Teach an old dog new tricks? Or stick with what has been working?

[bassett72]

My tried and true winter prep to get our cars through a Wisconsin winter (I need 6 months of salt protection) has been the following:


Wash, Clay bar/Nanoskin pad, Klasse All-In-One, Collinites 845

It has worked well for me for many years, but don’t want to get complacent. The only one I have an issue with at times is the Klasse. Only in the applications. That stuff can get tough to remove if you don’t time it correctly.

I really credit this process to the lack of rust on my 2007 and 2010 vehicles.

My base question is:
Is there some newer technology that would be easier to apply and yet provides as good or better shine & protection?
Lets start there and see how that goes.

Thanks..

[CleanIt]

I have used Gyeon Can Coat and Optimum Gloss Coat and both are super easy to use. Can Coat is going strong at 7 months in.

[Gridlink]

I used Cancoat to get through Upstate NY winters for a few years. It`s all but gone come Spring and would have probably lasted through had I ever got the chance to wash it and put a topper on. Some of that comes down to laziness or it just never really getting above freezing for long enough to take it to a self serve wash and then home to rinseless wash. I could have also run it through a touchless wash but I hate spending the $10-15 my local ones cost.

If you prefer a more traditional wax or sealant then SOFT99 Fusso coat is very durable and very hydrophobic.

[bassett72]

Thanks. So those are both sealant options. What about polishes?

Keep the suggestions coming...

[Dan]

Short of a paint coating, I think the answer is no point in changing what works for you. All the spray on ceramic stuff struggles past 3 months of parked outdoors 24x7. As mentioned cancoat might be an option but it requires paint prep too I believe.

I’ve used a ceramic coating with minimal prep and gotten almost two years out of it before it started dropping off. The only catch with a true ceramic is they can be finicky to apply.

[Coatings=crack]

Yeah from what i here from most with salt and bad winters your using the right combo.

The other thing I read is coating and as bad as the winters are up there I would go with can coat yearly if I were to do a coating in those conditions.


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[bassett72]

Yeah from what i here from most with salt and bad winters your using the right combo.

The other thing I read is coating and as bad as the winters are up there I would go with can coat yearly if I were to do a coating in those conditions.


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So are you saying, Klasse, Collinites, and then can coat on top of it?

[Dan]

So are you saying, Klasse, Collinites, and then can coat on top of it?You`ll have to polish with a special coating specific polish or polish and do a prep wipe before you apply cancoat. You cannot layer it on top of other waxes or sealants.

And that negates cancoats utility for me, I`d rather do a true coating at that point. Sure application will take longer but not that much.

[CleanIt]

Much to my surprise, you don`t have to polish before applying a coating. That doesn`t mean you shouldn`t, but you technically don`t have to. It`s a myth. However if your paint is pretty jacked up I`d definitely polish before applying anything.

Clay and a good surface prep at the very least should be done.

BH Cleanser Fluid is a strong one.

[noorth]

Thanks. So those are both sealant options. What about polishes?

Keep the suggestions coming...

Gyeon primer for a very light polish or sonax perfect finish on a medium foam polishing pad for extra cut but both finish out equally on my car. With both polishes it`s still recommended to use panel prep if your applying cancoat. If you wait the 24hours after using primer, you still might want to do a dust drag with a very little spray of gyeon panel prep. I would after all that prep.

I would recommend perfect finish if your have never polished your car..

Pads depend on the machine. I`m a lake country guy, orange HDO with CCS for my polishing pad using a 15mm longthrow. On a short throw you can probably just use the SDO version. If you what to do heavy polishing the blue HDO/SDO might be an option. It finishes out on my car as well with something like perfect finish. I have soft to medium paint i guess. Easy to correct and finish with my style anyhow. Very similar to the rupes style. 2-4 passes for 1 set at 8x pad size for me. I just go with it sometimes It`s 2, 3 or 4 passes lol I do prefer 3 passes it seems to be just the right amount of time before i get bored or the polish starts getting more dusty - not all polishes. I move the machine pretty slow however at speeds 4-5. 45 seconds to a minute with perfect finish is usually a good spot. Easy clean up nearly as easy as primer if you don`t over work it. I didn`t have to try soaking a rag in a RW which was my plan if i had clean up issues like 3D One. Messy/oily polishes are a deal breaker for me. Some people don`t have the same issues with 3D One that i do. Just my environment i guess. It work great too and smells very nice.

Literally hundreds of good products on the market though. Just set your sights on a decent combo and run with it..

Can coat is a real coating so this time of year if your not inside it might be bothersome. It flashes quick in high humidity like it`s here and you have to level/work the coating quite along time if you don`t want high spots like me! It also smells like paint thinner. Its a real coating for sure it will outlast any wax. All in all it`s not rocket science to apply. If you get high spots you just have to breakout your polisher like me. I used the orange polishing pads and i think perfect finish(i have 4 medium polishes and i like to switch it up) to remove the coating - just on my bonnet the other panels went smoothly.

[Dan]

Much to my surprise, you don`t have to polish before applying a coating. That doesn`t mean you shouldn`t, but you technically don`t have to. It`s a myth. However if your paint is pretty jacked up I`d definitely polish before applying anything.

Clay and a good surface prep at the very least should be done.

BH Cleanser Fluid is a strong one.

Actually if we are splitting hairs, do a strong wash and you can jump to the coating. I’ve also had good luck using Mothers step 1 and going to a coating. Cleans up the paint on a daily driver pretty well and leaves no oils.

[Larry A]

Nothing wrong with Klasse and 845. You want to try something different how about Duragloss 101 or 105 and then follow with Groits 3 and one spray in a week or 2.

[Coatings=crack]

So are you saying, Klasse, Collinites, and then can coat on top of it?

CanCoat instead…. If you wanna try something new.


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[Coatings=crack]

Much to my surprise, you don`t have to polish before applying a coating. That doesn`t mean you shouldn`t, but you technically don`t have to. It`s a myth. However if your paint is pretty jacked up I`d definitely polish before applying anything.

Clay and a good surface prep at the very least should be done.

BH Cleanser Fluid is a strong one.

I haven’t watched that esoteric video but I would definitely think you would need to polish before changing LSP to make sure you won’t have anything underneath.

I don’t think any chemicals would fully remove a strong, fresh sealant.

I would have no problem with a fresh car or topping a coating with just chemical decon.


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[Dan]

I haven’t watched that esoteric video but I would definitely think you would need to polish before changing LSP to make sure you won’t have anything underneath.

I don’t think any chemicals would fully remove a strong, fresh sealant.

I would have no problem with a fresh car or topping a coating with just chemical decon.


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My wife’s Leaf got hit hard by sprinklers. It was wearing a Heinz 57 mix of sealants and spray waxes. I did an FK ABC to get rid of the water spots and then followed by McKees coating. We traded the car before it was completely dead but at close to the two year mark, parked outside 24x7 of course, it was finally wearing off. I don’t think it’s what most would call McKees a super durable coating so it did well in my book.