Recently a customer brought us a 2013 Audi S6 V8T Quattro to participate in our 2024 Master Training Program. This Ibis White Quattro featured the Prestige Trim Package and wheels by Avant Garde Wheels. This customer wanted to top off the vehicle with an experimental top-of-the-line ceramic coating. The Quattro was coated during our training event, where candidates applying for Master Installer status have the chance to demonstrate their skills and refine their technique. Our customer walked away extremely happy with the final product, and the knowledge that their 10 year ceramic coating was installed by the newest class of certified Master Installers, an elite detailing group representing the top of their field. In this article we’ll give you an inside look into the coating process at our training center. Let’s dive in.
Before installation could begin, we needed to decontaminate and paint-correct the vehicle. Fireball’s inspection sheets allowed our trainees to recognize multiple areas of concern, which we treat with appropriate products. This Audi was relatively clean, but we went ahead and primed it with Iron Burn anyway.
We also decided to clean the engine bay. For this we used Nappa Cleaner and a soft bristled brush. While its name comes from Nappa Leather, Nappa Cleaner excels in removing all manners of dirt and grease. With strong anti-streaking elements, and great cleaning power, Nappa Cleaner is the go to cleaner for engine bays.
Nappa Cleaner is also a conditioner, which helps reduce the risk of plastic and vinyl cracking and fading, a problem especially prevalent in the high-heat environment of an engine bay.
Nappa Cleaner is effective on fabric, leather, vinyl, plastics, and other interior trim elements. The soft bristle brush helps to agitate the cleaner’s foaming functionality, enabling deep cleaning that reaches into crevices and around tight mechanical elements that non-foam cleaners would miss.
Paint correction is an incredibly important step in ceramic coating. Since we knew we’d be using the new coating prototypes from Fireball Korea on this car, we had an experienced installer from Auto Appearance KC correct it.
With paint correction completed, we got started testing our prototypes on the Quattro. Part of the benefit of volunteering a vehicle for a Fireball Ceramic Coating training is the chance to get one of the first vehicles in the world coated with whatever new product Fireball is working on at the moment. For the Quattro, we coated the front, the sides, and the back in three different coatings. These coatings aren’t available to anyone yet, so unfortunately we can’t tell you too much about them. What we can say is that Jin hyuk Jang personally oversaw the application process, and once the coating had set, the hydrophobic performance astounded even our veteran installers. Keep your eye out for new products, coming soon from Fireball.
Along with the experimental coatings, we coated the Avant Garde Wheels with Talon. Talon is our specialized one year high-temperature ceramic coating, built for high stress areas like brake calipers, exhaust tips, and intake manifolds. Talon specializes in protecting vehicles from brake dust, water damage, heat damage, iron contamination, and chemical build-up. Our trainees were treated to a demonstration on Talon’s application, including the Fireball Finger Suede to reach coating into narrow places the regular coating applicator block cannot reach.
Once the coatings were set, the Quattro was complete.
All of our installers have been factory trained in an environment much like the one outlined above, so when you come to a Fireball Installer, you know they’ve been properly and thoroughly trained. You’ll get a thorough, top-to-bottom inspection and correction like the one outlined here, and your detailer can help talk you through our product lineup to find which coating is best for your specific vehicle. If you’re looking for a ceramic coating, don’t wait, choose Fireball for a company who delivers quality in every detail.
