2015 Impala LTZ Coated with Gloss Coat


The Guz

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I corrected this one during the 4th of July week.

 

This is my dad's new car. It replaced his 2002 Camaro Z28 that was stolen a few months ago. The Impala was a former Enterprise rental car. It was purchased through Enterprise car sales. It has 30K miles on it. The interior is in very good shape. The exterior has minor scratches and chips from it's abuse as a former rental car. The color is champagne silver metallic.

A one step polish was performed using a non optimum polishing compound on my Rupes tools (LHR15 Mark II, Mini Nano).
Started off by decontaminating the paint
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I followed that up by using an aggressive wash method that is described by Mike Phillips using Optimum Car Wash in my foam gun. Once it is clean, I foamed up the car and clayed it using a clay mitt and the foam shampoo as clay lube. That exposed the true condition of the paint.
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50/50 before
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After
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Once the paint was corrected, it was prepped with Optimum Paint Prep. The car was coated with 2 coats of gloss coat and 1 coat of opti-seal. The end result is a very glossy finish.

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All chrome was polished to remove all water spots. It was also coated with gloss coat. The headlights were lightly polished and coated with opti-lens. Same process was done on the taillights.

 

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No more paint defects

 

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The glass was clayed and coated with opti-glass. Days later it was cleaned with opti-glass clean & protect

 

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The trim was also restored. It was restored with solution finish. I know optimum doesn't recommend applying it over another product. I applied it to get better hydrophobic properties and to get longer lasting protection. I waited a few days prior to coating the trim. I also wiped it down really good prior to coating it.

 

Before

 

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After

 

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In daylight

 

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Same process on the lower rear bumper trim.

 

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The interior had been cleaned a couple weeks prior to all it received was a vacuum and a wiprdown of all surfaces

 

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Wheels and tires coated with non optimum products

 

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Dad was ecstatic at the end result. He is good to go for quite sometime. I will be maintaining it with ONR and possibly opti-seal if I get bored :)

A dramatic turnaround for a former rental car.

Comments are welcomed.

 

 

 

 

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After seeing so many pictures of exotic cars, it fun to see how terrific a "regular" daily driver can look. The good news for your Dad is that it should look that good for years with minimal maintenance. GREAT JOB!

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After seeing so many pictures of exotic cars, it fun to see how terrific a "regular" daily driver can look. The good news for your Dad is that it should look that good for years with minimal maintenance. GREAT JOB!

 

Thank. You are right about minimal maintenacne. I gave the car it's first wash with ONR and the bug red sponge a few days ago. First of all I am sold on the big red sponge. The car cleaned up so easily and of course looked great.

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Really great finish, and great pictures...you are a natural...also dad must be thrilled and very proud.

 

If its not a secret, what were the polishes, pads and machine you used on this detail?

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Really great finish, and great pictures...you are a natural...also dad must be thrilled and very proud.

 

If its not a secret, what were the polishes, pads and machine you used on this detail?

 

Thanks. It's not a secret. Not sure what is allowed or not on this forum seeing as it is sponsored by optimum.

 

I used the Rupes UHS pads and polish. Gave the paint a couple wipedowns with optimum paint prep just to be sure the surface was clean. The polish doesn't dust or leave a lot of oils like some polishes.

 

Nice work, very distinctive looking car

 

Thanks.

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We sincerely are not "homers" on this Forum...I was criticized once because we do not use it for a selling/marketing tool. There are many fantastic automotive products, and Optimum produces some of them. And while in general we don't test competitive products (just not enough hours in the day), we pay attention to the really outstanding ones and do our best to improve on them. So feel free to share the products that really work for you.

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  • 4 months later...

5 month update.

Decided to give the car a decon wash. I messaged Dann Williams of optimum on how he does a decon wash. So he gave me some pointers. So thanks to him. For those that are interested in his decon wash process it is ferrex, wash, fine grade clay with optimum car wax.

First thing was spraying down the paint with optimum ferrex. I sprayed it onto the paint dry to not dilute the product. This was the first time I used ferrex as I have been using ironx for the longest time. Ferrex has been stated to also remove tar based on it being discussed on the optimum synergy podcast. No way for me to test that as the car had no tar.

Ferrex doing it's thing

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While I was at it, I performed a little test on the hood. I applied ferrex on the passenger side of the hood and the remaining ironx I had on the drivers side.

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Close up of the ferrex side

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Close up of the ironx side. Don't mind the red needles. They are from the trees on the street. The wind has been blowing them around.

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Both iron removers work. I felt ferrex performed a little better. Can't go wrong with either product.

I did not take too many photos but I also mixed 2 ounces of Meguiar's D103 APC+ into my car wash solution (both in the foam gun and bucket) of optimum car wash to aid in removing the heavier built up road film. The sheeting of gloss coat is doing very well. The glass has a base layer of opti-glass coating that has been maintained monthly with opti-glass clean & protect.



These are the products I used. Stuck with some synergy.

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Final shots after drying the car with the DP car dryer and a final wipe with optimum instant detailer.

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So within this 5 month time frame, the paint had developed contaminants. The car sits outside 24/7 so that is expected. It was not a lot as the car was not bleeding from using the iron removers. Ferrex performed well and removed a majority of the contaminants where I did not decide to clay. Paint felt smooth with my hand before I used the detail spray. Routine decon washes will work just as well until I decide to clay it. By the way gloss coat can be clayed with a fine grade mitt and optimum car wax.

I will mention that within the 5 months, the car has been washed with ONR weekly. I did use carpro reset about 2-3 weeks ago just to break up my rinseless wash routine. I did use opti-seal once as a drying aid but I have gone to just using the instant detailer as gloss coat doesn't need any toppers. So far I am happy with gloss coat up to the 5 month mark.
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  • 1 year later...

Well last update for this one.  After a year and half it was time for a polish and re-coat.  Overall gloss coat did a decent job.  There was some areas that were having some performance issues before the 1 year mark.  There were areas on various parts of the car that were looking like there was nothing on the paint.  So I had started to use a silica spray sealant to limp along until I had time to polish and re-coat.

It was polished and re-coated with another manufacturer's coating as I move on from Gloss Coat to try something else. 

My overall thoughts is that Gloss Coat is good for a 1 year coating. After that it starts to have some slight performance issues even after a decontamination based on experience from 3 different vehicles that I applied it to.  But at it's price point it's hard to choose based on the price of other coatings who perform a bit better.  The ease of use is a plus and is nice for newcomers into the coating market.  It has a decent look but tends to look a little more plastic looking compared to some of the other coatings I have used.  Like most coatings it has the rubbery/grabby  type feeling to it.  Overall it did a decent job. 

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Thanks for the final update.

I agree with your final conclusion. Its a coating that is dead easy to apply and remove. It adds a lot of gloss to the paint and some nice water behaviour. In my experience it can last 1 year + but really 1 year is the mark you want to remove it and apply something fresh. I wish it lasted longer (at least 24-36 months). Price point is a bit high (compared to other coatings) but you can use it for multiple layers or on at least a couple of cars as I did (coated 2 cars + a full set of rims).

Again thanks for the full update:thumbsupup[1]:

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