Soft Paint?

[casvg5]

So, I am a Camaro enthusiast, and all serious Camaro owners are aware of one thing...we have HORRID paint on the 5th gen cars.

Soft paint is the number one complaint to GM on the 5th generation Camaro.

I finally got the flex out and went to work last night. V34 compound from CG and a cutting pad. I cant make a dent in the swirls after 4-6 passes on 6 with good pressure. SOFT PAINT?? The paint was in great shape, "perfect" for most people, but not to a detailers eye. Nothing deep. I seriously thought about wet sanding my 2010 garage kept Camaro with "soft paint".

I am only owner and its never been repainted. What gives?

Also....a brinkman light makes it almost impossible to see swirls on a metallic flake paint. The car is Cyber Grey.

 

[casvg5]

 

[silverfox]

Who ever said the Gen 5 Camaros have soft paint? I own one and have buffed out a few and the clear coat that I have experienced is as hard as the Vette clear coats.

 

[casvg5]

Who ever said the Gen 5 Camaros have soft paint? I own one and have buffed out a few and the clear coat that I have experienced is as hard as the Vette clear coats.

Check any of the larger Camaro forums. The paint is the number 1 concern for 5th gen owners. It is the number one complaint reported to GM about the car.

 

[casvg5]

Chipping! That's what it was. Now I recall correctly.

Chipping and pealing paint is the number once complaint to GM, not soft paint.


Anyway.....I couldn't even begin to pull swirls out yesterday, was getting a bit frustrated.

Also, anyone have a tip for inspecting swirls on a grey metallic car? My brinkman actually hides them on the car. I found myself using the overhead fluorescent lights to squint for swirls.

 

[casvg5]

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I posted this after buffing out a 2010


Camaro Clear and my take...



I've buffed out a number of these cars since then and from my experience I've found the paint to be hard but still polishable just like I state in my article above.

A long time ago, back in 2002 when I first joined CorvetteForum, I found all the in-house detailing gurus on that forum ALL talking about how SOFT the clear paints were being used on modern Corvettes.

What I discovered was the age-old problem of confusion.

The guys over there were confusing scratch-sensitive with softness. They thought the paint on their Vettes was soft because it scratches easily.

Clearcoat paints can be very hard and still scratch easily, it's called scratch-sensitive.

I'm glad to say there's a lot less confusion over the hardness factor on Corvettes now days.


I actually have a section on paint hardness and softness and the issues of how it's gauged in my how-to book. What it says in my book is that it's hard for a person that's new to machine polishing to gauge paint hardness because the only way to gauge paint hardness is to first buff on a lot of cars, that is a wide spectrum of paint with a wide range of hardness and softness.

Only after a person has experience buffing on both extremes are they able to "easily" do a Test Spot and then categorically state whether the paint in front of them is hard... or soft...

How else would one know for sure without experience?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Also, anyone have a tip for inspecting swirls on a grey metallic car? My brinkman actually hides them on the car. I found myself using the overhead fluorescent lights to squint for swirls.

Turn the lights off in your garage and then try using other light source. Have less overall light washing over the car when inspecting.


Light silver metallics are just hard to inspect. Medium grays are not much better...

The good news is, for anyone that doesn't want to become a detailer and doesn't want to see swirls, purchase a silver metallic car. It's hard to see the swirls so you won't...

 

[casvg5]

I posted this after buffing out a 2010


Camaro Clear and my take...



I've buffed out a number of these cars since then and from my experience I've found the paint to be hard but still polishable just like I state in my article above.

A long time ago, back in 2002 when I first joined CorvetteForum, I found all the in-house detailing gurus on that forum ALL talking about how SOFT the clear paints were being used on modern Corvettes.

What I discovered was the age-old problem of confusion.

The guys over there were confusing scratch-sensitive with softness. They thought the paint on their Vettes was soft because it scratches easily.

Clearcoat paints can be very hard and still scratch easily, it's called scratch-sensitive.

I'm glad to say there's a lot less confusion over the hardness factor on Corvettes now days.


I actually have a section on paint hardness and softness and the issues of how it's gauged in my how-to book. What it says in my book is that it's hard for a person that's new to machine polishing to gauge paint hardness because the only way to gauge paint hardness is to first buff on a lot of cars, that is a wide spectrum of paint with a wide range of hardness and softness.

Only after a person has experience buffing on both extremes are they able to "easily" do a Test Spot and then categorically state whether the paint in front of them is hard... or soft...

How else would one know for sure without experience?

I never thought about it in that way, that paint can still be hard but scratch sensitive.

 

[dorkiedoode]

Dark street with yellow Street lamp are your best friend. I have a metallic color and no sun or garage light can make the swirls appears. Also you have to shine the light on the panel and move back as far back as possible but enough that you can see swirls. Welcome to the worst color to detail. At least we get to stay clean the longest.

 

[casvg5]

The good news is, for anyone that doesn't want to become a detailer and doesn't want to see swirls, purchase a silver metallic car. It's hard to see the swirls so you won't...

Yea until I go out to a street meet late at night and the overhead parking lot lamps point out my swirls like a highlighter, and all my friends say "aren't you a detailer?!"

 

[casvg5]

One more for you Mike.

I recently leased out a building JUST to detail in. 3000sq ft, nice. I painted the walls, power washed the floor, painted the floor, basically prepped it like a surgical room. Then started working on my own car. EVERYTHING is covered in compound dust. Any way to combat this?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I never thought about it in that way, that paint can still be hard but scratch sensitive.

Barry Meguiar coined that term and explanation in the early 1990's. I got it from him and always give him credit as I try to never steal other people's material but instead give due credit where credit is due.

Yea until I go out to a street meet late at night and the overhead parking lot lamps point out my swirls like a highlighter, and all my friends say "aren't you a detailer?!"

I kind of meant how when you're out in direct sunlight with a silver metallic car and if you try to look at the paint you can't because the flake acts like a giant mirror and blinds you and even hurts your eyes to try to look at it or "inspect" it.

One more for you Mike.

I recently leased out a building JUST to detail in. 3000sq ft, nice. I painted the walls, power washed the floor, painted the floor, basically prepped it like a surgical room. Then started working on my own car.

EVERYTHING is covered in compound dust. Any way to combat this?

Kind of like this recent boat detail we did?

Pictures: 2000 Baja 232 Boss High Performance Extreme Makeover



Our RaceDeck TuffShield Floor is taking a pounding!

Here's Rob doing a little floor cleaning with the garage vacuum...

Here's a few tips...

Use compounds known for low dusting but all compounds and polishes will dust sooner or later unless you change out pads often. It's the spent residue that builds up that becomes the actual dust. Just typed something about this here,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...mike-phillips/67028-no-dusting-compounds.html


Set-up some fans at one end of the shop to blow past the car and a couple of box fans set up in the door to the shop at the opposite end so you have a blowing/sucking action going on.

Blow shop out AFTER you're done with all the correction work and hopefully in the future you won't be having to continually be doing correction work so the problem goes away. Are you detailing other people's cars too?


For example, my new truck was a swirled-out mess when I first bought it. Since we buffed it out though I've been keeping the paint cleaned, polished and waxed and I have not had to re-compound it.


1987 Chevy 4x4 Monster Truck "Before & After" Pictures

 

[c8n]

What I discovered was the age-old problem of confusion.

The guys over there were confusing scratch-sensitive with softness. They thought the paint on their Vettes was soft because it scratches easily.

Clearcoat paints can be very hard and still scratch easily, it's called scratch-sensitive.

I'm glad to say there's a lot less confusion over the hardness factor on Corvettes now days.

I think I belong in the above category. Although I do not own a GM car, I have an Acura and Honda paints were infamous for soft paint.

Initially on my car, swirls were relatively easy fixes but the RIDS were a real pain. The more I get in contact with other Acura owners, I am slowly realizing that the paint isn't as soft as I initially thought. I recently got some MF pads and I am going to get medieval on those RIDS very soon!

 

[casvg5]

Are you detailing other people's cars too?

Yes. detailing shop. Ill try the suck and blow method. :dblthumb2: