hard/soft paint..help how to tell

[wangotango]

Just recently got involved in a great post about the Megs MF DA system.
Good info but kept coming back to hard or soft paint.
I've hit this wall a few times here (clearcoat or not paint too) and am curious....

Pretty sure that single-stage paints are indicated by vintage.
In other words unless it's a re-paint, single-stage paints pertain to vehicles in what age bracket?
In general of course.
Also how do I tell that the paint I'm looking at is hard or soft, not as hard, etc?
Gotta be some rules of thumb here.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Ok, first of all...paint hardness is not the most important thing in the world to worry about. Your technique is going to be largely the same, hard or soft. If the paint is soft, you may not need to use as agressive polishes/pads, and if the paint is hard, you may not need to worry about hazing from agressive methods.

As far as SS vs CC/BC, manufacturers started to transition to CC/BC in the mid-80's. However, certain colors (white, and non-metallic blacks and reds) are still sometimes SS, at least up to a few years ago. That seemed to mostly be a Toyota/Lexus thing, IIRC.

As a general rule, GM and the German cars (Audi, VW, Mercedes) tend to have hard paint. Corvettes and the Mercedes Ceramiclear cars are REALLY hard. But cars are made in so many different places now it's hard to generalize (companies like Honda/Acura, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes, VW, Hyundai, BMW all have plants here in the US, but not all the cars they sell here are made here, so the paint can vary from model to model, and even sometimes within models some variants are imported and some made here).

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: hard/soft paint..help how to tell


I cover this in my how-to book and basically say the way to tell is from experience. Every time you work on a car and do a Test Spot, (you are doing a test spot correct?), then lock into your memory how easily or how difficult the swirls and scratches came out.

After you've buffed enough cars you can draw from your experience and memory and when doing a test spot AND then inspecting the results, after wiping the residue off you'll become better at gaging if the paint is hard or soft.

No guide, or chart is ever going to take the place of your experience. So get experience.

1980 was the first year Corvette used a clear coat finish.

 

[wangotango]

I suppose it's like asking the question "how do you get to Carnegie Hall"?
A: practice, practice, practice..

I appreciate the info Setec it helps, but gotta get more experience is probly the answer for me.
My test spots will tell me, if I pay attention to them.
It's funny...as an elevator mechanic for 34 years I got to the point of really never seeing anything I couldn't fix. 1930 to 2012 vintage equipment, escalators, elevators, you name it. Fixed 'em all.
How did I get to that point...let me see.....