hey guys, Do certain manufacturers use hard clears or soft clears on all their cars or is it just certain ones?? Like I've read alot of posts that Corvettes and Lexus have hard clears or do they say, well, on all the Malibu's we're gonna use soft clear's and on the Trail Blazers we're gonna use hard clears. I guess what i'm asking is, are there certain car's you go do a job on thats gonna need paint correction, that you know is gonna have a hard clear or is it just hit and miss. I guess there are many varibles in this. Depending on what year model it is and etc? thanks, Heath
Hard / Soft Clear Coats: Each vehicle assembly plant uses different clear coat paint from one of three major paint suppliers; PPG, DuPont, and BASF products and each of these companies have a range of several differing paints 1. Some vehicle manufacturers have more than one plant assembling the same model of a vehicle; each plant will often use a different supplier for the clear coat paints. 2. Each assembly plant may elect to use one of several OEM paints from PPG, DuPont or BASF clear coat product lines. 3. There are other factors that will have an effect on a clear coat composition; oven drying time, temperature, the relevant age (i.e. how long ago was the paint applied) spot panel repairs (refinish) that are carried out either at the assembly plant or the rail head or port of entry. Each of these variables will affect the hardness or softness of clear coat paint This is also true of imports assembled in the US; usually one paint supplier is approved for all plants; however each plant may modify the application/bake process in order to meet production demand. This may also affect which has the harder or softer clear. Diagnosis is the key, not guess work; before deciding on what products to use ascertain the paint surface conditions - Paint thickness, New or Aged, Single stage or Clear coat, Oxidized, Soft or Hard or CeramiClear etc choose a panel and test your proposed foam pad / polish / machine speed process. Once you are satisfied that this process will give you the finish required, proceed to polish the rest of the paint surface. The more abrasive combination you have to use to see results, the harder the paint. Using the least aggressive pad / polish combination followed, if necessary by an incrementally more aggressive approach until you find what works. •Hard paint - does not mar as easily, but it's more difficult to polish surface defects. •Soft paint- is very easy to polish out surface defects, but easier to induce surface marring. As always generalizing carries a degree of risk as a panel(s) may have been re-painted See also - Hardness (Why is a very hard CC so easy to scratch) - http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f37/hardness-why-very-hard-cc-so-1438.html © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2008, all rights reserved
^^ That is a really good explanation. Overall it is going to be a matter of trial and error. It isn't always going to be the same, hard or soft, even among similar models. The more experienced that you get, the more of an idea that you will have on where to start, but you are still going to always want to do a test panel to confirm.
Where does Sherwin-Williams fit in? Are they not a major paint provider? My truck was painted using SW paint (not the house paint).
Great write up togwt! and on Sherwin Williams they are going to be the supplier for Ford next yr using latex based paints and might be using a hard CC on all the vehicles too. By the yr 2019 all paint suppliers must be using low or no voc paints for automotive finishes, So be ready because i think all major auto companies are going that route. This applies to all US based company's, don't know if overseas auto compaies are going that way either.
Clear Coat Innovations: Volatile organic compounds (VOC) - in the '80s the US Government began to get involved with the paint process used by auto makers, namely the volatile organic compounds (VOC) content of the petroleum based paints being used. The allowable emission limits of VOC were subjected to dramatic cutbacks. Solvent-based paints - are categorized by the ratio of solids (resins, pigments, binders, etc.) to liquids (solvents) In the US manufacturers are required to use high solids paints, with a ratio of about 60% solids to 40% solvent. In order to produce a better flow rate a higher percentage of solvents is required, however due to recent volatile organic compound (VOC) limit restrictions; the 60/40 percentage cannot be exceeded. These restrictions stem from the (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits on volatile organic compound (VOC), which are in almost all solvents. In other countries, these restrictions either don't exist or are more lenient, allowing manufacturers to use low solids paints (as low as 30% solids to 70% solvent), which tend to have a smoother appearance. To combat these restrictions paint companies are developing new technologies. High or low solid, is a ratio of paint to solvents - High is 60/40) that leaves more material (coverage) once paint has cured. Low is (30/70, which means the paint contains more solvents, once they have out-gassed (evaporated) leaves a thinner coat (paint thickness) Waterborne paints - for example, are essentially low solids paints (up to 60% solvent), but they are legal because de-ionized water is used as the solvent, as opposed to volatile organic compounds (VOC). In addition to the low solids aspect, waterborne paints have many other neat properties that help improve the performance and appearance. No wax/sealant fluorine-type clear coat finish –a technological advancement in clear coat finishes is a fluorine-type clear coat that needs little or no waxing. Currently available on Nissan Motor Corporation's Infiniti luxury automobile, "no-wax" clear-coats are likely to be available on other cars and from other manufacturers in the future. The fluorine-type clear coat finish requires special detailing, especially to correct damage to the clear coat, and should be treated exactly per the manufacturer's instructions in the owner's manual. Polishing and waxing in the usual detailing sense are not appropriate for these high-tech finishes. Because no-wax/minimum-wax finishes are so different from conventional finishes and from most other clear-coat finishes that have been available to date, it is likely that each manufacturer that produces such a finish in the future will also include very specific product and procedure recommendations for its individual formulation of no-wax clear coat. More resilient clear coat- a newer technology (2004) clear coat (CeramiClear) used by Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler, which provides an outstanding premium gloss, distinctness of image and long-lasting colour retention and a hard protective layer, some of the German (Audi, BMW, Porsche, etc) and European vehicle manufacturers have been using a BASF clear coat for some time. Since then, scratch resistant clear coats have rapidly become the standard in the automotive industry. PPG leads the market in offering a variety of scratch resistant clear coat technologies that not only meet the rigorous requirements of automotive manufacturing facilities worldwide, but also help vehicles retain a showroom-like finish for a longer period of time. The result: greater satisfaction with consumers, as they enjoy the look of their vehicles for a longer period of time. Scratch Resistant Powder Clear coat - with automakers striving to incorporate more environmentally-friendly solutions in the manufacture of automobiles, the use of powder coatings in lieu of traditional liquid coatings has become increasingly prevalent since they contain no volatile organic compounds. Accordingly, PPG has developed a powder clear coat with a level of scratch, mar, and etch resistance that is nearly on par with the industry's top of the line liquid clear coats. Launched in 2006, PPG's scratch resistant powder clear coat utilizes a Mar Enhancement Additive that increases the scratch resistance of powder clear coats five-fold. Self-Healing Clear coats and UV Cure Technologies - PPG is continuing to lead the way in scratch resistant clear coat technology with active research and development projects in two new areas. First, PPG is working on a self-healing clear coat that actually repairs scratches on heat activation. This technology will enable the clear coat to reflow when it is exposed to warm temperatures in order to heal scratches arising from day-to-day use. In addition, PPG is developing a clear coat that will utilize a UV cure, as opposed to a traditional oven bake cure, to achieve improved scratch and mar resistance. © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2008, all rights reserved
