Opti-Coat is one of the latest products to be released by Optimum Polymer Technologies. According to Optimum, Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat that bonds to all surfaces. As the Opti-Coat will seal in any paint defects or contamination on the surface, it is only sold to professional detailers who have to sign a release form before they can purchase the Opti-Coat.
Naturally, after signing a release form and reading about how Opti-Coat forms a permanent coating that acts as a second layer of clear coat, I had to try it out for myself.
Although the Opti-Coat is supposed to provide an additional layer of protection on top of the regular clear coat, what better way to try out a product that is supposed to act as an additional layer of clear coat than on a car with clear coat failure?
I had carried out a trial in 2009 on a Mazda 626 which suffered from clear coat failure on the trunk of the car. At that time I was evaluating the correction potential of a few Meguiar's products.
Some pictures from that trial. Before:
The full details of the trial can be found here:
Note that despite the clear coat failure as evident in the first picture, the paint defects were removed by compounding. However, this was only temporary as the paint would fade back to its original condition due to a lack of a clear coat.
While not designed for this purpose, would the Opti-Coat be able to act as a 'new' clear coat? Only one way to find out.....
Click below to find out more about the Opti-Coat trial:
The condition of the car about a year after the initial trial.
Inspired by the Porsche Design Cayman I did a couple of weeks earlier, I decided to replicate the stripes by taping off the middle of the trunk for the trial.
Compounded the trial area with Optimum Compound II + Meg's 2.0 Foam Cutting Pad.
Although the OCII may lack the cutting power of M105 and required multiple passes, there was no dust, it had a very long work time and finished off very well. Can't wait to get my hands on the new Optimum Hyper Compound.
Original condition:
As the Opti-Coat will permanently seal the surface of the paint, it was critical to ensure that the surface was properly prepared so the OCII was followed up with Optimum Polish II and Optimum Finish.
A few drops of Opti-Coat were applied to the surface of the paint and spread with a foam applicator pad until evenly distributed. For a product which is supposed to form a permanent coating, it was surprisingly easy to apply with no mixing of parts A & B or any special application techniques. In fact, the Opti-Coat was more like a supercharged version of Opti-Seal.
The Opti-Coat dries to the touch in 30 min and fully cures in 12 hours.
After Opti-Coat:
Got the LED light out for some shots. Untreated:
After Opti-Coat:
More comparison shots:
Should have taped off one line down the middle and it would really have looked like the Porsche Design Cayman...
It will be interesting to see how the Opti-Coat performs over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more updates...
