I recently got the Supra wrapped in XPEL Ultimate Plus paint protection film and in preparation for this, the car had to be completely stripped of any previous coatings. The paint has to be bear in order for the film to properly adhere to the paint. This is before PPF application, after application and although XPEL advertises that you’ll get 10 years of life out of the film, you’d really want to coat the film to get anywhere near that longevity. Coating the film is relatively simple as you pretty much just do whatever you do with the paint, whether it is waxing, using a sealant, or some other coating. I figured since I’m hoping to keep this film on for a long time, I might as well go for an extremely durable coating. After some research, I’ve decided on Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. With other types of coatings, we get weeks with waxes, months with sealants, then years with ceramics. 1-2 years is pretty standard now with ceramic type coatings and 3+ years is pretty good. With Graphene Ceramic Coating, Adam’s is claiming 7+ years of protection. Of course, all these durability ratings are based on lab tests and when a car is actually driven and faces the elements, a lot of things can go wrong for a coating and durability can take a huge hit. I know this but I’m still going to be optimistic and go with what I’ve seen advertised as essentially the longest lasting coating.
This video is by no means a how-to video or an in-depth breakdown of Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. It’s just going to be me attempting to apply this product to my PPF and provide you with some information that I’ve come across that may be helpful for anyone else who’s interested in this product. If you’d like to learn more about application or the product, I’d suggest watching the video that Adam’s made on their YouTube channel. It’s pretty detailed and where I got a lot of my information. With that being said, let’s get into it.
Like any other paint protection coating, to get the best performance, we have to spend some time prepping the surface prior to application. This means that we should, in order, wash the car, chemically decontaminate, mechanically decontaminate, then paint correct and polish if necessary. This particular application is weird. The PPF throws a big wrench into the process so it’s going to be very different than what most people are going to deal with.
To start, I’m going to wash the car. This gets rid of any obvious dirt and debris. Things that we don’t want on the surface in general and definitely not under any coatings. On this occasion, I used Adam’s Car Shampoo.
Next, I’ll be moving on to decontaminating the surface. I usually start this with chemical decontamination but with the PPF, I was advised not to use any harsh chemicals. That covers quite a large spectrum. I wasn’t given specifics but I’m going to play it safe and skip the chemical decontamination stage because that requires the use of an iron remover which is kind of harsh. It also helps that this car hasn’t been driven since the PPF was installed so there shouldn’t be a crazy amount of fallout on the surface. So, I just move straight to mechanical decontamination. According to the official XPEL website, their PPF can be clay barred so that’s great. For this step, I’m using Meguiar’s Mild Professional Detailing Clay and Meguiar’s Last Touch Spray Detailer as a lube.
Now that the surface has been decontaminated, the next typical step is to take care of any necessary paint correction. I couldn’t find any specifics on the XPEL website but I’m personally not going to polish the film. Because the PPF is a softer plastic, it can pick up scratches and when you paint correct, you are essentially abrading away the scratches, leaving smaller scratches. Doing this on the film can be extremely touchy, it’s not a situation that I’m comfortable with so I’m going to avoid it.
By skipping the chemical decontamination stage and paint correction, it likely means that I’ve reduced the coating’s chance at an optimal bond with the film, but that’s a trade-off that I’m willing to take. The risks of doing these stages are unknown to me and can be extremely detrimental. I’d rather have to reapply the coating than reapply the film.
At this point, let’s take a look at the product. I bought the complete kit with UV light and this comes with everything that’s needed for the application itself. An important inclusion is the Surface Prep spray. This is an isopropyl alcohol mix and is designed to strip the surface of any remaining waxes and residues. It should be noted that 99% isopropyl alcohol can be used to clean the XPEL film so this mixture should be safe.
Now that I’ve stripped the surface to the best of my abilities, I’m ready to apply Adam’s Graphene Ceramic Coating. Applying this product is similar to many other highly concentrated ceramic coatings. You apply the coating on with the provided applicator, wait for it to rainbow and flash, then level the coating. It’s a relatively straightforward and easy process but if you’ve never done this before, I’d highly suggest watching the application video that’s on the official Adam’s YouTube page.
This kit comes with some suede applicators and towels and that seems to be the preferred way to apply this coating and to level it off. The suede keeps the coating from fully saturating the applicator and you’re able to spread it around more easily. Then when it comes time to buff and level, the suede towel is a bit tougher and stiffer so it cuts through the flashed coating and takes it off a bit easier than a standard microfiber towel.
When you apply this coating, it will begin to rainbow shortly after it hits the surface. This is very dependent on atmospheric conditions and flash times can vary. When the rainbow disappears, it’s time to buff and level the coating. The rainbow can be difficult to see on lighter color cars so you can double-check by touching the surface. The coating will become tackier and less shiny when it’s time to wipe. It is recommended that you level the coating as soon as possible but you do have some wiggle room. Things should be fine if you get to it within a few minutes. It really depends on conditions but Adam’s customer service told me that you have up to a few hours but again, there’s a lot of variables that come into play. Just watch it and get it off when it’s ready. The longer you leave the coating on, the harder it is to level as it hardens.
Now, something to note is that this product has what Adam’s calls UV Tracer Technology. This basically means that the coating will glow when exposed to a certain spectrum of UV light. So, if you hit it with an appropriate UV light like the one Adam’s sells, you can see where you’ve applied the coating. To be honest, this didn’t work very well for me and I find it largely gimmicky. If you use the UV light with any decent amount of light, it is basically too weak and makes it difficult to decipher between what’s coated and what’s not. Everything just looks purple. The UV light works a lot better at night or when it’s dark. This would only be helpful for those who have an indoor space where you can shut off the lights, check your work, turn the lights back on, and fix any necessary mistakes. If you’re working outside, the only time when the light is really useful is at night but then it’s too dark to actually work.
And that’s about it. Overall, the process went without a hitch. I found the coating itself to be easy to apply. If you’ve done any other ceramic coating, it’s about the same difficulty. I’m looking forward to seeing how the coating holds up but only time will tell. I’ll periodically make update videos to show you guys how the coating’s doing so make sure to subscribe to my YouTube for that.
If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.
Adam's Graphene Ceramic Coating https://amzn.to/32wHzux
Adam's Car Shampoo https://amzn.to/2RkyoGW
Meguiar’s C2000 Mirror Glaze Professional Detailing Clay https://amzn.to/3isPa2p
Meguiar’s Last Touch Spray Detailer https://amzn.to/2E1g7vo
Adam's Surface Prep https://amzn.to/2Rqf6zU
All the Auto Detailing Equipment I Use: https://www.amazon.com/ideas/amzn1.account.AF43XRPGVOUH2E5CJXQY4FIOGVAQ/3AI3XVAQEMORX?type=explore&ref=idea_cp_vl_ov_d
Want to support my work?
Consider visiting the shop and buying "Absolutely Nothing" https://www.HaiHoangTran.com/shop/absolutely-nothing
or
Become a Patron!
https://www.patreon.com/HaiHoangTran
or
PayPal
https://www.PayPal.me/HaiHoangTran
or
Just shop on Amazon via this link!
https://amzn.to/2FgsDnG