Optimum OptiCoat on a Honda City

Optimum OptiCoat on a new Honda City.

Original post at http://prodetailing.blogspot.com/2011/07/honda-city-optimum-opticoat.html.

My buddy KC (thedetailers.blogspot.com) was supposed to detail and OptiCoat this brand new Honda City but unfortunately he is temporarily out of action at the moment. 

This detail couldn't wait as the owner had just taken delivery of her ride and wanted to ensure that it was properly protected from the beginning. KC had explicitly told her NOT TO WASH THE CAR as improper washing could have scratched and damaged the paint.

This is the condition of the Honda City when it arrived. The car is brand new and has been driven about 300km since delivery.

As expected there was a certain amount of dirt on it from not being washed for a week. The owner was apologetic about the condition and had wanted to get it washed before sending it over.

Click the link below to continue reading the details of this detail and OptiCoating.

The car was sprayed with water to wash away the any excess dirt and Optimum Power Clean was used to ensure the surface was cleaned of any contaminants.

A soft bristle brush was used to clean hard to reach areas and also the wheels.

While cleaning the wheels I noticed some damage on the front drivers side wheel and later informed the owner of this. It appears like someone had inadvertently hit a curb or some other object.

Inner wheel wells also brushed clean.

After the cleaning it was time to clay the car to ensure the surface is completely clean and ready for correction. A sample of Optimum OptiClay was used with Optimum No-Rinse as the clay lube.

Clay before:

As expected for a brand new car, there were only very minimal surface contaminants.

Clay after:

The only problem on the entire car was this nick in the paint on the passenger side door that may have been caused by someone opening a door while parking next to this car.

After the exterior claying, a light cleaning was carried out on the interior surfaces.

For the interior, the new Optimum Opti Clean was used. This product is a waterless wash which makes cleaning interiors and other surfaces such as door jambs easy as there is not water and hence no need to dry after. Just wipe the dirt off in one go.

Inside of the passenger door.

Some remnants of the plastic protective wrap which was not completely removed during delivery of the car.

Cleaned and plastic removed.

Dirt on the door jambs.

50/50 with Optimum Opti Clean.

Done. Leaves a nice shine behind also.

Grease from door hinges.

Removed with Optimum Opti Clean.

Nice and clean.

Optimum Opti Clean is also safe to use on plastic and rubber interior trim.

Some strange looking stains on the inside of the doors.... looks a bit like Leopard spots!!!

Cleaned off with Optimum Opti Clean.

More spots.

Removed.

Stains on rubber door liner.

50/50 after Optimum Opti Clean.

Not much work on the interior as it was still new.

The engine bay was also cleaned up with Optimum Opti Clean.

As expected for a brand new car, the paint look pretty good after the cleaning.

Let's bring out the halogen light for a closer inspection. As with all white cars, capturing any defects is going to be a challenge.

Water spots galore. All over the paint...

No major swirls or scratches so no compounding required. Just to make sure the paint is hologram free, the Flex 3401 Dual-Action Polisher with forced rotation was used.

As this was essentially a DA, the Optimum Hyper Polish was sprayed on the surface. However, I found that it was still better to spray it directly onto the pad.

The unique patters of a DA with forced rotation.

After. Difficult to see but the watermarks and other slight paint defects have been removed.

Nice clarity to the paint.

Taping up the plastic and rubber trim as we go along.

The glass was also not spared with severe watermarks.

Taping up before polishing the glass.

Before:

After:

Glass was also coated with Optimum OptiCoat providing protection and permanent water beading for the glass.

The chrome door handles were also not spared from watermarks.

After:

After polishing and making sure all watermarks and other paint defects have been removed, it was time to OptiCoat the car.

The professional version of Optimum OptiCoat was used.

Afters:
Nice gloss to the white paint. The coating cures to the touch in 30 mins and fully cures in 24 hours. The coating will continue to harden and depending on weather conditions should reach maximum hardness within a week.

The wheels were also OptiCoated making cleaning and removal of any brake dust much easier.

Final shot before being returned to the owner.

Back home...

Thanks for looking.

OptiCoat FAQ:

Why coating?

- Optimum OptiCoat is harder, more chemical resistant and has water beading abilities when compared with the normal clear coat of a paint. It resist scratching thereby ensuring less swirls and damage to the paint and provides an additional layer of protection over the original paint. Should there be a need to polish off any watermarks or light scratches in the future, the original paint is still protected as only the additional layer of OptiCoat is being polished.

How long does the coating lasts?

- Optimum OptiCoat is designed to last indefinitely and bonds to the existing clear coat of the paint increasing paint thickness by 2-3 microns. The coating can be considered permanent unless it is removed.

Do you still need to maintain the coating?

- Optimum OptiCoat protects the paint, increases water beading and reduces the ability of dirt and other contaminants from sticking to the paint. However, this does not mean that dirt will just rinse off and as the OptiCoat is still exposed to the environment it will still require regular washing but because of the coating, washing is much quicker and easier. If regular washing is not carried out and there are more stubborn stains, Optimum Power Clean can be used to remove the stains but the coating will not be affected.