Optimum Opti-Coat

Forrest

I am no machine expert at polishing but I do a okay job for a nub.

Only thing you said that threw me off is if I polish my car via machine, how would I have sealants left on it?

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NXTAZEE

If you polish your car, by hand or machine, there will be oils left from the polish. These need to be removed before Opti-Coating. If no polishing was done you still need to strip the paint of any possible sealants, waxes etc. that would cause bonding issues.

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2010 Carbon Silver 370Z 7AT charcoal int. sports package | Clear Bra | Invidia Gemini CBE | CF B-Pillars | CF Fangs | CF Z emblems | Swift Springs | 20mm & 25mm Spacers | SPC Camber Arms | Brushed Aluminum shift knob

FricFrac

Wow this looks amazing! Nicola said it looks like a sheet of glass on the car and said to make sure the 300ZX gets the same treatment Can't wait!

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Junkman2008

I've never used it Forrest so I cannot comment as to how good it is.

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Prosport Gauges

I use opti-seal and that last for a while.... kind of nervous to try this but i may try it on the BMW first.

Armonster

I had the full prep work and opti-coat application done Monday. I'm going to give it a wash this weekend and give some opinions at that point.

NXTAZEE

Nice. So how does it look? On my Carbon Silver it took a couple of days to get real glossy.

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2010 Carbon Silver 370Z 7AT charcoal int. sports package | Clear Bra | Invidia Gemini CBE | CF B-Pillars | CF Fangs | CF Z emblems | Swift Springs | 20mm & 25mm Spacers | SPC Camber Arms | Brushed Aluminum shift knob

Armonster

The first day it didn't look too great, honestly. It looked like the car was missing a coat of sealant/wax. But after about 3 days it started looking really glossy and smooth. That's why I'm holding off on the review until I can take a closer look this weekend.

NXTAZEE

I look forward to your review. Did you get the car the same day it was Opti-Coated? If you did I can understand why it didn't look it's best. I really like how the clear bra looks now, OC made a nice improvement to it. When I did my rims I took them off and coated them inside and out, that should pay off big time. I did a measurement of the OC and found it to be 4-5 microns. Thats rather substantial and should give some great protection. Remember that it takes several weeks to harden completely, so I wouldn't hand wash for a couple of weeks.

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2010 Carbon Silver 370Z 7AT charcoal int. sports package | Clear Bra | Invidia Gemini CBE | CF B-Pillars | CF Fangs | CF Z emblems | Swift Springs | 20mm & 25mm Spacers | SPC Camber Arms | Brushed Aluminum shift knob

Armonster

It has been over a month since I had opti-coat applied, so I'm due for a more detailed review. Overall, I am happy with the results. But I am still waiting to see how it performs over the long term.

Having fully hardened, the opti-coat looks very glossy now. Almost like a thin sheet of glass over the paint. However, I wouldn't say that the color is "deep" like with some waxes. This is just my personal opinion, though, and I'm no expert.

The beading is very impressive. Earlier this week it was misting very lightly outside. In the 5 minutes before getting to the interstate, my hood was covered in miniature little water droplets. As you all know, smaller droplets are less willing to roll off the paint. However, as soon as I got above 40mph on the highway, all of the droplets instantly gelled and literally flew right off the hood. It was amazing.

My only skepticism is with the supposed hardness. After getting home from that drive, I pulled out some quick detailer and a cobra guzzler towel to get rid of any water spots. For some reason I had trouble getting the water spots out (as an aside, I'm interested in any input on this issue). And when I flipped my microfiber towel over a second time and started to wipe, I heard this horrible high-pitched scraping sound against the paint. I lifted up the towel and found a nice scratch that I guess was caused by something in the towel. I was pretty pissed, having just washed the towel and not let it touch any surface aside from other clean microfiber towels.

So I pulled out the optimum spray polish and my softest hand applicator, and the scratch came out with very minimal effort. What I don't understand is how a scratch that is deep enough to feel with your finger can come out so easily if the opti-coat is really as hard and protective as claimed. I would still use the opti-coat even if it was as soft as the OEM clear coat, because extra protection is always better, but I just wonder how hard it really is.

So in conclusion, I'm fairly pleased with the look and very impressed with the beading ability. We will see how the durability issue progresses, but I don't feel as "indestructible" as I was originally hoping.

I'll update again in the future if any of these opinions change. For those of you that also have opti-coat, give us your updates as well!

Junkman2008

Inquiry minds would also like to know.

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NXTAZEE

Armon, I can't comment on the hardness just yet, but will do my own testing very soon. I know Chris from Optimum said he needed the Hyper spray with an Orange pad to knock it down enough to reapply it to a panel. I needed to use 106 FA with a black pad the day after application to get through the OC. Also, I have tried Optimum Finish polish on a microfiber rag to remove some excess OC the following day without any success. I would think after a month it should be pretty hard. I will let you know soon. I have washed my car a couple of times now since the OC has been applied and I can tell you it's a dream to wash it now. Nothing sticks anymore. Every once in a while I get these little yellow pine needle like objects stuck to my paint. After washing I have to polish, and sometimes wet sand, the etching out from these things. I noticed the other day I had two more of these on the paint. To my delight they just came right off when I washed the car with no etching left behind either. And nothing sticks to the rims anymore either.

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2010 Carbon Silver 370Z 7AT charcoal int. sports package | Clear Bra | Invidia Gemini CBE | CF B-Pillars | CF Fangs | CF Z emblems | Swift Springs | 20mm & 25mm Spacers | SPC Camber Arms | Brushed Aluminum shift knob

Armonster

Another update:

It has been two weeks since my last wash, and the car was getting a bit dirty. I drove through really heavy rain and hail (!) last night and the beading was much better than any wax I have seen. I parked it in the garage and left it overnight, and this morning the paint was immaculate. I'm not sure I even need to wash it this weekend. Very cool.

NXTAZEE

Very nice. I'm glad you are liking it. On a side note, I rubbed the paint with an old dirty microfiber rag with one spray of QD to see what would happen. Nothing happened to the paint at all. This would have marred the original paint quite a bit. So I know it is much harder than the oem paint.

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2010 Carbon Silver 370Z 7AT charcoal int. sports package | Clear Bra | Invidia Gemini CBE | CF B-Pillars | CF Fangs | CF Z emblems | Swift Springs | 20mm & 25mm Spacers | SPC Camber Arms | Brushed Aluminum shift knob

Forrest

Have you been able to top it with any thing? From my reading its hard for any thing to bond with it.

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