Slight Marring....What would you do?

[Mark]

On my beloved Tahoe, and which was coated with CQ UK about 2 years ago, kept constantly under cover after, and lovingly treated with Reload periodically, I have noted some slight paint marring.

The marring, which I'm seeing on both front doors, and some other certain small areas has occurred from the Covercraft Weathershield HD Cover, and mostly at wherever there are seams on this cover. The gale force winds causing the cover to rub the paint has caused this slight damage, can't be helped, and I have done al sorts of "Blanket mods" under the cover to help lessen such.

The Weathershield HD, although their TOTL cover, and wears like iron is not all that paint friendly of a cover I've noted.

And the wind storms we can sometimes get here are just absolutely crazy and wicked. The CQ UK has done more than an admirable job of protection, considering the beating the cover places on the vehicle.

So, there are some options, and what I do have on hand in stock that might work temporarily, are fresh bottles of both Carpro Essence, and Essence + (Plus)

I had thought of just first using the Essence by hand, to lightly go over such panels, such as an entire door, or wherever, maybe the whole darn truck, to slightly polish out such light marring by hand, that Essence will also fill and cleanse as well.

Plus it will hopefully remove any traces of Reload, and prep such areas for the next step.

Now, would you say folks, that the next step, at least for the time being temporarily over the next few months could simply be a hand application of Essence Plus? Then again, maintain with Reload?

I'm hopefully just looking to do some minor quick repair for the time being.

And that yes, at some future point I will consider an entire recoat with perhaps a Essence prep, and then a full recoat with CQuartz, or CQuartz UK again.

I'm thinking that this 1-2 punch will be the best option for now.

Please advise on my game plan, all ideas will be of great help! Thanks!

 

[DARK HORSE]

If you just want to repair the coating for now, your best option is to use Essence Plus either by hand or machine (I would prefer machine). Either way use only a CarPro gloss pad. Anything else would be to abrasive. The next day top with Reload. Should be good as new.

 

[Mark]

If you just want to repair the coating for now, your best option is to use Essence Plus either by hand or machine (I would prefer machine). Either way use only a CarPro gloss pad. Anything else would be to abrasive. The next day top with Reload. Should be good as new.

Thank you for your reply and advice.

I was sort of thinking in the back of my mind this would be the answer. Since I understand there is no abrasives in Essence Plus, then I should then not have to worry about removing any of the precious coating already on board.

I am running low on a couple Carpro items, and will consider at least a couple of the Gloss Pads when placing an order.

In the meantime, I can of course always try such by hand, and see what the results are?
Thanks again for your help!

 

[Merlin]

If you just want to repair the coating for now, your best option is to use Essence Plus either by hand or machine (I would prefer machine). Either way use only a CarPro gloss pad. Anything else would be to abrasive. The next day top with Reload. Should be good as new.

Good advice...

Please share your results.

BTW - What are your thought on the Covercraft Weathershield HD?

 

[Dr Oldz]

Honestly, I find Hydro2 to have some filling properties. Perhaps that may fill the marring in if it's not too bad. Worth a shot if u have some onhand anyway!

 

[Mark]

Hi Merlin,
In the past 5 years I've owned 2 Covercraft Covers. I had a Covercraft NOAH prior to the Weathershield HD.

In a comparison of the two, I believe the NOAH was a 3-ply Cover, and from their Graph was said to do many things very well.

While the NOAH was a softer material than the Weathershield HD, it was nowhere near as durable, began to lose its water repellency, and began to tear in many high stress areas after 2 years of use. This flaw though could've been exasperated by myself though, by the use of Aerospace 303 Fabric Protector I tried because of the cover losing its water repellency. That the chemical in that product harmed the cover's material.

The cover began to rip-tear at the front and back where I had Gust Guard Cords and Clamps, began to rip at the corners of the rear step bumper. That after 2 years the cover literally had the strength of "fuzzy paper", that bad.

In comparison, the Weathershield HD is wearing like iron, after the same period of time (2 years) displays a much better degree of water repellency, no tears have occurred, and the HD I believe is not a laminate, but a tightly woven 1-ply material.

We experience ridiculously wicked winds here in the desert often, especially can occur during Monsoon Season here, like a damn hurricane, 50-60mph winds, where you'd swear the cover on the vehicle looks like an air balloon at times, with the billowing of air getting under the cover. Just crazy here at times. Plus here in the desert, and even though the vehicle sits under a 2-car Carport, the sun is intense, is damaging in and of itself, and the dusts here are just like you see in the spaghetti western cowboy movies, murder to keep a vehicle clean.

With the HD Cover, I do not use any Gust Guards now to retain the cover, just a security cable at the lower center of the cover, and even through all the winds, it stays put, has never come off. The NOAH never came off either.

As for wind speeds I would say we've gotten days here many times with 50-65 mph gusts. And white-out dust storms where a mountain range (Sacramento Mountains) that looms 9,000' just two or so miles east from me cannot even be seen. And what makes such dust often, is the largest Gypsum Field in the world just 3 miles west of me, White Sands Missile Range and Monument.

We're in a basin here (Tularosa Basin) between two Mountain ranges and we're at 4300' here in Alamogordo, NM.

The one downside of the HD Cover though is that it is not as paint friendly, especially at certain seams which have material doubled-tripled in those areas, and are stitched.

In retrospect, the NOAH was not the optimal choice sadly. And before I bought the NOAH, I was not aware that Covercraft will send you sample swatches that are labeled of all their materials used in their cover line up free of charge if you call them, and give them your address.

For a year round outdoor cover, there did appear to be other worthy candidates, perhaps such as the Sunbrella also.

 

[Merlin]

I used a Covercraft Weathershield HD for years. It had a slight tear at the seam where the "Dumbo Ears" are (after 4+ years) and they sent me a new one no questions asked. I went through 4-5 different covers before I purchased the Covercraft HD Weathershield. It's like having a garage in your driveway. It is not as soft as a "interior only" dust cover and IMHO it "may" cause fine scratches IF the wind is blowing really hard, but there was nothing I could ever put my finger on.

On the other hand, if you have a coating on your vehicle, I have found that Essence Plus with a Carpro Gloss pads does a GREAT job of eliminating them. I like using it even if a vehicle does not have a coating. It's a great product for eliminating fine swirls without abrading paint thickness. The only drawback is...you can't put a coating on top of Essence Plus. But IMHO the gloss looks great by itself.

For HOT, rainy South Florida weather the Covercraft Weathershield HD is the way to go.

 

[Mark]

As for repair options to an existing CQ Coating that I mention initially, I would imagine that another option if I chose it, could be a light polish and prep with CP Essence, and then simply re-coat with CQ, correct?

What I thought of possibly doing, is address the areas where I see this slight surface marring with a DA, Gloss Pads and Essence, and for the rest of the panels where I see no damage at all, to simply just hand apply Essence to use as a paint prep only without any possible removal of the underlying CQ UK Coat?

The only other product ever used on the Paint since coating has been periodic applications of Reload, nothing else.

I assume standard CQuartz will play well over CQ UK, and Essence?

PS: Autogeek has a great sale today, and I ordered two 5.5" Gloss Pads, 1L of Reload, and a 30ml Bottle of standard CQuartz, nothing more.

 

[Merlin]

As for repair options to an existing CQ Coating that I mention initially, I would imagine that another option if I chose it,
could be a light polish and prep with CP Essence, and then simply re-coat with CQ, correct?

What I thought of possibly doing, is address the areas where I see this slight surface marring with a DA, Gloss Pads and Essence,
and for the rest of the panels where I see no damage at all, to simply just hand apply Essence to use as a paint prep only without
any possible removal of the underlying CQ UK Coat?

The only other product ever used on the Paint since coating has been periodic applications of Reload, nothing else.

I assume standard CQuartz will play well over CQ UK, and Essence?

IIRC if you polish, (even a light polish) it will remove the ceramic coating. Yes, Essence has an (very mild) abrasive.
The only product that I know of that can be applied over a coating that will not remove the coating is Essence PLUS.
Personally, I would apply Essence PLUS lightly by machine with non abrasive foam pads like the Carpro Gloss pad.
Again, IIRC Essence Plus was designed to "repair" paint that was coated and has gotten fine wash mark scratches.

If you are going to recoat then Essence would be a good choice to remove your existing coating before reapplying.
If you polish with Essence you can apply standard CQuartz. IIRC you can not apply a coating on top of Essence Plus.

Someone chime in here and correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[The Guz]

IIRC if you polish, (even a light polish) it will remove the ceramic coating. Yes, Essence has an (very mild) abrasive. The only product that I know of that can be applied over a coating that will not remove the coating is Essence PLUS.Personally, I would apply Essence PLUS lightly by machine with non abrasive foam pads like the Carpro Gloss pad.Again, IIRC Essence Plus was designed to "repair" paint that was coated and has gotten fine wash mark scratches.If you are going to recoat then Essence would be a good choice to remove your existing coating before reapplying.If you polish with Essence you can apply standard CQuartz. IIRC you can not apply a coating on top of Essence Plus.Someone chime in here and correct me if I'm mistaken.

This pretty much sums it up.

 

[fdresq4]

IIRC if you polish, (even a light polish) it will remove the ceramic coating. Yes, Essence has an (very mild) abrasive.
The only product that I know of that can be applied over a coating that will not remove the coating is Essence PLUS.
Personally, I would apply Essence PLUS lightly by machine with non abrasive foam pads like the Carpro Gloss pad.
Again, IIRC Essence Plus was designed to "repair" paint that was coated and has gotten fine wash mark scratches.

If you are going to recoat then Essence would be a good choice to remove your existing coating before reapplying.
If you polish with Essence you can apply standard CQuartz. IIRC you can not apply a coating on top of Essence Plus.

Someone chime in here and correct me if I'm mistaken.

My buddy has CQUK applied and we used Essence Plus to address some "swirls." Essence Plus said a great job of repairing the area.

Merlin is spot on!

 

[Mark]

Thank you folks! I will follow all of your advice, and will try the Essence Plus. I have it on hand, just never tried-used it is all.

When I can, I'll update this thread with my results.

 

[Merlin]

On minor swirls Essence PLUS feel like I'm "cheating". It is easy, quick and swirl problem solved.
No polishing with an abrasive, no removing and recoating, minor swirls are gone and a brilliant gloss.
I use it on non-coated vehicle too! Just remember you can not coat on top of Essence PLUS. It is a LSP.
Now the question I have is...How do waxes and sealants behave on top of Essence PLUS? Any feedback?

 

[The Guz]

On minor swirls Essence PLUS feel like I'm "cheating". It is easy, quick and swirl problem solved.
No polishing with an abrasive, no removing and recoating, minor swirls are gone and a brilliant gloss.
I use it on non-coated vehicle too! Just remember you can not coat on top of Essence PLUS. It is a LSP.
Now the question I have is...How do waxes and sealants behave on top of Essence PLUS? Any feedback?

The only sealant I have used over essence plus is Reload. Seemed to work just fine. The protection from essence plus is pretty decent. Saw 3 months out of it before it needed a little help. The fillers stick around longer.

 

[Corey]

The only sealant I have used over essence plus is Reload. Seemed to work just fine. The protection from essence plus is pretty decent. Saw 3 months out of it before it needed a little help. The fillers stick around longer.

Appreciate the feedback Guz, can I ask how long you left the ES PLUS on before you wiped it off?

 

[The Guz]

Appreciate the feedback Guz, can I ask how long you left the ES PLUS on before you wiped it off?

Hi Corey. I only used it on a small area of the car as an initial trial for it. I did not let the product sit that long before being wiped off. No more than a couple mins if I recall correctly. I did this last year when it came out and have not had the opportunity to play around with it some more.

 

[Mark]

Essence Plus for the Win!

Well, I tried the Essence Plus on my Tahoe today. First time I ever use this product.

While I did have the PC on hand, and a couple of 5.5" Gloss Pads, I decided to forego machinery, and did the entire vehicle by hand. The reasons were a few, one, I'm in the process of selling the house, and moving, two, I wanted to see how this product would work simply by hand, and three, sometimes I find there's less post cleanup needed of removing product that has gone where I didn't intend it to go (Sling, nooks and crannys, etc)

It was a bit hard seeing that I was getting good coverage on a white vehicle, and had to look at various angles as I went under my carport. Temps were perhaps mid 80's, nice out, a sunny day not that humid today here.

The product worked me as about as hard as say a cleaner wax, I rubbed it in well, and first addressed the worst two areas of which I had noted marring, the front driver's and passenger's doors, caused by a combination of the Covercraft HD Cover's Seams, high winds, and our horrid desert dusts.

In these two specific areas, I had to repeat the application a few times in an area about 6" wide, and 18" long. The repeat applications was doing the trick, and with a cursory inspection could no longer see any marring.

I then went on to do the rest of the vehicle, working my way around one side applying, then coming back to remove, then the other side, repeat, then Hood, and Roof.

Removal was relatively easy, and was left with absolute pristine clarity of the paint and lenses.

The one quality of this product I really liked, is no staining or difficulty removing this product from any trim. Comes right off! Excellent! I also applied to all plastic lenses on the vehicle front and back, and got just beautiful results! (It is to be noted all trim on my Tahoe is either CQuartz UK'd, or CQuartz DLX'd)

The Paint finish looked so outstanding, as good or better than the initial process of polishing, and applying the CQ UK on the vehicle.

This is a very impressive product to say the least! Carpro really has a winner with this product, cannot say enough good about it.

I suspect that yes, I probably would've gotten faster results on the marred areas had I used a machine, and may have even gotten better results, and greater enhancement of gloss by machine, but by hand, it worked fantastic!

I'm sorry that I didn't take any pics, but looking over the vehicle when I was done, and in all honesty I can tell you, I don't think my '97 Tahoe looked that good the day I took delivery of it back in October 1996.

 

[Mark]

This morning, while doing an Oil Change-Filter, and pulling the Cover part way back, I could again still see some minor marring in those specific areas, and as well the very front ends of the front fenders.

Again, these are other areas where the tough wear like iron, but "Paint Unfriendly" Covercraft Weathershield HD's Seams have come in contact with the paint, and rubbing from high winds.

I gave those areas a couple more Essence Plus applications and removals, got some bit of improvement, but am concluding that at some future point the DA and Polishes will have to come out, and will have to correct those areas, and then again coat with CQuartz/CQuartz UK.

No doubt at that point I won't just do those areas, but will re-apply another coat of CQuartz to the entire vehicle.

This Essence Plus should hold me for awhile, and perhaps come next spring at point B when back in the Midwest, I'll then accomplish such.

I'll probably reach for a bottle of Essence first as my Polish choice, some soft mild polishing pads such as the Gloss Pads and go from there.

Evidently, this marring was a little bit more severe than just such mild marring-swirling created from washing.

 

[Merlin]

...I could again still see some minor marring in those specific areas, and as well the very front ends of the front fenders.

Again, these are other areas where the tough wear like iron, but "Paint Unfriendly" Covercraft Weathershield HD's Seams have come in contact with the paint, and rubbing from high winds.

I have a Covercraft HD and yes, I believe in high winds the HD cover could cause marring.
The Covercraft Weathershield HD is a Heavy Duty (hence the name HD) "outdoor" protective cover.
The HD is NOT a "soft" indoor "show car" cover but it does protect the "vehicle" from harsh outdoor elements.
The HD material is almost a crispy type of material and winds getting under the cover can cause it to rub on the paint.

NOTES:
When putting the cover on ALWAYS make sure the vehicle is clean first. Also, the HD cover can be put in the washer/dryer.
Washing/drying the HD cover not only cleans dirt from the cover but revitalizes the hydrophobic properties of the cover.
Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for washing/drying the Weathershield HD cover.

LASTLY:
Covercraft makes some wonderful "indoor" vehicle cover products specifically designed for indoor use.
If you can keep the vehicle inside and put an Covercraft "indoor" cover on it...no more marring challenges.

 

[Mark]

Thank you Merlin for your comments.

I am in the process of moving, in fact closing on the house will be today, and it's back to the Midwest.
With that said, my truck will now have to sit uncovered for an unknown period of time as it will be getting daily use until I buy myself another daily driver.

I did sell my daily driver car here last week, and wasn't about to drag it across country.

So, the goofy high winds we get here, the nasty dusts which there are two kinds locally, and the rubbing of the cover will cease. Now the truck will face other upcoming nasties such as snow, cold, and probably road salts. Unless I find a garage or buy a house with one. That has yet to be determined?

Catching the Tahoe's side panels in the proper lighting after I wrote my last post, I can see a good deal of marring on the Rear B Pillars, and again, caused by the vertical seams of the Covercraft Cover. Essence Plus had no effect on these areas.

So, at some future point and if I wish to return to a show car finish on the truck I will have to polish paint again.

Would Carpro Reflect be the Polish of choice with Gloss Pads for repairing this damage without being overly aggressive? I never used it.