Hey all, Had a couple of questions about my project next month on my 2007 crystal grey wrx. I applied Collinite 845 at the beginning of spring, now I'm looking to remove this, polish, and apply Opti-Coat V2. From what I hear #845 can be a real B-yotch to remove, I'm sure W99 wash followed up by claying will remove and if not, any suggestions? Also, when it comes to polishing I'm a little on the slow side, Is it bad to say ; prep the vehicle with all necessary steps before polishing, polish a single area of the car ie: Hood, degrease polished area, then apply Opti-coat on the hood, then move on to the next panel? It's a silver car, It is difficult to spot the imperfections, I'd like to take my time and make sure that everything is good to go before I apply a permanent coating. Or should I fight through the pain and polish the entire car first, then degrease and apply opticoat? I plan on using M105/205 aswell as Menzerna 4500 for polishing with my Flex 3401 and cleaning up polish oils with IPA 1:1 / Carpro eraser Thanks, this community is great! Chris
The polish you mention should remove it no problem. I was a big user of IW845 as my winter prep and it was pretty beat by the end of the winter. 845 is durable, and a great bang for the buck but it is not bulletproof. The polish will knock it off. Just make sure you wipe several time with IPA so that the Opticoat bonds well to the paint.
Thanks very much for your response, still wondering; Also, when it comes to polishing I'm a little on the slow side, Is it bad to say ; prep the vehicle with all necessary steps before polishing, polish a single area of the car ie: Hood, degrease polished area, then apply Opti-coat on the hood, then move on to the next panel? It's a silver car, It is difficult to spot the imperfections, I'd like to take my time and make sure that everything is good to go before I apply a permanent coating. Or should I fight through the pain and polish the entire car first, then degrease and apply opticoat?
I am a slower and worse polisher-promise. I had the assistance of a professional to polish and apply the opticoat. If you have a garage I highly suggest your cleaning and polishing it in the garage and polishing the whole car at once. Then, wiping down the whole car with IPA and then wiping each pannel again with IPA just prior to applying the opticoat. Make sure you let the IPA fully flash off before applying the opticoat. Do not get scared if the opticoat looks oily and makes strange designs as it dry. After 3-4 or 5 minutes, wipe it with a microfiber towel like your buffing off regular carmuba. (this towels will be garbage in the end). We waited less than the 5 to buff off. Just wait for most to flash off I am thinking we waited approx 3 minutes after application was complete. All you want to be able to do when buffing is level the high spots. If you do it peice meal you will need alot of applicators becasue they dry hard and will scratch the paint (same with MF). I would wash the car and get it as clean as you can everywhere so you wont soil the applicators or the MF towels. Bring inside and Polish the whole car and then apply the whole car. It is easily a full 10-12 hr day for me (Wash car, make wheels spotless, polish exhaust pipe, de-tar, Nano Skin in place of clay, spot correct bad stuff, polish whole car, wipe down w/IPA check work, hit any missed spots, re wipe with IPA, apply OC 2.0 2 coats. It is possibly a 2 day job if I did not have seriously qualified expert help for each step of the way. Peice meal is not optimal and I guess it could be made to work but it is a PITA to keep opening and sealing the syringe (changing tips) I am not expert on opti coat or detailing but this is all very accurate based on my experience with opticoat this past weekend. If you have more questions ask specific's here and this group is well versed in Opticoat. I will be posting the work on the car tonight-it was a Ice Silver Metalic Subaru. Here are the directions from the Optimum Site: Directions: 1 Polish paint with Optimum Polish II or Optimum Finish to remove any defects. (we used differecnt Polishes which I had mostly 205, some 105 and some stroger stuff in spots) 2 Clean surface with 15% IPA solution to remove all polishing oils, waxes, and silicones. (we use a stronger mix of IPA) 3 Prime the applicator by making an X pattern across the pad. Only a few drops will be needed for each subsequent panel. 4 Wipe Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 onto a single panel at a time in a thin layer using two directions, in a circular or front to back direction. 5 Within 5 minutes, inspect the panel with adequate lighting looking for any thick areas that have not flashed away to clear. 6 Use foam applicator or paint safe microfiber to even out any areas where you see streaks. This step is key, as any spots not leveled will have to be polished if allowed to cure. Panels will feel a bit tacky and will be self-leveling during cure time, so avoid any unnecessary touching, wiping, or contact to produce the best results. 7 Repeat steps 1-6 for each panel where application is desired. Not recommended for glass. Hope this helped.
It helped very much thank you. Polishing silver sucks, and I have no garage so I work with whatever shade I have available at the time, it might take me 2 afternoons to fully polish the car and find the right polish and pads for my paint.
One more question regarding polishing. I have a few days holidays coming up and wanted to know if I could get my car prepped for polishing; degreased and clayed, then polish a few panels, then the next day polish the rest without any negative effects. I would of course give it a wipe down the next day before polishing, but I have to park in my driveway as I have no garage. If I prepped and started polishing on a Monday we'll say, would I have to re-prep on Tuesday if it sat outside all night?
At a minimum you would have to remove and dust, and wipe with IPA very well before OPticoating each pannel that was prepped previously. Be careful not to induce marring in to the pannel you previously polished while wiping it down. I laways heard that Subaru paint was soft and marred easily. When we preped my car i was surprised at how hard we could wipe the surface without causing maring. Just check you pannel before you coat it and be sure you will be happy with its apprerance. Good Luck
Thanks for all the help, are you subscribing to my thread??! lol. Here's my plan, I'll strip, clay the entire car and polish all the PITA areas, bumpers, roof hood one day, then next morning I'll do the rest, Then quick wash and opti-coat, I just though after the car has been sitting it might get some contamination on the paint that isn't protected, so i would have to clay all over again.
You are on the right track with great feedback here. Just use your clean hand to feel the surfaces after you do your quick wash.. Do the surfaces feel very smooth ? Then they are clean and no contamination is stuck to them now. If you are happy with the Clarity of the paintwork; hopefully you can pull it out in the sun for this or have a good portable light source), then one last wipedown to insure there is no oils from touching it, etc., and you are ready to apply your Optimum product. Good luck with this ! Dan F
Thanks Dan, I have a grassed area beside my house thats blocked from the sun so I'm going to polish there, I received the brinkmann max fire yesterday, seems to work well at highlighting problem areas.
You should able to wipe off any dust easily and wipe down with IPA/and Distilled water 50/50 and clean them up sufficiently. I doubt you would have bonded contaminants in such a short period of time unless you live close by a train track or metal foundery. Good Luck. I would not drive it around and expect to coat it after you park it. The surface need to be bare paint, free of contamination.
No I'm not planning on driving, just not confident I having my silver swirl camo car perfect before opti coat in one day. I want to take my time.
This is the best process for total perfection - take your time, this is not a race, the better you prepare, the better the results... Resist the temptation for "instant gratification"... It is going to turn out great !!!! Dan F
