. That’s why they’re touchless.
Nice. Very nice. I just applied CSL to my white Mav but skipped the Exo due to extra cost (plus my bad back giving me problems) and the fact that white doesn’t really “pop” nearly as much as some darker colors. I did top it with C2V3 the next day as an extra sacrificial layer. Just washed for the first time after coating and it really makes a difference. Highly recommend GTechniq products. I use their G Wash as well and never go through a car wash unless I’m desperate. Now I need to apply the C4 to all the black trim.I’m just gonna start by saying that these Mavericks are already head turners when they’re out in the wild… But now this thing straight up is snapping necks.
Finally had the time to detail my truck properly. It was washed, decontaminated and pretty much every surface is now ceramic coated. Paint was in such good shape after washing and prep, that I fortunately didn’t have to do any paint correction. This is rare but shows how taking the proper precautions and making sure your vehicle is in professional hands can save you a lot of time and money. This truck is Ceramic Coated so it’s UV protected, it’s going to stay cleaner for alot longer, it’s going to stay looking glossy and cleaning it is going to be a piece of cake thanks to the low surface energy and high contact angle the ceramic coating provides.
Here are a few thoughts..
1.) Don’t let your dealer touch the truck. This is going to prevent you from having to pay to fix any scratches/imperfections they administer. This is important because polishing is where you’re going to spend your money at the detail shop.
Warning: these trucks have little to no paint on them.. (more later on)
2.) Find an certified detailer with proper knowledge and experience and don’t let joe shmoe touch your truck. You get what you pay for quite literally in the detailing industry. You can always find someone to do it cheaper, but that’s not necessarily better. You’ll usually end up paying another detailer to fix the first ones mistakes. In this case, not hiring a professional could easily lead to them burning through the little paint you have trying to correct it.
3.)PAINT IS THIN
This is so important. If you or your detailer are going to polish the truck in any way, they NEED to do a paint reading with a paint depth gauge. Paint preservation is most important.
I was shocked at how little clear coat was on certain parts of my truck and had I not taken the right precautions and measured the paint, I’d be in a lot of trouble. Luckily I had no dealer instilled scratches or swirls and I was able to simply wash, carefully decontaminate the paint with an iron remover, sap remove, tar remover and followed up with a careful claybar. No user inflicted marring. Had I not been experienced at this, this would have been a turning point in the project for a lot of people. I’m shocked at how thin the paint is and so thankful I am not busting out the polisher. Below are pictures of the process and what I saw.
4.)Plastic almost appears to have a coating of some sort on it. I ceramic coated mine but it almost didn’t want to take the coating. Hopefully we won’t see fading down the road like we do with most vehicles with this type of exterior surface. Whether your coating it or restoring it down the road, remember these pieces are very porous and get clogged with contamination. It needs to be cleaned properly or you won’t get proper adhesion.
Here are pictures of the process, hope you enjoy.
Before:
After:
Clay After Decon: lots of dirt and grime embedded into the clear coat
Paint After Clay: No visible scratches or marring when done right
Measuring The Paint:
Results: For Reference, you can assume you have about 1.5-2. Mils of base/color coat on a car. 1 Mil is .001 of an inch. For reference, a post it note is 3 Mils thick. So most cars paint is thinner than a post it note. Most new cars have about the same amount of clear coat, sometimes less and sometimes more. After reading as low as 2.28 on some places that’s a sign there is very little to no clear coat on these vehicles.
Coating Time:
Gtechniq CSL Followed By ExoV4
Beyond happy with the results!!!
Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!!!
