Ceramic coating a garaged classic car (modern base/clear repaint)

The protocol

1. Wash thoroughly with pH-neutral soap.
2. Chemically decontaminate (iron remover); clay only if the paint feels rough.
3. Optional: a light polish first — on a low-mile car the extra clarity is worth the hour.
4. Coat: These directions are for Hydro Silk, the pad-applied wipe-on coating this protocol uses as its example — other products' tools and flash times differ, so follow your bottle. Prime the pad with two full pumps, pre-dab ~2.5 ft sections, spread thin and even, dwell 5–30 minutes, buff off. Keep dry 8 hours; no washing for 3 days.
5. Maintain: pH-neutral hand wash; no brush tunnels; a silica-safe detailer between washes.
6. Reapply: every ~12 months for this profile.

Specific to this setup

Fresh respray? Body-shop paint air-cures: wait 30–90 days before coating so solvents can off-gas. Factory-baked paint needs no wait.

A garage queen coated once a year spends most of its life at peak beading — the coating outlasts the miles, not the months.

Sources: goshineco.com · drbeasleys.com