What did you do to your Blackwing today?

[KatyTxCT5V]

Here’s my car being foamed with soap and it’s struggling to stay on the car due to the ceramic coating and glass coating, lol.

 

[tmc]

Here’s my car being foamed with soap and it’s struggling to stay on the car due to the ceramic coating and glass coating, lol.

Did you coat it yourself? I've done wheels in the past and I think I'm pretty clear on the process to "do it rightish" on the paint, but will remain pretty uncertain until I do it at least once.

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

Did you coat it yourself? I've done wheels in the past and I think I'm pretty clear on the process to "do it rightish" on the paint, but will remain pretty uncertain until I do it at least once.

I did coat it myself over 3 yrs ago using GTECHNIQ Crystal Serum Light, topped with GTECHNIQ EXO on everything, less the glass. I polished the glass and installed GTECHNIQ G1 Clear Vision. Everything is holding up quite well, but the car is garage kept, so expected to last.

The expensive cost from an installer is the time it takes for paint correction and how labor extensive it can be. The hardest part IMO is the paint correction time. I have purchased everything necessary over time to do on my own.

My car is not my daily driver, my garage is climate controlled and I upgraded the lighting. Over the last year or so, my time has become more precious. For example, I recently purchased a new BMW X5 for a DD. Due to the lack of time, I had someone else paint correct and ceramic coat while I was traveling. I will be coating all the glass this weekend myself.

I used to be afraid, but I practiced on my wife's car first, read many how-to articles, etc. I have GTECHNIQ applied to 5 different vehicles and some that sit outside. Their coatings IMO last as long as the surface is prepared properly.

 

[huemangos]

Got the rest of the cf stuff on and summers on it. Then we got some mild blizzard white out conditions this weekend.

It's no longer my daily and I've got a dealer appointment coming up cause of the rattles in the headliner.

 

[MiCaddy]

That color looks gorgeous a truly eye catching marvel! Rims amplify and tint completes it.
I’d love to know your tint brand and %’s . . .

MiC

 

[huemangos]

That color looks gorgeous a truly eye catching marvel! Rims amplify and tint completes it.
I’d love to know your tint brand and %’s . . .

MiC

25 percent all around with 50 on windshield I think. It's llumar stratos if I recall correctly

 

[rubberduck]

I actually just scheduled an estimate to get one installed. But my understanding is a water softener replaces calcium and magnesium with sodium. It doesn't lower the TDS.... If I get a DI system for washing, the softener doesn't extend the filter media life.

Maybe sodium doesn't leave the stains calcium does?

I only just started researching all of this

I bought a lot of the components from Obsessed Garage and some other warehouse hardware stores. Using the CR spotless filters. I don’t touch the car after the final rinse and zero water spots. In Arizona it’s impossible to dry the car fast enough in the summer no matter what time of day or night it is.

I suggest buying an inexpensive TDS meter from Amazon. The total gallons of water that is achievable for any filter is dependent on starting TDS. I see one manufacturer, RV-Mods, uses 110 TDS and that’s unrealistic for most people. If that’s you, you’ve won the car wash jackpot.

In my system with water TDS of 160, I get 240gal total output (I have a water meter in my system) for $120 in resin. At 40gal per wash that is $20 per wash. For me, time is a non-renewable resource and it’s worth it.

The RV-Mods DI Pro 100 Compact uses 1 cubic foot of resin and claims 4000gal. Based on my CR Spotless DIC-20 system with about 1/4 cubic feet of resin I would get about 1000gals out of the 1 cubic foot. The moral here is don’t pay much attention to the gallons rating. There is no magic here, one resin is not going to yield 4X over another. I have a friend in CA whose TDS is 320, he is screwed for using these systems to wash a car. I suspect the gallons vs. TDS curve is nonlinear. Fortunately he only wants to use it for cooking.

I also use the water for my espresso machine and add minerals back in to achieve the proper water.

 

[coffee_time]

I paid for full car PPF and take my car through automatic car washes lol. Haven’t hand washed my car yet. Probably never will.

 

[ngoni]

I paid for full car PPF and take my car through automatic car washes lol. Haven’t hand washed my car yet. Probably never will.

Oof. My PPF guy told me only "touchless" car washes and even then keep them to a minimum.