Ceramiclear clearcoat

prin

prin

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So I have worked on a 2016 Mercedes Maybach and had an extremely tough time correcting the black paint. Then I heard about this specialized clear that Mercedes use. What would be a good product for this type of clear?it seems as though I can’t even cut it at all!!!


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Think Menzerna developed the polishes for the MB manufacturing plants. So the SHC300 and HC400 is the compounds. Then you have MC2400 which is made for the scratch resistant ceramic clearcoats. And the finishing polish SF3500.
 
I've NEVER found the PPG Ceramiclear paints to be hard. Nor soft.

They are right in the middle, the sweet spot for paint polishing.

And I've owned 2 Mercedes-Benz cars that had this specialized paint. I've corrected both with fine cut polishes and medium cut polishes.


What are you using for tool and pad?



:)
 
For everyone reading this into the future, start by reading this,



Ceramiclear Paints - Be Careful

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:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
I've NEVER found the PPG Ceramiclear paints to be hard. Nor soft.

They are right in the middle, the sweet spot for paint polishing.

And I've owned 2 Mercedes-Benz cars that had this specialized paint. I've corrected both with fine cut polishes and medium cut polishes.


What are you using for tool and pad?



:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Mike! I used Sonax Cutmax along with a Meguiars red pad. I even used a lot of pressure at some points and it was like I wasnt even cutting. I tried M110 as well with the same results.
 
My neighbor, who has many years working in the paint and auto body industry told me that when it comes to Ceramiclear, the only panels that contain it are parts such as the bumpers, body kits, basically those bits on a Mercedes that aren’t metal painted body panels. The way he explained it made complete sense... I can’t recall what he said word for word, but when he was done explaining it it really wouldn’t make sense for them to use Ceramiclear on the entire vehicle.

Btw he’s good... I asked him if he could explain the paint on my hood, and why it doesn’t shine like the fenders and the other body panels. I told him I’ve seen the same thing on other vehicles too... Well it took him all of about 10 seconds to tell me that the front end on my Cadillac had been re painted at some point, probably due to a minor accident... He said whoever paid for it paid in full because for what it is they did a pretty good job. Yea the hood doesn’t quite shine the same as the other panels, but besides that they did about as good a match as a body shop can do, but he easily saw the tell tale signs.

It also explains why my bumper appears to be in absolute immaculate condition for being 19yrs old... Oh and I’ve got 1 headlight that looks brand new, while the other isn’t quite brand new looking. It all makes sense now.

fa69de21802c0505acf1f8d47b22e3ec.jpg
 
I hope things work out. I use Menzerna FG400 and Superfinish 3800 on MB's. I use an orange pad from Lake Country for the FG400 and a white Lake Country Pad for the 3800. I use a Flex 3401.

I hope this helps
 
Flex 3410 and any typical Meguiars compound has always worked for me on Mercedes paints. Might require some more pressure on the machine but all in a day's work.
 
Eldorado2k said:
My neighbor, who has many years working in the paint and auto body industry told me that when it comes to Ceramiclear, the only panels that contain it are parts such as the bumpers, body kits, basically those bits on a Mercedes that aren’t metal painted body panels.
Click to expand...


Yeah with all due respect - I don't buy it.

I've researched it and this is an specialty paint that IS sprayed over the entire car.

In fact, upon my recommendation, one of my regular customers ordered an SL 550 and paid extra for the Cermaiclear option.

Somewhere on this forum, is my write-up for when I coated it after he took delivery. I have write-ups for at least 3 of his SL 550s. A red, black and brown colored versions. I think it was the brown colored SL 550.


:)
 
prin said:
Thanks for the input Mike!

I used Sonax Cutmax along with a Meguiars red pad. I even used a lot of pressure at some points and it was like I wasnt even cutting. I tried M110 as well with the same results.
Click to expand...

When it comes to difficult to remove swirls, it can be a number of factors.

  1. Paint is very hard.
  2. Swirls and scratches are deep.
  3. Combination of 1 and 2
  4. Wrong pad
  5. Weak tool
  6. Technique needs tweak



Read through this,
DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


Regardless, the thing about the Ceramiclear paint system is you're NOT supposed to compound it hard or you remove the portion that makes Ceramiclear Ceramiclear.


Just a guess - but did you buy this car used? Or is it a customer car?

Sounds like someone else has caused a problem that might not be fixable.



:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
When it comes to difficult to remove swirls, it can be a number of factors.

  1. Paint is very hard.
  2. Swirls and scratches are deep.
  3. Combination of 1 and 2
  4. Wrong pad
  5. Weak tool
  6. Technique needs tweak



Read through this,
DA Polisher Trouble Shooting Guide


Regardless, the thing about the Ceramiclear paint system is you're NOT supposed to compound it hard or you remove the portion that makes Ceramiclear Ceramiclear.


Just a guess - but did you buy this car used? Or is it a customer car?

Sounds like someone else has caused a problem that might not be fixable.



:)
Click to expand...

I first started using little pressure like always. This did nothing, so I added pressure and I had the same results. The polisher that I’m using is a Rupes Mille. This is a customers car that was bought used.


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I just did an ml500 C040 black 3 days ago. I almost turned it down due to the frustration and headache associated with Ceramiclear. This thing was trashed! You name, it had it. But, it was a friend of a friend that wanted to throw me all of his commercial business so I took the job.

I don't know what Mike has been smoking but, Ceramiclear as a rule, is hard or at least the top 2-4 mils are. It's designed that way. Once the vehicle has been compounded the first time, the remaining paint is soft, like Honda soft. The person above who stated they only apply it to bumpers and kits is wrong The whole car has it.

This vehicle had never been corrected so I had my work cut out for me. I used Menz HC400 with Uro-Fiber pads on my 15mm DA. I started with 3D 501 AAT which finjshes down better and leaves no haze, but it didn't cut as well so I switched to the Men's which required following up with FG4000 to remove the haze and dial it in. This was only for the horiz surfaces. The vert surfaces I was able to use the 3D which was a Time saver.

The Uro-Fiber pads are some very powerful pads. They cut very well and the low nap and thinner profile allows them to be. blown out quite thoroughly which cuts down on having to change pads as often.

Overall, it came out pretty well but it took about 8 hrs to correct. The customer was ecstatic which is really what counts at the end of the day.

The part above about the Ceramiclear being very hard unless it's been corrected previously, is something to keep in mind when deciding to take a jkb or not. If it's ever been compounded, it's a completely different ball game and is very easy to correct.
Look at the paint code. If it has the letter C in front of the numbers, it's Ceramicoat.
 
I have worked on many many MB and I honestly can not tell the difference between their regular clear and ceramic paints. Maybe I am just dumb but I doubt it. They are all nice to correct IMO. Hard enough that they don’t tend to haze yet not so hard that a quality compound struggles. I would agree with Mike’s assessment saying they are in the middle. But each individual paint can be different.

I would look into other factors. Perhaps technique.... perhaps try a different tool than the Mille(or use the Mille specific polishes)...perhaps there is something on the paint that you need to remove via claying or chemical decontamination..... start at the basics!!
 
Oh, it was clayed and prepped properly. Maybe you and Mike got lucky. I can only go by what I've experienced. Why would Menz go.to the effort of making a pkg specifically for Ceramiclear which includes FG400 to be used at the factory if it wasn't hard and needed a very aggressive compound to be able to cut sufficiently?
 
I think I got it!!!!

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Lol. Sorry Steve. I was so excited that something was working!!! I used the swirl remover by Wolfgang.


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Ok, good to know. I wasn't sure if you got your hands on some obscure compound infused with ground unicorn horn or something.��
 
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