[Jsreo]

TIA for any advice, I am going to do a full paint correction / ceramic coating tomorrow using Car Pro products and would appreciate confirmation that this is the correct sequence / timing to apply their products.

Car is one year old, 13K miles, garaged both at home and work and not driven on crappy days so looks really good to start with. Here are the steps I am planning on following.

1). Wash with Chemical Guys Clean Slate car wash (I previously used Zaino products on the car).

2). Car Pro Iron - X

3). Clay Mitt

4). Car Pro Eraser

5). Car Pro Essence using D/A polisher

6). 2 coats of C.Quartz applied 3+ hours apart (I know some folks say this is not worth the effort but I already bought the stuff).

7). Wait over night then apply Car Pro Reload


Do I need to wait at all between #5 & #6 & and from what I have read eraser is not needed between #5 & #6 either, is that correct?

Your thoughts & opinions are welcomed

Thank you

[Glen e]

You are correct on all points....no eraser between 5 and 6....and no wait.

[SSport16]

You can apply Reload within a 30 -60 minute window after CQuartz, if you miss the window then yes wait overnight to apply, preferably 24 hours.

[Can'tHave2MuchHP]

OP, your sequence is correct. You did your homework. Only thing I would say would be skip the Eraser after the Iron-X/Clay and just re-wash it. At minimum, I would rinse it with a pressure washer. Lots of stuff gets removed from Iron Decontamination and Clay, but a lot of it will stay behind, it's just been picked off and moved where it can be easily removed with water/re-wash. So to re-cap:

1) Strip Wash (Clean Slate will do. Note: If you're claying and polishing, it wouldn't matter what soap you used really, everything is going to come off)
2) Iron Decon (Iron-X)
3) Rinse Iron-X off
4) Clay with a lubricant. Soap suds work ok, but a detail spray or rinseless wash product that's diluted will work better.
5) Re-Wash or just high pressure Rinse
6) Polish. (Note: Essence does not cut very much/at all. It's only going to get out light swirls and very fine scratches. Not going to remove factory sanding marks, washing swirls, scratches, etc.)
7) Coat. (No need to use an Eraser or similar product in between if you're going right from Essence to Coating, which you should do. Essence puts down a layer that is a bond-prep that's perfect for Reload and Cquartz.
8) Reload. Preferably I'd say do it within an hour afterwards. But if you miss it, just do it the next day. I say preferably do it right after because there'll be no dust, dirt, or airborne particles that have landed on the paint.

Originally Posted by SSport16

You can apply Reload within a 30 -60 minute window after CQuartz, if you miss the window then yes wait overnight to apply, preferably 24 hours.

This.

[NYJets12]

from carpros website

Do I have to use Eraser between Essence and CQuartz?

If your using Essence by machine and you wait until the vehicle is finished then you can apply Reload or CQuartz after you finish the vehicle starting in the same direction you polished. If you want to be ultra safe you can still use Eraser but in our testings to date we have not seen any failure when we skipped Eraser.

If your using Essence by hand then we recommend you use Eraser before coating.

[Jsreo]

Here is the final result, it looks better in person as all I have is a crappy phone camera.

Essence is probably the easiest product I have every used, goes on very nicely using a D/A polisher and it wipes off by hand very easily. I did not use much so the bottle I have will last a long time.

Iron X smells really bad, but works really good, there was so much stuff coming off of my new wheels it looked like I murdered someone in my driveway, not sure if it was manufacturing residue of just road gunk. I used the entire bottle.

Clay mitts are so much easier the using actual clay, I am never going back to clay.

50 ml of cquartz is just enough to do 2 full coats on a Camaro. I did one coat yesterday & the second one this AM & I used reload right after cquartz.

All in all, this was not hard to do just takes some time.

Thanks again for the advice / confirmation on the sequence in which to apply the products.

[Glen e]

Looks good ....what did you do to protect the wheels...... did you cquartz there too? See my link in my signature regarding wheels, it's an easier way, and you get virtually all the benefits of cquartz, you Just do it three times a year.......

[Jsreo]

I did two coats of Cquartz on the wheels as well I will try the process in the link in your sig. next time

Thanks

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by Jsreo

I did two coats of Cquartz on the wheels as well I will try the process in the link in your sig. next time

Thanks

Prob not necssary if you did them in CQ, but cant hurt, its so easy.....

[HawkeyeMike]

Quick question on this topic...this past weekend I did a similar process, but went directly from Essence to Reload. If using both, what is the point of using CQuartz? Isn't that what Reload is for? Thanks for this clarification,
Mike

[Jsreo]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeMike

Quick question on this topic...this past weekend I did a similar process, but went directly from Essence to Reload. If using both, what is the point of using CQuartz? Isn't that what Reload is for? Thanks for this clarification,
Mike

Cquartz is a true ceramic coating that when used between essence & reload supposedly provides a more durable, longer lasting protective layer for your paint.

Lots of folks do just as you did essence then reload, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that

[SSport16]

Yeah CQuartz is a ceramic coating as mentioned above, Reload was initially designed to be put on top of CQuartz to give it a gloss boost and added protection, but now a lot of us use it without a ceramic coating which for me is not needed.

[rorymick]

Did something similar this weekend!

Ironx snow soap decon wash, clay barred, Sonax perfect finish (orange medium cut pads/black no cut finishing pads), eraser, 40ml of CQUK 3.0, 20ml of Gliss.

Car still has a ton of scratches but is pretty damn good for a daily driver. Depth and gloss from SPF, CQUK and Gliss is amazing.

3.0 was very easy to work with. Gliss flashed so damn fast...I found 3.0 easier to work with than Gliss.

Carpro perl and CquartzUK 2.0 on the wheels next week once I do some touch ups in the powder coating on the wheels.

Also have a streak of ceramic coating on my rear window I gotta try to remove. Didn't notice it soon enough :( gonna try various polishes I have. May have to get ceriglass Polish.

[DangerZL1]

Your car looks fantastic. I generally go for the 90-95% correction and nobody knows the difference on a daily driver. It's too hard to get and keep black perfect, unless you only drive it as a pleasure vehicle.