Camaro Clear and my take...

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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Camaro Clear and my take...

There's been a few discussions over the polishability of the factory clear paint that comes on new Camaros. I've read a few threads where people have commented on the clear being on the soft side and difficult to work on.

First there are no definitives in this situation unless we could document that ALL Camaros being talked about all have the exact same paint system. Since we cannot document this, we can only assume the same type of clear is being sprayed on the assembly line where the car's are assembled.

So with that in mind, here's my take on what I thought of the clear on this specific Camaro, a 2010 SS

I thought the paint was hard like you find on a Corvette. I found it to be workable, in that with a Porter Cable 7424XP I was able to remove the shallow swirls and scratches leaving behind only the RIDS just like you can do on a modern Corvette. For deeper scratches a more aggressive product or pad could be used with DA Polisher or a person could switch over to a more powerful tool like a rotary buffer.

Removing deeper scratches out of thin panels would be done best using a rotary buffer with a small foam cutting or polishing pad but they could also be worked out using a spot repair pad with a DA Polisher and some patience.

Wipe-off using our Cobra Indigo Microfiber Towels didn't leave any marring in and of itself. Overall I thought the paint buffed like most Corvettes I've worked on and didn't mar or scratch early like a soft clear will.

This particular Camaro has been very well taken care of and really had a nice finish when it arrived to our facilities, I polished the hood and top fenders out to remove some of the lighter or shallow swirls, some haziness in some areas of the hood and to get a feel for the paint because I was curious and I know some of our members were curious.

To do this I used the Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover with a 5.5" white polishing pad followed by the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze with a 5.5" gray finishing pad and followed this by applying a coat of DP Poli-Coat using a blue 5.5" finishing or waxing foam pad.

The car came out immaculate but it was immaculate to start with. The paint was hard but I could work light scratches out by machine and even by hand and leave a clear, haze free finish.

Anyway, that's my take on the clear on this specific Camaro that it is believed to have a 100% factory finish.

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I also waxed the wheels with DP Wheel Glaze and dressed the tires with the new and improved DP Gel Tire Gloss.

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Very cool car from any angle...


Products Used
DP Waterless Wash
DP Wheel Cleaner
DP Wheel Glaze
DP Gloss Tire Gel
DP Poli-Coat
Daytona Speedmaster Wheel Brush
http://www.autogeek.net/ezdebrfca.html
5" Handle Tire and Wheel Brush
Microfiber Gloves
Cobra Indigo Microfiber Towels
Porter Cable 7424XP
Lake Country 5.5" Flat Pads
Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover
Wolfgang Finishing Glaze


:xyxthumbs:
 
That car does look amazing! The main problem I've had with the paint on my Camaro is removing the little tick marks that are left behind by the polishing process. You only see these marks after an IPA wipedown, but they are there. My final step is using 85rd on a gray LC pad on my PC. The tick marks don't really bother me anymore, since I can only see them after doing an IPA wipe down. If I put a coat of wax over top these marks just seem to disappear.
 
Beautiful car, they look like a lot of fun to drive too!
 
They are! I just now wish I hadn't been such a cheapskate and purchased one of the V8 models. But, the V6 is nice too.

Meghan said:
Beautiful car, they look like a lot of fun to drive too!
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Mike,
Looks great. I also have a Black 2010 Camaro 2ss and also used the WG triplets. Car came out great.
 
Beautiful Results Mike! I have done 3 black 2010 Camaros and I use that exact same combo you do, Wolfgang's TSR and Finishing Glaze. I do not have a rotary, just a Flex and a PC and to get rid of the harsher marks.

Recently I had a client come back to me after getting a new bumper. They had left buffer swirls and holograms everywhere, and in order for me to correct I had to use a 4" orange pad with my PC, and slowly work them out of the front bumper. I worked in very small areas at a time.. maybe 8"-12" at most.. it was very time consuming but in the end came out flawlessly.
 
Turned out great Mike-Im surprised the paint isn't dripping off! Very deep and liquidicious!
 
Boy, if ever there was an example of "not all paints are the same", this is it. We have a regular attendee at Meguiar's Thursday Night Open Garage sessions who bought a new Camaro when they first hit the streets. His is Victory Red, and gorgeous non metallic shade of red, and we've found the paint to be very easy to work on and not particularly hard at all. Admittedly, his is from a very early build date, so who knows how things may or may not have changed in the intervening months.
 
Michael Stoops said:
Boy, if ever there was an example of "not all paints are the same", this is it. We have a regular attendee at Meguiar's Thursday Night Open Garage sessions who bought a new Camaro when they first hit the streets. His is Victory Red, and gorgeous non metallic shade of red, and we've found the paint to be very easy to work on and not particularly hard at all. Admittedly, his is from a very early build date, so who knows how things may or may not have changed in the intervening months.
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This is why it's so important to do a Test Spot anytime a person is working on a paint system that they are unfamiliar with or have never worked on before.

Paint System = The paint on a car

Paint systems vary between manufactures and even car models as car manufactures can and do change paint systems as new technology is introduced.

There's a thread about this on MOL here,

Mike Phillips said:
Paint Workability - The Hardness or Softness of your car's paint

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"You don't how hard or soft your paint is until you go out into your garage and work on your car"[/FONT]


This article is going to show you that two cars, from the same car manufacture, one year apart have totally different factory paints as far as hardness and softness goes.
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Heck I've been polishing paint as long as many and longer than most on forums and I always do a Test Spot on anything I've never worked on before to see how the paint reacts.

I'm definitely not a big fan of making broad or blanket statements that all paints on such and such cars is hard, or soft because of the change factor.

Corvettes are one of the few models of cars that have remained constant in the hardness factor but I would still do some testing before going over the entire car.


:)
 
They're a LOT of fun to drive...I get a thrill every time I'm behind the wheel...and the rubber necking that goes on. Its kind of crazy because these 5th generation Camaros have been out a couple of years now. My neighbor is a car nut, and when he saw mine sitting in the driveway after I brought it home, I thought he was going through a religious moment...

...the neighbors probably think a 58 Y/O man should be driving a Buick....well this car drives as comfortable as a Buick, and when I want her to talk...she will really talk. I think saying that 5th generation Camaro owners love their cars ..is probably an understatement
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Paint systems vary between manufactures and even car models as car manufactures can and do change paint systems as new technology is introduced.
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Without a doubt - I can't tell you how many times I've heard "BMWs have really hard paint, what did you use to correct this one??". While I've seen BMWs with incredibly hard paint, I've also seen some with paint that was super easy to correct. With BMW building vehicles in different facilities and in different countries, countries where regulations regarding differ enough that the paint itself differs so much, it's no wonder that some are easier to buff out than others.


Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Corvettes are one of the few models of cars that have remained constant in the hardness factor but I would still do some testing before going over the entire car.
:)
Click to expand...
And yet..... yep, there's an exception to everything it seems! Last summer we had a gentleman bring his C6 Corvette to one of our Saturday Classes and he was complaining about the bird dropping etch mark in the middle of his hood. We managed to get it out pretty easily with just a D/A and Ultimate Compound. We didn't use speed 6 or even use a cutting pad, instead sticking to "proper usage and technique" and it came out in a couple of passes. Yes, it was factory paint. Obviously there was nothing out of the ordinary with the products and processes used, it was simply a case of the paint on this particular car being relatively middle of the road with regard to hardness.

All of the "evidence" given on discussion forums can maybe give you a good starting point to consider for your test spot on a car you've never seen before, but it isn't a guarantee.
 
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