# Wheels off detailing and coatings - curing, water etc



## sidewalkdances (Apr 19, 2007)

Wasnt entirely sure where to post this - maybe better suited to the wheels or the paint protection sub forums? 

Its finally time for me to do a wheels off detail of the new car. Im generally confident with the whole process, but one thing has me stumped as a driveway detailer. 

My usual routine is to get the cleaning and decontamination done on day one and start any polishing if I have the time. This usually includes taking the wheels off either 1 at a time or maybe two at a time and doing the full works including coating with GTechniq C5. 

Day two is usually polish and protect. However, the car will have been sat outside over night so I usually give the car at a bare minimum a snow foam to get rid of any dust/debris from being sat out over night. For arguments sake, i'll get the wheels all sealed and back on by 2pm and then back out in the driveway from say 9am. So a little way short of the 24 hour cure time for the ceramic on the wheels. 

How would you deal with this scenario? I will of course be careful not to get them wet, but its sort of inevitable that there will be 'some' water that gets on the freshly protected wheels.


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## crxftyyy (Jan 17, 2018)

I've literally just purchased a cheap set of wheel covers from amazon for this exact reason, works perfectly. Either that or if you've the facilities to leave it on axle stands and wheels elsewhere 

Sent from my KB2003 using Tapatalk


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## Blackroc (Dec 10, 2012)

Spray on a sealant (Reload / C2v3) after a few hours and you will be fine. If its a warm day the wheels will have had plenty of time to cure, and the spray sealants will help avoid waterspotting


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## sidewalkdances (Apr 19, 2007)

Blackroc said:


> Spray on a sealant (Reload / C2v3) after a few hours and you will be fine. If its a warm day the wheels will have had plenty of time to cure, and the spray sealants will help avoid waterspotting


This could be perfect. I have a fair amount of C2v3 that I could just chuck on overnight

Thank You!!!!


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

You could swap the process around - 
Day 1 - wash, polish, protect.
Day 2- wheels

That way you don't need to rewash for day 2.

#worksmart

Cheers,

Chris


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## sidewalkdances (Apr 19, 2007)

Summit Detailing said:


> You could swap the process around -
> Day 1 - wash, polish, protect.
> Day 2- wheels
> 
> ...


Possibly not a bad idea. I can probably get into the arches and everything enough on day 1 not to need to soak everything on day 2. Then I could do the wheels and such on day 2 whilst any coatings are curing. As long as I am careful when I need to decon the brake calipers I suppose then I reckon that will work.


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