2018 Chevy Equinox Redline - New car prep with Cquartz TiO2 and Gliss

[The Guz]

For those that are not aware my brother ended up selling the 1999 Tahoe that he purchased from one of our uncles.

https://carproforum.com/showthread.p...rtz-TiO2-Gliss

He took that money and used it towards a 2 year lease of a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with the Redline package.

The packages includes the black bow ties, black with red side badges and the black wheels with the red accents. This is an LT model on paper with a 2.0L turbo that puts out 252 HP and 260 ft-lbs of torque. Good get up and go for this little thing.

He opted to not have the dealer wash it/detail it. He also wanted a coating on it to protect the paint and last as long as his lease. Less maintenance and less worry for him.

Ironx in action. As seen brand new vehicles can certainly have iron contaminants. Came out kind of dark due to the shade.



As I rinsed of the ironx there were signs that something was on the paint aka wax or sealant. The prep wash I used stripped about 85% of it and left the other areas degraded.

After the wash the paint and glass was clayed with CarPro Immolube and the clay mitt. There were contaminants on the flat surfaces of the paint. Once complete, the paint was wiped down with a paint prep to remove the residue from Immolube.

I was then able to asses the paint. The good thing is that there were not a lot of defects in this paint. Not the horrendous DISO that is common on new cars. I could barely pick up the defects on cam.



The paint was one step polished after determining what combination would work. No Essence this time as I did not have enough to do the entire car. Used what I had left for the wheels.

I prep wipe with Eraser to remove the polishing oils as I go. Once done I come back with another prep wipe. Then I finished it off with two coats of Cquartz TiO2 and one coat of Gliss. TiO2 to me looks best on light colored paints adding that additional reflectivity from the TiO2 within the SiO2 mixture.

The glass was clayed, prep wiped and finished off with a glass coating.

The trim was cleaned, prep wiped and protected with a trim coating and topped with silica spray sealant 24 hours later.

Finished results with losing daylight but highlights the gloss.









I had cleaned the tires during the paint correction phase and received three coats of a tire coating. But one week later I polished them in preparation for a coating. They were polished with my remaining Essence, prep wiped with Eraser and coated with the CQUK + TiO2 combo (one coat of each) primarily to use up the remaining coatings in these bottles. Essence removed some light defects and the gloss from this combo made the wheels pop.



In full sun.





One week later after the first wash with McKee's N914 and using EcH20 as a drying aid and in the daylight.



It is now protected and will last him the entire ownership of his lease. Thanks for reading.

[Merlin]

Very nice!
Well Done!
Great work!

[The Guz]

Very nice!
Well Done!
Great work!

Thanks. The fact that the dealer didn’t touch it made it much easier on me to work with.

[The Guz]

Quick update. My brother was sent for training at another plant in the Palmdale area. While staying at the hotel, his car was the victim of the hotel sprinklers along the entire drivers side. Unfortunately I forgot to give him a bottle of EcH20 to use for occasions like this before he left. It sat for about 3 days before I was able to get to it.

But as I mentioned in another thread after a wash before he left we used Merlin's Magic Elixir on the paint and then the version with EcH20+Relaod+Hydro2 on the wheels. So that may have aided in the easy removal.

Today was a rinseless with McKees 37 N914 and EcH20 as a drying aid.

The door before



After



An example on one of the wheels

Before



After. Other than towel lint, they are clean and free of water spots.




Moral of the story is that water spots don't always cause issues on a coating.

[Merlin]

Don't cha' love it whan all dat comes off sweet n' e-z.


Looks Good!

[The Guz]

Don't cha' love it whan all dat comes off sweet n' e-z.


Looks Good!

Yeah for sure. Everyone panics and is so worried about coatings developing water spots. This was impressive to say the least and leaves me with a good feeling about the performance of the Cquartz/Gliss combo.

[fdresq4]

Yeah for sure. Everyone panics and is so worried about coatings developing water spots. This was impressive to say the least and leaves me with a good feeling about the performance of the Cquartz/Gliss combo.

Hey Guz,

Do you prefer the Ti02/Gliss combo or UK/Ti02 combo,assuming you did the latter?

[The Guz]

Hey Guz,

Do you prefer the Ti02/Gliss combo or UK/Ti02 combo,assuming you did the latter?

The UK/TiO2 seems to give the painted surface a different look compared to using TiO2/Gliss or UK 3.0/Gliss. Seems more reflective with UK/TiO2. Gliss will give slightly more slickness. I also think Gliss exhibits marring easier as it is not adding hardness like UK or TiO2. I am testing that on my current daily drive with various combinations to see if that is the case.

[fdresq4]

I’ve been thinking of doing the UK/Ti02 combo here is Southeast Alabama.

[dman68]

I’ve been thinking of doing the UK/Ti02 combo here is Southeast Alabama.

OK, I give. What is UK/Ti02 combo?