2014 Accord with Optimum Gloss Coat

[jrock645]

So, for a bit of backstory... I coated my car with PBL v2 in September. I`d originally wanted Gloss Coat, but somehow talked myself out of it. Got the idea you couldn`t wax on top of it, thought it was more difficult to apply, etc. PBL is nice but didn`t quite have the "it" factor I was seeking. So, I decided to polish it off and apply GC.

Being that I was removing a coating, and the car was already pretty well polished, I needed to do this carefully. I also wanted to burnish the finish to the highest gloss I could.


Before Pics:



PROCESS

Saturday night after work, I washed my car out back behind the maintenance shed. I don`t have access to a hose at home, so I`m stuck with just rinseless there. For this, I really wanted to do a conventional wash. I used Finish Kare 118 soap, and a presoak of the wheels with Sonax. Pretty much just a simple 2BM wash. Doing this Saturday night also allowed me more time on Sunday.

Sunday morning, I got up, had some coffee and went to work. It was a bit cool so I took my time getting set up and outside. I started at about 10:15am, ended up finishing at 5:30.


TOOL, PAD AND PRODUCT COMBO`S

RUPES 21 w/ 15 BP, white thin pro pads and M205- to polish off PBL
Flex PE 14 w/ 3" green polishing pads, M205 for tight spots of above
Flex PE 14 w/ 7.5" grey curved CCS finessing pads, and 5.5" gold jeweling pads with Wolfgang Finishing Glaze to jewel the paint
ONR and towels to wipe paint clean after polishing, followed up with IPA before coating

All taped up:

Step 1: Removing PBL

I forget who mentioned it, but someone here said they`d hand polished off a coating with Menzerna`s finest finishing polish. I had some M205 that I need to make a dent in, and white thin pro pads I hadn`t used. Relatively gentle combination that wouldn`t wear away too much paint and was sure to be effective in removing the coating. I used the Rupes on speed 3.5 and gave each section no more than 2-3 passes. This was my first time using M205 on an entire car, had just done some test panels with it before. Really enjoyed using it. Doesn`t dry quickly and was very easy to wipe away. Once I got to the tight spots with the rotary, I stayed at speeds 1-2 with no more than 2 passes.

After the first polishing step:


Step 2: Gently polishing to a high gloss finish

So, I`d heard of this "jeweling" stuff and wanted to make my car look like that. I`m still pretty new to the rotary, but I`ve used it enough to feel comfortable attempting to do this. I`d originally planned to use the 5.5" CCS gold jeweling pads, but remembered I had the 7.5" grey pads, which are also extremely soft and offer no cut. Plus, being a larger pad and the curved edge would allow me to work a lot faster. I should note, that I did not "jewel" the roof, or the really tight spots- just the main panels.

I used the WG FG because I had it, but also because it seems to be one of the preferred finishing polishes. Weather was in the 60`s, which made for favorable conditions. I added just the lightest of spritzing of UWW mixed at QD strength to keep the polish workable, and I primed the pads with a couple sprays of WG pad conditioner on the first application of polish- I`d never used these pads before.

I first spread the FG over the working section, then began polishing at 1100rpm with very firm pressure. At the second pass, I would lower to 900 rpm. I did 2 passes at this speed, with less pressure on the 2nd than the 1st. I then dropped to 600rpm and did two more passes. Again, I reduced pressure to the point of really just feathering the pad against the paint for a super gentle finish. The 7.5" pad allowed me to work in big sections, and I used the 5.5" gold pads for a few smaller areas like by the door handles, the rear pillar and the bumpers.


In the above pic, I`m in a heavily shaded position so the reflection aspect doesn`t really show through... But, I marveled at how much the metallic flake in the paint really popped after doing this. It`s so bright!

OTHER STUFF

I also wanted to coat my glass with optiglass. So, I polished it all with the Wolfgang Perfekt vision polish, the Rupes and a white thin pro. This was easy, as I`d used it before. I wiped down the entire car with ONR after polishing, to make sure I had a clean slate. Then I did 2 IPA wipes per section.

The opti glass is kind of a pain. The included foam applicators, just like a cheap wax applicator, does not work well for this at all. Very grabby, skips out of your hand, etc. Luckily, wasn`t much square footage to cover and I got through it. Did a coat today and a coat yesterday and it wasn`t an enjoyable process either time. Stuff requires some hard buffing, too. I`m looking forward to watching rain glide off my windshield, though

Also went through and touched a bit of the black trim up with some Gtechniq C4. Wish this stuff wasn`t so expensive. A couple drops goes a long way, though.

COATING THE CAR WITH GLOSS COAT

First off, the included applicator is not the best choice. Sure, it works, but it`s not very user friendly at all. I lost a couple of LC coating applicators I`d had from when I`d applied PBL, so I was stuck with Optimum`s for the first coat. I was able to find an LC one for when I applied the 2nd coat today. It works so much better- very smooth, and it spreads the coating liquid much further and with much less effort.

Anyway, like I`d mentioned at the beginning, I originally went with PBL v2 because it was supposed to be so easy. Gloss Coat was probably even easier. PBL flashes almost instantly, whereas Gloss Coat takes a couple of minutes. This gave me a little more time to work and flexibility to work at my preferred pace. Also, Gloss Coat seemed to buff away more easily than I remember PBL did. Very user friendly product, especially the 2nd coat with the LC applicator.

Overall, I`m very happy with the final result. My car looks like a mirror from my hard work of polishing the old fashioned way, and the Gloss Coat lives up to it`s name and reputation. The paint is so shiny, and as many like to say "wet."





Thanks for looking!

[GearHead_1]

Very nice work, great write up. Thanks!

[Jaddie]

Beautiful! Excellent work!

[Stokdgs]

Jrock645 !!!!!! You Killed IT !!!!!

Absolutely Perfect, Deep, Clarity, and Gloss !!!!

That pic of the Passenger Door looking back to the rear door is unbelieveable !!! You made the paint look like you can put your hand through it, it looks so wet and deep!

There are absolutely no other vehicles around for miles and miles that even come close to looking like what you just did here...

I`m so proud of you and your desire to take your paint up to that level and your obvious awesome work ethic...

Yes, it was a lot of work, and you have learned a lot of things for future reference next time; and it is so good to stop, eh??

Keep up this super great work !
Dan F

[jrock645]

Jrock645 !!!!!! You Killed IT !!!!!

Absolutely Perfect, Deep, Clarity, and Gloss !!!!

That pic of the Passenger Door looking back to the rear door is unbelieveable !!! You made the paint look like you can put your hand through it, it looks so wet and deep!

There are absolutely no other vehicles around for miles and miles that even come close to looking like what you just did here...

I`m so proud of you and your desire to take your paint up to that level and your obvious awesome work ethic...

Yes, it was a lot of work, and you have learned a lot of things for future reference next time; and it is so good to stop, eh??

Keep up this super great work !
Dan F

Dan,

as as I said via PM, your words mean a lot coming from someone with the experience and track record behind them that you have. I can`t thank you enough for the guidance and encouragement you`ve offered!

[BSkip333]

Great work JRock! Looks great, you have me considering the Gloss Coat soon. How much product did you end up using?

[Priyaka]

Fantastic job! That paint looks perfect.

[jrock645]

Great work JRock! Looks great, you have me considering the Gloss Coat soon. How much product did you end up using?

Between the 2 coats ive usd about 10cc`s. I plan to do another coat. Also want to coat the wheels but theyre gonna need to come off so i can clean the barrels and such. Theyre filthy inside.

[Ronkh]

Nice stuff !!!

[pheerix]

You were able to do all this in direct sunlight?

[512detail]

car looks great....just curious..did you also do 2 coats of PBL v2 back in September?

I have always been interested in GC- thanks for your thoughts on the comparisons between the two. (I have so far only used PBL v1 but have v2 unopened)

[jrock645]

I did 3 coats of PBL. The 2nd coat made a big difference, as i didnt notice much visual enhancement with just 1 coat. The 3rd coat didnt provide as noticeable of a jump.

[jrock645]

You were able to do all this in direct sunlight?

Yes, though i had enough indirect shade from cars being on either side of me, and having the apartment building in front of the car so it wasnt quite direct sunlight. Particularly for the application of GC, that point in the day, the angle of the sun was favorable. When i did the 2nd coat yeaterday, i pulled the car into a well shaded part of the lot.

[512detail]

I did 3 coats of PBL. The 2nd coat made a big difference, as i didnt notice much visual enhancement with just 1 coat. The 3rd coat didnt provide as noticeable of a jump.

Awesome . well im glad i stopped at 2 coats (pbl v1) on my srt then

[RaysWay]

Beautiful work! Just for reference, around what area do you live and what was the temperature/weather around that time?