Ceramic Coating?

[M20F-1968]

Now that I am spending more time social distancing, I thought I would spend some time cleaning, waxing and laking care of some items on the plane.  

I have seen some posts about "ceramic paint coatings" for aircraft and other vehicles.  Curiously, many of the supplies are only sold to "installers."  

Is these products worth looking investigating?  I likely would be interested in doing the work myself given that I have the time and a suitable hangar.  

What paint preservation products are worth considering.  Does this "ceramic" product change the paint chemistry so if one needed to do a repair adhesion would be a problem?

Has anyone had experience with this?

John Breda

[mooneyflyer]

24 minutes ago, M20F-1968 said:

Now that I am spending more time social distancing, I thought I would spend some time cleaning, waxing and laking care of some items on the plane.  

I have seen some posts about "ceramic paint coatings" for aircraft and other vehicles.  Curiously, many of the supplies are only sold to "installers."  

Is these products worth looking investigating?  I likely would be interested in doing the work myself given that I have the time and a suitable hangar.  

What paint preservation products are worth considering.  Does this "ceramic" product change the paint chemistry so if one needed to do a repair adhesion would be a problem?

Has anyone had experience with this?

John Breda

I used Ceramic Coating from PlanePerfect.com for $29 several months ago and my M20S still looks like new.  It took 30 minutes to apply after the Eagle was cleaned and no rubbing.  Good stuff

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, mooneyflyer said:

I used Ceramic Coating from PlanePerfect.com for $29 several months ago and my M20S still looks like new.  It took 30 minutes to apply after the Eagle was cleaned and no rubbing.  Good stuff

Is that really the link?  That seems to be some carpentry device.

[Greg_D]

The correct url is plane perfect.us

 

[RLCarter]

this might be easier HERE

[Vlakvark]

Would that be the clear coat-finishing spray?

[gsxrpilot]

@Denver98 can weigh in here. He just finished a full ceramic coating of my Mooney, N252AD.

[PJClark]

If you're going to do it yourself try this:

GTechniq Liquid Crystal C2V3

No rubbing or buffing.  Spray on, ipe to spread evenly, wait a couple minutes, wipe off.  Have plenty of microfiber towels handy.

Results from my second round yesterday 

[Denver98]

34 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

@Denver98 can weigh in here. He just finished a full ceramic coating of my Mooney, N252AD.

I used Adam’s polishes ceramic coating, not the spray.  It’s more expensive but should last MUCH longer.  We had our SUV polished and ceramic coated (not sprayed) 2 years ago and it washes as if it was just applied.  The sprays are more affordable, you just have to apply them more often.  

[Ibra]

On 4/19/2020 at 4:16 PM, M20F-1968 said:

I have seen some posts about "ceramic paint coatings" for aircraft and other vehicles

Nextel? if you think your Mooney is hot enough on approach like 2000T gliders 

18 minutes ago, Denver98 said:

The sprays are more affordable, you just have to apply them more often.  

Any idea how often for something in the hangar? once in 1 year? 2 years? 5 years?
Any risk of cleaning it regularly?

[Ross Taylor]

It looks like the recommendations, so far, boil down to Plane Perfect Wing Wipe spray ($14.95 for a 16-ounce spray bottle) and Gtechniq C2V3 spray ($33.47 for a 500ml/16.9-ounce spray bottle in a kit, with 3 microfiber cloths).  Both of those are much cheaper than the Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light liquid, which seems to be highly recommended but is also more difficult to apply.  Given the difficulty vs longevity (with cost) SWAG I'm making, it looks like the sprays would be a good option for our hangared E.  So, does anyone know how many bottles of either spray would be needed for a plane?

[Denver98]

1 hour ago, Ibra said:

Any idea how often for something in the hangar? once in 1 year? 2 years? 5 years?
Any risk of cleaning it regularly?

My thinking is 3-5 years, it will depend on use and maintenance.  Adam’s polishes makes a ceramic boost.  They recommend using it 48 hours after the ceramic coating is applied and after a wash.  I’ve been doing my best to keep the belly and gear doors clean by using their waterless wash and then the ceramic boost.  

Right now if you go to adamspolishes.com and use code FRIEND15 or APRIL15 that should get you a 15% discount on most products.  I would recommend calling them to try and get a better deal.  Especially if you’re going to be buying microfiber towels and polishing pads.  I worked with Charlie at their Thornton, CO store.  

You’ll need enough product to cover at least 3 full-size cars. 

[DonMuncy]

I just contacted Gtechniq and they said 1 ml of Crystal Serum light should cover 2 to 3 square feet of surface. Does anybody have an guess as to  how much surface area a midbody Mooney has?

[PJClark]

@Ross Taylor I bought two bottles of c2v3 on Amazon for $17 each.  I've now coated the whole airplane once and the wings twice, plus have done my BMW Z4 twice.  I have about half a bottle left.

I was stoked to do a full on ceramic coating, but in the end I flinched at my own inexperience with applying.  This stuff on a hangar airplane, cleaned with ONR regularly and refreshed with more C2V3 is probably gonna be the no worries way for the detailing amateur like me.

On washing after C2V3: I did the wings about a month ago.  305PJ mostly has been in the hangar since then, but it was dusty and there were some droppings.  When I washed the previou8 coated wings with ONR solution I swear  they were shinier than just after the C2V3 application.  ONR does it's own shiny...there seems to be synergy.

[Hank]

1 hour ago, DonMuncy said:

I just contacted Gtechniq and they said 1 ml of Crystal Serum light should cover 2 to 3 square feet of surface. Does anybody have an guess as to  how much surface area a midbody Mooney has?

Dividing my Gross Weight by the Wing Loading in my Owners Manual, I get 167 sq. ft. of wing. There's another 167 sq. ft. on the bottom of the wing. I'd guestimate the the upper and lower wing surfaces are pretty close to half of my plane. Your fuselage is longer, so add some fudge factor. Or use PJ's comment above.

For the uninitiated, this is an "engineering approximation," far more accurate than a typical SWAG. Don will understand.  

[DonMuncy]

Using Hank's numbers, which I suspect are not too far off, that works out to a little under 700 sq ft. Using an average of Gtechniq's covering estimate (2.5 sq ft/ ml). it would appear to take 280 ml of Crystal Serum Light to do the plane. According to their site , that would come to $300 for enough to do the job. ($99 for 100ml)

What do the pros charge to ceramic coat a Mooney.

[PJClark]

I've seen quotes at $3,500 for "the pros"...

I'm sure that's awesome but I've got $35 in mine and am content for now!

[mike_elliott]

6 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Using Hank's numbers, which I suspect are not too far off, that works out to a little under 700 sq ft. Using an average of Gtechniq's covering estimate (2.5 sq ft/ ml). it would appear to take 280 ml of Crystal Serum Light to do the plane. According to their site , that would come to $300 for enough to do the job. ($99 for 100ml)

What do the pros charge to ceramic coat a Mooney.

It depends, they usually spend about 4 days on it doing paint correction prior to sealing in imperfections with a good ceramic coating, or at least they should if you want the job done right.

That said, expect 3K for their time, materials and expertise

[DonMuncy]

Just now, PJClark said:

I've seen quotes at $3,500 for "the pros"...

I'm sure that's awesome but I've got $35 in mine and am content for now!

That figure; $3500 for top of the line application, $350 for top of the line stuff DIY, and $35 for DIY for good stuff.

[ArtVandelay]

I've seen quotes at $3,500 for "the pros"...
I'm sure that's awesome but I've got $35 in mine and am content for now!

Did you clay bar it, or rubbing compound first or anything else as prep?

[PJClark]

@ArtVandelay no I did not.  But my paint was brand new last Aug 28.  I can say it's shinier now with more "depth of shine" as noted by @carusoam than when picked up from paint 7 months ago.

My Z4 is my "control group".  iIt's a 2006 with original black paint, if I look at closely there are a lot of swirl marks and running a hand over that paint it feels like there's dust even when clean...rough surface. It was still very glossy anyway, but C2V3 is making it glossier regardless.

[carusoam]

A fun measure of how smooth the surface is when done...

put things on the wing... like a clean towel.  Does it stay there or immediately slide off...  

I helped a friend with an Audi do a similar wash, clay bar prep, and wax... nothing would  stay on the finished surface...

Waxing a plane seems to be at least like waxing three cars... a bit tiring for arms that haven’t been to the gym...

 

PP thoughts only... Haven’t committed to deep cleaning or waxing the plane yet...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[aviatoreb]

12 hours ago, PJClark said:

If you're going to do it yourself try this:

GTechniq Liquid Crystal C2V3

No rubbing or buffing.  Spray on, ipe to spread evenly, wait a couple minutes, wipe off.  Have plenty of microfiber towels handy.

Results from my second round yesterday 

 

 

That looks great!  What kind of prep did you do initially?  Was there any kind of standard wax there initially?

So you did it to your new paint job?  I have a still very young paint job - 2 years old now - and nonetheless thinking of this new stuff.  It still looks great but nothing wrong with if it could look even more great for $35.

[PJClark]

@aviatoreb all I'd done to the paint since new was wash it about 3 times with ONR.

First go with the C2V3 was in early Feb I think.  I washed the whole airplane with ONR first, then with what energy I had left I did the tops of the wings with C2V3.  Then I ran out of motivation and energy.

This past weekend washed entire airplane on Saturday then coated entire plane on Sunday.  I can tell the effect of 2 coats on the wings is cumulative: the new paint and clearcoat on the blue is of course still shiny...this stuff looks like another coat of clear that makes the clear seem "thicker".

TBH: I really wanted to use a true ceramic coating.  But even after watching a bunch of YouTube videos on application I was too chicken to risk it on my brand new paint.  This is the safe way out (for me): protect the paint, no risk of screwing it up.

 

[mooneyflyer]

On 4/19/2020 at 9:01 AM, aviatoreb said:

Is that really the link?  That seems to be some carpentry device.

https://planeperfect.us/  Sorry