Opti-coat vs Waxing?

[Varekai]

I had posted this on stangnet last week but never got a reply so figured I would try here.

Now that I have my mustang, I really want to keep her protected from rock chips. Living in Florida and near the highways I never make it more than a month without some rock chips or blemishes from love bugs. I was debating about doing a clear bra, but I won't have the money for that for a month to have someone install it.

I just stumbled across Opti-coat. It seems like it got great reviews, however the one thing I have against it is it seems you have to have bare paint to put it on. I always do my own detailing, when I wax my previous cars I always do clay bay, paint cleaner, paint polish, than wax. My mustang is black so I want her to have that glass look that you could fall into. I picked up some Meguair's Black Wax paste from walmart, it seemed to have gotten really good reviews for giving a black vehicle a nice shine. My problem with the Opti-coat tho, from what I've read, is you won't get that good of a look. Since the paint has to be clean you can't have any products on it, and I'm sure putting those products ontop of the opti-coat would be pointless.

So do I use my usual products and have a great looking car, or go with opti-coat to help with rock chips?

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[Blk2015GT]

From what I understand opticoat is a sealant and you can certainly wax on top of a sealant.

It's a paint sealant that goes on like a wax, a very thin coating. It won't prevent rock chips.

IMO a rock on the highway wont be stopped by a clear bra either; it's like using a clear sticky back laminate film (that stuff from when we were all younger used on shelves etc to protect them) on a 2x4 and throwing a small rock at it as hard as you can- that's about highway speed kick-up. It can puncture the laminate and chip the wood certainly. and Im pretty sure the clear bra is thinner than that.

If a rock can chip a windshield (I know from experience on my S197) being kicked up at high speed on the highway, dont think a think clear film will stop all rock chips. It will help with bugs, but so will wiping the car down when done driving it with a towel that you keep in the trunk.

Especially in FL, clear bras do yellow over time and it will start to look hazy in the strong FL sun quickly. I personally wouldn't let a clear bra touch my car, especially being in South Florida with the strong sun, and I just dont think it looks right and you cannot wax/polish etc where it is installed.

I totally understand though, my S197 was rock chip city. on the front bumper and even front of the hood. I purposely bought black this time (metallic blue before) so that it'd be easy to touch up rock chips; beside the fact that black looks nice on this car. The metallic paints are impossible to match with touchup paint because the metallic flake in the paint doesnt dot on like whens sprayed with a gun and you can see it a mile away. Black is pretty easy to touchup with a DA polisher. Otherwise I probably would've gotten this car in magnetic (a metallic paint)

 

[Varekai]

Very helpful information thank you. From what I read because of how opti coat works waxing gives no deep shine benefit ontop of the opti coat.

 

[Varekai]

Alright please let me know. I'll probably do it myself.

 

[njarmstrong]

I am totally converted to coatings. I really like CQuartz vs Opti-Coat, but both are essentially the same thing. Opticoat is permanent, if the correct paint preparation is conducted, and will last basically until you remove it through compounding. CQuartz will last about 1.5 years and then you will need to reapply it.

Great products, makes maintenance washing easier, looks great. Biggest downside is that I no longer get to wax my car, which I really enjoy, but.... the benefits outweigh it for me.

Remember, the prep is essential for the coating to work properly, without the prep you will be wasting your time and product.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

I am totally converted to coatings. I really like CQuartz vs Opti-Coat, but both are essentially the same thing. Opticoat is permanent, if the correct paint preparation is conducted, and will last basically until you remove it through compounding. CQuartz will last about 1.5 years and then you will need to reapply it.

Great products, makes maintenance washing easier, looks great. Biggest downside is that I no longer get to wax my car, which I really enjoy, but.... the benefits outweigh it for me.

Remember, the prep is essential for the coating to work properly, without the prep you will be wasting your time and product.

I just bought all the Car Pro and cQuartz items and got them last week. Hope to get my car all detailed over the next couple of weeks.

 

[Varekai]

Thanks I'll check out the cquartz.

 

[Matador91]

Like the other guys are saying coatings are the future. I personally like 22ple which is a glass coating and gives you a extreme amount of depth and gloss. Of course the prep work before you apply any coating is the biggest factor on how it will look. It is truly a noticeable difference from panel to panel.

 

[Varekai]

Damn wish you had posted about that earlier I just ordered ordered a bottle of collinite insulator wax 845

 

[njarmstrong]

22ple is a great product as well. I would consider giving it a try for sure. I have enough CQuartz UK left to do my car so I will be using that rather than getting something new. If it was gone however, 22ple would be near the top of the list for sure.

 

[drabon74]

Damn wish you had posted about that earlier I just ordered ordered a bottle of collinite insulator wax 845

Try the collinite, you will be impressed. Make sure the wax is room temp before using. I warm my bottle up with a hair dryer before application.

 

[HalfMoon]

I go coatings now. On my three cars I have Opticoat, Cquartz Finest, and Cquartz UK.

I'll never just use a wax or regular polymer sealant again.

Oh, FYI... Detailed Image has 20% off all the CarPro products right now: http://www.detailedimage.com/CarPro-M53/?utm_content=carpro-sale

Not affiliated, just a happy customer passing on the email promotion I got.

 

[Varekai]

Try the collinite, you will be impressed. Make sure the wax is room temp before using. I warm my bottle up with a hair dryer before application.

Thanks for the info!

After this is used up I'll try the coatings. Don't want the money I spent on this stuff to go to waste.

 

[f15eaglee]

I used to use Meguiars Ultimate Wax... Great sealant for the price but in the FL sun it needs to be reapplied monthly (judging by beading action of water).

I decided to try Optimum Gloss Coat and applied a month ago. It rained two days after and you can see the beading is the same as wax. A month later it still beads like it did the first day. Another big plus is that it resists dust/dirt so it remains cleaner longer.

Big ole water beads

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