Which Paint sealant for a first timer

[Richard Grasa]

If your paint is in good shape, as in no swirls, light scratches or any other defects you would not want to be trapped under a permanent coating, you can skip the polishing and go from the IPA step to Opti-Coat. If you have defects that need to be removed you would need to polish with a real DA buffer, that 10" orbital will not do the job. You will need a good polisher like a Porter Cable, HD Polisher, Griot's, there's a few others. The best thing to do would be read up all you can on these forums about machine polishing and go from there asking specific questions as you need to. Without being able to see your paint it would be hard for anyone to give a step by step of exactly what you would need to do to your particular paint. You may need to compound with multiple steps, then polish, or just a quick polish, all depends on the condition your paint is currently in. Also you want the Valugard ABC decontamination kit, not the anti-corrosion. Hope this helps some. You may be lucky and your paint may be in good enough shape to just Opti-Coat it, but it will usually need some polishing to remove wash induced swirls, light scratches, etc. Best thing is to look at the paint in the sun from all angles and see if there's anything not to your liking before applying something like Opti-Coat, since all that stuff will be trapped under the coating if not taken care of first.

 

[BruceDeuce]

If your paint is in good shape, as in no swirls, light scratches or any other defects you would not want to be trapped under a permanent coating, you can skip the polishing and go from the IPA step to Opti-Coat. If you have defects that need to be removed you would need to polish with a real DA buffer, that 10" orbital will not do the job. You will need a good polisher like a Porter Cable, HD Polisher, Griot's, there's a few others. The best thing to do would be read up all you can on these forums about machine polishing and go from there asking specific questions as you need to. Without being able to see your paint it would be hard for anyone to give a step by step of exactly what you would need to do to your particular paint. You may need to compound with multiple steps, then polish, or just a quick polish, all depends on the condition your paint is currently in. Also you want the Valugard ABC decontamination kit, not the anti-corrosion. Hope this helps some. You may be lucky and your paint may be in good enough shape to just Opti-Coat it, but it will usually need some polishing to remove wash induced swirls, light scratches, etc. Best thing is to look at the paint in the sun from all angles and see if there's anything not to your liking before applying something like Opti-Coat, since all that stuff will be trapped under the coating if not taken care of first.

Thanks for the input Rich. I do have minimal swirls and some light scratches. When I get a HD polisher what pad and polish should I use? I use the 10" orbital to remove the wax as its somewhat harmless. I still dont know what IPA means. I will post a pic of the truck Im my album. But I highly doubt it will do any good as its black and pics make everything look new. But I will post it and you decide. Thanks again!!!

 

[Dan]

Thanks for the input Rich. I do have minimal swirls and some light scratches. When I get a HD polisher what pad and polish should I use? I use the 10" orbital to remove the wax as its somewhat harmless. I still dont know what IPA means. I will post a pic of the truck Im my album. But I highly doubt it will do any good as its black and pics make everything look new. But I will post it and you decide. Thanks again!!!

The 10" Oribital is good for waxing floors in the house, that's about it. Harbor Freight has a nice DA on the cheap. I know you want to do "the best" thing possible, but for now IMO, that is a good wash, clay and a good sealant. Then start reading, then read some more, and come up with a decon and polishing plan.



I know you want the coating, but it really isn't the end all answer, it is great, but sacrificial protection, like a good sealant will offer good protection for the long term.



Newbies often like to tackle too much at once, and this really sounds like a case of that. A good decon, polish and coating takes even a pro a full day.

 

[Accumulator]

BruceDeuce- I agree with Dan, keep this stuff simple at least for now.



Klasse Sealant Glaze is good stuff, but the big benefits come when it's *heavily* layered, and I don't mean just three or four coats.



On your truck, I would use a Collinite wax (which will outlast most sealants).



Assuming you're not gonna spend more than a day or two on this, I'd do the following:



-Decontaminate with ABC

-Polish (well, very lightly polish) and clean the paint with a good All-In-One like Speed

-Wax with the Collinite



That will get the truck looking a lot better than it does now and will protect it very well.



You can always ramp this stuff up and spend hours and hours polishing out all the marring at a later date. Once the truck is basically "detailed" as per my above advice, you can do the correction panel-by-panel so it won't get overwhelming. DO NOT underestimate how long it will take to polish out that vehicle. That paint sounds similar to the Granite Metallic I had on a Yukon XLD, and that was a *very* challenging paint to say the least; I spent many days doing that vehicle and I'd hate for a newbie to start out trying to perfect something like that all at once.



Oh, and "IPA" = rubbing alcohol. Used to remove polishing oils.

 

[BruceDeuce]

thanks for the excellent advice from all. I was considering the Opticoat because we use the truck to go quading and I load the truck up with quads and equipment and i wanted to give the paint as much protection as possible. I restore antique motorcycles so I am familiar with buffing out paint imperfections on a small tank. However I have never used Opticoat and feel this would suit my needs. And yes I would probably have to put a couple days into this process.

 

[Dan]

Opticoat is not going to provide any meaningful scratch protection. The only thing you can hope for is protection from wash induced marring. You need to look into the clear bra type films to get any sort of protection.

 

[BruceDeuce]

Opticoat is not going to provide any meaningful scratch protection. The only thing you can hope for is protection from wash induced marring. You need to look into the clear bra type films to get any sort of protection.

Thanks Dan. So I decontaminate with ABC, then Polish with "All in One Speed" what is that? Then Wax with Collinite. I assume the 915 for my black color?

Oh and is this the DA your talking about? 6" Variable Speed Dual Action Polisher

What pads do you recommend with it? Thanks

 

[Dan]

Thanks Dan. So I decontaminate with ABC, then Polish with "All in One Speed" what is that? Then Wax with Collinite. I assume the 915 for my black color?

Oh and is this the DA your talking about? 6" Variable Speed Dual Action Polisher

What pads do you recommend with it? Thanks

Check on ABC

Polish - Speed is a great choice but there are other great AIOs (Optimum GPS, DG501) if you are shopping somewhere that has 915, which is an excellent choice.

Check on the DA, be sure to google for HF coupons to sweeten the deal



Pads=Pandoras box.... I really like Meguiars pads for two reasons, their system is simple and the pads are very durable. I simply hate how many pads some of the other vendors have, every color under the rainbow. 3D also has a very good pad system if you are buying speed from them.

 

[Accumulator]

On a *metallic* black like that, for a paste wax I'd probably go with Collinite's 476S instead of their 915. On my Yukon (when I used wax on it), I did Collinite 845 first, lived with that for a while, and then decided to use the 476S on the painted parts (note that the 845 is fine on trim/exterior plastic/etc.). I'd definitely go with some kind of LSP-based approach on the exterior plastic anyhow, and 845 is good stuff.

 

[BruceDeuce]

Check on ABC

Polish - Speed is a great choice but there are other great AIOs (Optimum GPS, DG501) if you are shopping somewhere that has 915, which is an excellent choice.

Check on the DA, be sure to google for HF coupons to sweeten the deal





Pads=Pandoras box.... I really like Meguiars pads for two reasons, their system is simple and the pads are very durable. I simply hate how many pads some of the other vendors have, every color under the rainbow. 3D also has a very good pad system if you are buying speed from them.

The HF DA is out of stock but they may be getting some in tomorrow. I dont know of any other places than the internet to buy the waxes.

On a *metallic* black like that, for a paste wax I'd probably go with Collinite's 476S instead of their 915. On my Yukon (when I used wax on it), I did Collinite 845 first, lived with that for a while, and then decided to use the 476S on the painted parts (note that the 845 is fine on trim/exterior plastic/etc.). I'd definitely go with some kind of LSP-based approach on the exterior plastic anyhow, and 845 is good stuff.

You saw a noticeable difference in the metallic with the 476S? Man I wish I had a local place that sold this stuff. I will get the 845 for the plastic!

 

[Dan]

The HF DA is out of stock but they may be getting some in tomorrow. I dont know of any other places than the internet to buy the waxes.

Fill out your location info and someone might be able to give you a recommendation for a place close by that has a good mix of detailing stuff.

 

[BruceDeuce]

Check on ABC

Polish - Speed is a great choice but there are other great AIOs (Optimum GPS, DG501) if you are shopping somewhere that has 915, which is an excellent choice.

Check on the DA, be sure to google for HF coupons to sweeten the deal



Pads=Pandoras box.... I really like Meguiars pads for two reasons, their system is simple and the pads are very durable. I simply hate how many pads some of the other vendors have, every color under the rainbow. 3D also has a very good pad system if you are buying speed from them.

On a *metallic* black like that, for a paste wax I'd probably go with Collinite's 476S instead of their 915. On my Yukon (when I used wax on it), I did Collinite 845 first, lived with that for a while, and then decided to use the 476S on the painted parts (note that the 845 is fine on trim/exterior plastic/etc.). I'd definitely go with some kind of LSP-based approach on the exterior plastic anyhow, and 845 is good stuff.

Fill out your location info and someone might be able to give you a recommendation for a place close by that has a good mix of detailing stuff.

Will do Thanks!

 

[Accumulator]

You saw a noticeable difference in the metallic with the 476S? Man I wish I had a local place that sold this stuff. I will get the 845 for the plastic!

Clarification- I've never used 915! But it's not something I *would* try on metallics as the higher carnauba content would not be a "plus" in that case IMO. I would only use that wax (instead of one of their others) on a non-metallic black/red/dark/rich color. For metallics I *do not* want a whole lot of carnauba as the "alternative ingredients" make metallic paints look better IMO...they don't mute the flake the way carnauba can (OK OK that's a generalization, spare me the flamejobs you pedantic carnauba fans :chuckle: Hey, I use Söuveran on my metallic Jag).



You may very well like the 845 on the paint all by itself, give it a try by just doing the whole vehicle (trim and all) with the 845 and see what you think. You can always go over it with the 476S if you like later. Nothing at all wrong with 845 by any means.



I pretty much *always* do Collinite that way- 845 first and then 476S later.



You might find that you *prefer* the slightly "brighter" look of the 845, some do/some don't.



One thing though, I found that the 476S, on that particular paint, was quite prep-dependent when it came to how it looked. I appliedit once and though "eh, that mutes the flake". But then I repolished (doing a better job) and tried the 845-then-476S combo again and it looked great! Heh heh, as I said, I found it to be a tricky paint to get just right!



Oh...with 845, shake shake shake until it's as thin as milk. There'll probably be a "plug" of wax in the neck of the bottle; poke that down into the rest of the product and shake shake shake some more. Running warm/hot water over the bottle is helpful too. Apply it nice and thin, and on trim I like to buff it off before it completely dries..though that's not a necessity as long as you apply it thin thin thin.

 

[BruceDeuce]

Clarification- I've never used 915! But it's not something I *would* try on metallics as the higher carnauba content would not be a "plus" in that case IMO. I would only use that wax (instead of one of their others) on a non-metallic black/red/dark/rich color. For metallics I *do not* want a whole lot of carnauba as the "alternative ingredients" make metallic paints look better IMO...they don't mute the flake the way carnauba can (OK OK that's a generalization, spare me the flamejobs you pedantic carnauba fans :chuckle: Hey, I use Söuveran on my metallic Jag).



You may very well like the 845 on the paint all by itself, give it a try by just doing the whole vehicle (trim and all) with the 845 and see what you think. You can always go over it with the 476S if you like later. Nothing at all wrong with 845 by any means.



I pretty much *always* do Collinite that way- 845 first and then 476S later.



You might find that you *prefer* the slightly "brighter" look of the 845, some do/some don't.



One thing though, I found that the 476S, on that particular paint, was quite prep-dependent when it came to how it looked. I appliedit once and though "eh, that mutes the flake". But then I repolished (doing a better job) and tried the 845-then-476S combo again and it looked great! Heh heh, as I said, I found it to be a tricky paint to get just right!



Oh...with 845, shake shake shake until it's as thin as milk. There'll probably be a "plug" of wax in the neck of the bottle; poke that down into the rest of the product and shake shake shake some more. Running warm/hot water over the bottle is helpful too. Apply it nice and thin, and on trim I like to buff it off before it completely dries..though that's not a necessity as long as you apply it thin thin thin.

Cool! Found some 845 at Advance Auto Parts today so Im gonna do the whole truck with it tomorrow after it stops raining.

 

[BruceDeuce]

Fill out your location info and someone might be able to give you a recommendation for a place close by that has a good mix of detailing stuff.

Dan I picked up the DA from Harbor Freight, only one that came in on the truck and got the 2 yr warranty. So tomorrow Im going to get the 3M pads. Go over the truck with IA, Meguiar's Machine Glaze, then Collinite 845. Sound good Accumulator?

 

[Dan]

Whoa there nelly... start small. A test area! Also what is IA?

 

[BruceDeuce]

Whoa there nelly... start small. A test area! Also what is IA?

Isopropyl Alcohol.

 

[Accumulator]

Dan I picked up the DA from Harbor Freight, only one that came in on the truck and got the 2 yr warranty. So tomorrow Im going to get the 3M pads. Go over the truck with IA, Meguiar's Machine Glaze, then Collinite 845. Sound good Accumulator?

I am *NOT* a fan of the Meguiar's Machine Glaze (that's M03, right?). It's just a "makeup" type glaze, and while that one is more user-friendly than some of their other ones (like M07) I don't use such stuff on b/c paint (exception- fresh repaints while the paint is curing).





At the risk of sounding like a broken record, get some all-in-one product instead and use that. The Machine Glaze just isn't gonna do anything truly productive and in the time it takes to use that you could actually accomplish something with an AIO.



If you're gonna ABC it, no need for the IPA. Not sure I see a real need for the IPA period...

 

[BruceDeuce]

I am *NOT* a fan of the Meguiar's Machine Glaze (that's M03, right?). It's just a "makeup" type glaze, and while that one is more user-friendly than some of their other ones (like M07) I don't use such stuff on b/c paint (exception- fresh repaints while the paint is curing).





At the risk of sounding like a broken record, get some all-in-one product instead and use that. The Machine Glaze just isn't gonna do anything truly productive and in the time it takes to use that you could actually accomplish something with an AIO.



If you're gonna ABC it, no need for the IPA. Not sure I see a real need for the IPA period...

Thanks for the response. I washed the truck with McGuires deep crystal car wash then I wiped the truck down with IPA then decided to get the haze and swirls out with 3m scratch remover plus, looks fantatstic. Step 2 is 3M Shine restorer, step 3, I will do everything in Collinite 845. Im using a Harbor Freight DA. What you say?

 

[Accumulator]

Thanks for the response. I washed the truck with McGuires deep crystal car wash then I wiped the truck down with IPA then decided to get the haze and swirls out with 3m scratch remover plus, looks fantatstic. Step 2 is 3M Shine restorer, step 3, I will do everything in Collinite 845. Im using a Harbor Freight DA. What you say?

I'm not a fan of the Deep Crystal Wash. Once you get it all done, I'd switch to something with better lubricity/encapsulation so it *stays* nice I'd at least step up to Gold Class, which I still consider mediocre.



I'm not familiar with those 3M products, but if they work OK for you...well, that's what counts! And yeah, the 845 oughta work fine. I'd do another coat after the next wash (did I mention replacing the Deep Crystal shampoo?!? :chuckle: ).



Remember to do a *TEST SPOT* to make sure the 3M stuff if performing the way you want. Inspect the [heck] out of that spot under good lighting to make sure you don't have any surprises later.