1 of 2 packages i ordered from autogeek for detailing..

i cant wait to test out the 3 inch griots.. need to fix some scratches

 

nice!!! take some before and after pics please.

 

im actually slowly moving towards detailing.. i find myself looking through autogeek daily now.. lol

 

I can confirm it becomes an addiction, I had to buy a cabinet in my garage just to store my growing collection of detailing gear.

 

I ordered opti-coat as well.. ill post a video of it when its completed

 

Neat stuff. I just looked into it. I'm excited to see what you think of it. It says 1 layer is 2microns thick, so I wonder how much protection that really adds (1mm = 1000microns not too thick). It looks like you can apply multiple layers tho? Do you plan on doing that? Good luck, hope it works out b/c i'm tempted to get some myself. Would be nice to not have to spend all the money on detailing materials again.

 

ill let you know.. but from what i heard you cant top off coats..

 

I also am an avid lurker on autogeek. I've learned so much from them. Just yesterday for their CyberMonday sale, I bought 6 5.5" CCS Lake County pads and a set of 4 bottles of XMT swirl removers (#1 through #4) to take advantage of their 15% off and free shipping deal. Good luck on keeping your black TL looking its best! I can't wait to use it on my white one to really make the pearl pop, but my wife's Jeep is black and by doing meticulous hand washing, I can proudly say that its first year of life has seen barely BARELY any swirl marks, which they really weren't even swirls, more like tiny tiny little dashes here and there. It just goes to show what keeping up with it will go in making sure you'll not have to remove any layers of clear coat, or more than you absolutely have to.

 

Hey potmilkz I was wondering. I noticed you ordered a good chunk of detailing supplies? What order / steps are you going to do before you apply the opto coat? By that i mean wash, clay, wax, polish, swrill mark remover, scratch remover etx. What all do you plan to do in what order?

 

well you need wash, clay, 1 or 2 step polish, isopropyl 50/50 wipe down then opti-coat.

it is important to remove all defects and oils/wax/chemicals before opti-coating.

 

Yeah, I guess I was more or less wondering what all you bought and if the stuff in the box was to prep your car for the opti coat?

 

i am using m105 and m205 with some DA microfiber pads to correct the soft acura paint.. using a DA PC7424xp and a griots 3 inch for the smaller areas.. ive done a full detail before but that was months ago.

with the newer equipment i have i think i can achieve a greater detail.. especially with opti-coat.. i dont have to wash and wax as often anymore.. dirt just washes off and water just beads off the car.

and yes, the stuff i bought is mainly prep for opticoat. MF pads + smaller pads on hard to reach areas.

 

damn...do you think you need that swril kit in conjunction w/ the m105/205? regardless i'm sure it's gonna be looking good. Looks like autogeek extended their sale. I think i'm gonna pull the trigger on that opti coat and give it a shot nxt week while i'm off work.

I have a cheap (compared to what you bought) orbital that I paid like $40 for. I think it works nice, but you have me 2nd guessing myself after looking at the orbitals you ordered.

I'm pretty excited to see the turn out of yours!

 

i would recommend at least a porter cable if your going to opticoat.. anything else less than that is obsolete..

my way if thinking is that if your going to drop $60 on a tube of opticoat, you better have a good buffer to polish out all the scratches before putting it on. Opticoat is not as intense as opti-guard but still hard to get it off the paint..

id say if your going to do it, have the right equipment first..

 

So I decided to pull the trigger on this (you got me hooked)

Have you used detailedimage.com before? My $114.22 order on autogeeks site came to $77.68 on detailedimage (found a 10% off cupon on google).

I'm gonna look into renting a higher powered buffer. My car is only a month old, but I agree that you should go all out if going the opti coat route. Thanks for all the info.

 

Detailedimage.com ftw.. Just stocked up on some supplies to do my bi annual overhaul. I hear good things about that Opti Coat Potz, but as you have already mentioned, you must be careful during the application. Im opting for clay, 2 stg polish, wash, glaze, sealant, topped w carnauba.. I plan on knockin it out over the next 4 days...w the grand finale, being new wheels . Ok, back on topic! Keep us updated w pics man!

 

So I just got all my stuff in today for the Opti Coat project. Wash / clayed and went to town on the roof and back end with the 105/205 combo. Everything is turning out great. Only problem is I still have some minor water etchings on the roof. The scratchX / 105 / 205 did a decent job on them but I cant seem to make any more progress.

Any suggestions?

 

Depending on if that is acid rain or how badly the water spots may have etched the paint, you may not be able to safely remove it without compromising the UV protection of your clear coat. 105/205 is a good combo and if that didnt do it, you may be left with them. You could use a glaze before you apply your sealant or wax to hide them. Good luck

 

you can wetsand with unigrit at around 3000 to 5000.. thats what i did on my previous car that had water mark etching.. worked great and removes very little clearcoat.

 

Picked up some 3M stage4 3000grit sandpaper from Advance Auto Parts. This did the trick. It's for wet sand only. I let it soak for 1hr and applied it lightly. Was extremely nervous as it was my first time wet sanding my car. Followed up with 105/205 and I can't even tell there were marks!

The 3000 felt nice to the touch (like regular paper)

 

lol see i told you so.

 

my package that came in today.
opti-coat 2.0
Meguiars MF Correction System 5 Inch pads
Griots Glass Polish

 

Nice man...when do you plan to do it all? I will be done with mine tmrw. Took it nice and slow since I got some time off for surgery.

I don't know if you have buffed out scratches before, but obviously go easy at first. It took me a good 3x to buff out the sanding marks left behind from the paper I used. My buffer isn't as good, so you shouldn't have much of a problem...just be careful and it will look great!

 

did you opticoat your glass?

 

Haven't decided yet, but prob not. I wasn't sure if your going to be buffing scratches on the paint, glass or both.

 

The whole car is going to get opticoated. even wheels and exhaust tips.

 

It would nice is OP can do a video.

 

the weather is bad right now.. and temps are not good for opti-coating from what ive read.. i have to wait a bit before i do anything.

 

Just got done putting on the options coat. Well just need to finish the drivers side...got to dark and didn't wanna miss any high spots.

Foe the IPA step 15% is plenty and u don't need much. I saw some sites say 50% that's crazy.

The opti coat was easy to apply and level out. I was nervous at first but you can easily see the high spots on a black car and it takes no effort to lv it off with a microfiber towel.

I noticed 2 tiny high spots I'm gonna fix tmrw. You can polish the high spots pretty easy. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Good luck

 

i might be doing the opti-seal pretty soon myself....

 

yo! lmk how opti coat is once you apply it!

 

havent had a chance to apply it as weather is really cold lately.. it is recommended to apply in normal temps roughly around 65-74 degrees.. but as you know its like 40-60 degrees outside on a regular basis..

 

:gheylaugh: Oh lawd, thats cold, sounds like Russian spring time haha. I tried to hand wash my car today and besides almost dying of hypothermia the water as freezing before I could dry it off!

 

its not cold per say.. its just not good to apply opticoat.

 

I know bro I'm just teasing, I'd like to see a before and after if possible because I have a ton of detailing/car washing supplies but nothing as pro as what you've bought for corrections. I'm wondering if done properly if it's possible for a 1st timer to do a job nearly as good as a pro. Because if thats the case I'll just pocket the 200 or so I would've paid a detailer and just buy the supplies and do it myself.

 

i have already detailed my car, it looks brand spanking new.. i also polished my car inside the garage with limited space. I would say that i have corrected 85% of the car.. rest was the front bumper and lip which was mildly corrected.

Im in socal so we are not use to this weather. Its mostly sunny here so no need to have a heated garage.. thus i cannot opticoat and it would be a waste of 60 bucks since its so expensive. i rather wait to do it correctly.

here are some phone camera pics.. sorry my galaxy note 2 is not that great.

 

Hell yeah! That looks clean. Good job squirt.

who installed your body kit?

 

i installed it myself.. i also installed a few other 4g members kits.

 

Holly shit, that looks relly good.

 

Im in Oceanside. When i get mine in Feb u gonna help me out?