Advice for first time DIY ceramic coat (CQuartz)

WindJunkie

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Greetings

I am preparing to apply two coats of CQuartz UK 3.0 and two coats of CQuarts SiC. My car has 1,050 miles on it, and has been washed and waxed twice since taking delivery in early May.

I'm prepared to buy car strip soap to remove oils and residue, I also plan on buying a car IPA solution and iron removal solution, per professional instruction videos seen on YouTube. Once that is done, I will do a one-step correction using a DA polisher, then apply the ceramic coating.

One question I can't seem to figure out is whether or not I will need to use a tar removal solution. Given how new my car is and how little miles are on it, is worth spending the $15-$20 on a bottle of tar removal?

Also, I'm curious if anyone has any recommendations on tire shine. I've always found tire shine to be a pain to apply, I'm curious if anyone has had any luck on an easy to use options that doesn't sling grease after applying.

Any other advice for first time DIY ceramic coat, I'm all eyes & ears. Thanks
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boosted180sx

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tar removal is really dependent on your cars condition.
if i was in your shoes, i'd just do chemical and mechanical decontamination process and call it a day.

make sure to do a good wipe down after the polish before coating to get rid of all the polishing oils.

i use carpro perl for my tires. I apply it and wipe off the excess.
 

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Chemical Bros. Tire and Trim gel is amazing. It's a super-thick gel that you only use a little, and rub in with a microfiber towel (which will basically be trash after, so be prepared to sacrifice one). But it absorbs quickly, lasts a long time, and I've never had it sling. It isn't as "wet" looking as other products, but those sling bad on my car. Now that I've got tire lettering paint on my tires, I have to be very careful what I use and how I apply it, so that stuff is my jam.
 

NHCivicGuy

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I’ll be in a similar boat here soon with my R. Torn between what coating to go with. But I’ll be following basically same steps you did, except the front of my car and other spots have XPEL PPF so I’ll luck out not having to 1-step those areas.

I definitely recommend IronX, claying with a light clay method and then ideally 1-step polishing it lightly.

For tire shine I’ve heard nothing but good things about Perl but I personally am using Chemical Guys VRP. I’m not a fan of all their products because they have so many similar ones, but that one is a keeper for tire shine. Usually last a good 2 weeks or so. I usually scrub tires with some soap and an APC like Meguiars D101 I have. Then apply VRP with a microfiber applicator once tires are completely dry. Then I let dry for a few hours minimum before driving.
 
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WindJunkie

WindJunkie

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I ended up doing 1 coat of each CQuartz UK 3.0 and CQuartz SiC over the entire car, glass and wheels. I didn’t use tar remover, I did use Iron X and polished the entire car head to toe with a light/medium cut pad. Used a dab of compound on a few tiny areas, the paint was in really good shape. I love the outcome, took it to a car show this morning.

Honda Civic 10th gen Advice for first time DIY ceramic coat (CQuartz) 5BC422A9-1103-43ED-A889-15C8A48476A8


Honda Civic 10th gen Advice for first time DIY ceramic coat (CQuartz) 0F89066C-FD92-4A32-ADAC-1E858F236CE6
 


Deleted member 51112

I use a clay bar to remove tar. You can clay bar the entire car first, that will remove all old wax in one fell swoop and any other environmental stuff sticking to the clearcoat. Also, wait at least 12 hours between ceramic coats for best results, stacking is only effective (many coats) if you allow them to properly cure first, otherwise you might as well only do one coat, and this is something I think a lot of "professionals" either do wrong (because nobody wants to leave their car for a couple days and most shops don't wanna take the real time necessary to stack coats properly, unless that is you are paying out the nose for that time and storage space that is).
 

Deleted member 51112

After being prompted by this thread subject I took it upon myself to find time to hand wash with Mother's California Gold wash to I could re-apply another layer (4th) of Mother's CMX ceramic coating over this past weekend. Anyone starting out with a brand new car that really doesn't need any kind of paint correction, a do-it-yourself ceramic coating is really an easy and inexpensive thing to do before you start putting any miles on. I had also set up an appointment to have the entire front of the car done in XPEL clear protective film because I had an existing relationship with a guy who's done it to other cars of mine in the past. My car had less than 300 miles on it and I had that and 3 stacked layers of ceramic done within the first week of owning the car. I found that even though I initially put the ceramic coating on (myself) late last May when I bought the car, my paint was still as smooth as glass to the touch, and I only had to run a clay bar around the edges of the wheel wells and on a few spots on the doors before adding yet another layer of the ceramic coating to top it off. Done till next year now. Doing stuff like the ceramic coating yourself sure is satisfying, both for the sake of doing it yourself and the pride in your ride, but also saving a ton of $ too!

Honda Civic 10th gen Advice for first time DIY ceramic coat (CQuartz) 7-12-21 Civic after ceramic coat top off
 
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WindJunkie

WindJunkie

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After being prompted by this thread subject I took it upon myself to find time to hand wash with Mother's California Gold wash to I could re-apply another layer (4th) of Mother's CMX ceramic coating over this past weekend. Anyone starting out with a brand new car that really doesn't need any kind of paint correction, a do-it-yourself ceramic coating is really an easy and inexpensive thing to do before you start putting any miles on. I had also set up an appointment to have the entire front of the car done in XPEL clear protective film because I had an existing relationship with a guy who's done it to other cars of mine in the past. My car had less than 300 miles on it and I had that and 3 stacked layers of ceramic done within the first week of owning the car. I found that even though I initially put the ceramic coating on (myself) late last May when I bought the car, my paint was still as smooth as glass to the touch, and I only had to run a clay bar around the edges of the wheel wells and on a few spots on the doors before adding yet another layer of the ceramic coating to top it off. Done till next year now. Doing stuff like the ceramic coating yourself sure is satisfying, both for the sake of doing it yourself and the pride in your ride, but also saving a ton of $ too!

7-12-21 Civic after ceramic coat top off.jpg
Looks amazing!
 


 


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