Manufacture/Model Clear Coat Guide?

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Mirror Detailing

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Searched around for this, and could not find anything other than just off handed question/answers scattered through threads. But one thread with the main post having a list of all the clears out there that are known to be trouble. That way if someone is working on a certain make or model for the first time, they have a place that will tell them weather a manufacture is common to have single stage car's, or factory hard clears, soft clears, etc. But everyone to put in there list of car's they know have odd quirks with the paint/clear that someone can refer to.

Example.

Chevy Corvette - Factory Hard Clear
Mitsu. Evo's - Soft Single Stage's(Prone to Fading)
Honda's - Thin Clear's
Nissan's (Certain models) - Factory Soft Clear's
Ford - Crap Factory Clear Jobs (Excessive Orange Peel)

But people to list what they have, and I can update the first post as people list them. That way people have something to refer to.

Good idea or no?
 
-The only Mitsubishi Evolution with single stage paint is the red ones. All the others are base clear.

-Honda's dont necessarily have thin clears. They just have super soft clears.

-Nissan's, I would put them in the medium/average workable clear.

-The majority if not all German cars(Audi/VolksWagon, BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Porsche) will have rock hard clear.

-Most Infinity models from late 08 to either late 09 or early 2010 will have the self healing paints which are a complete pain to work on.
 
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I think this is a great idea. My list is so short its ridiculous. Knowledge is power. Me vs the clear coat.
 
I would find such a listing to be very helpful. Unfortunately, I do not have enough experience yet to effectively contribute to this list.
 
Now with the self healing clear coat, i have heard that it only works to a certain point and degree. If the same spot where to get repeatedly marred, light scratched, etc, then it would eventually stop working its magic lol, which id say would be after the first time it gets nicked.
 
I know Mustangs are notrious for having orange peel, but with my color being so odd it's pretty hard to see it. Hell, it's hard to see swirls in it if there are any. You have to catch the light JUST right. Almost like trying to see it on silver cars.

I know my clear coat is pretty hard though.

I thought Porsches had a softer clear though.
 
Mirror Detailing said:
Searched around for this, and could not find anything other than just off handed question/answers scattered through threads. But one thread with the main post having a list of all the clears out there that are known to be trouble. That way if someone is working on a certain make or model for the first time, they have a place that will tell them weather a manufacture is common to have single stage car's, or factory hard clears, soft clears, etc. But everyone to put in there list of car's they know have odd quirks with the paint/clear that someone can refer to.

Example.

Chevy Corvette - Factory Hard Clear
Mitsu. Evo's - Soft Single Stage's(Prone to Fading)
Honda's - Thin Clear's
Nissan's (Certain models) - Factory Soft Clear's
Ford - Crap Factory Clear Jobs (Excessive Orange Peel)

But people to list what they have, and I can update the first post as people list them. That way people have something to refer to.

Good idea or no?
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2010 Camaro, don't know what type of clear coat, but have orange peel and I think the clear coat is very thin and soft, but that just what I think. Not very happy with the paint..Maybe someone else would know what type it is?
 
Mirror Detailing said:
Might be now. But Ford's are none for having severe factory orange peel. Been on most Fords I have seen. And was on both my GT and Mach 1
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I'm getting a Mach1 for my senior graduation present! Cant wait. But what exactly is "orange peel?"

zinc02gt said:
I know Mustangs are notrious for having orange peel, but with my color being so odd it's pretty hard to see it. Hell, it's hard to see swirls in it if there are any. You have to catch the light JUST right. Almost like trying to see it on silver cars.

I know my clear coat is pretty hard though.

I thought Porsches had a softer clear though.
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I'm detailing a Porsche this weekend, in which might be polishing :buffing:
Dont scare me
 
Camaro2010 said:
2010 Camaro, don't know what type of clear coat, but have orange peel and I think the clear coat is very thin and soft, but that just what I think. Not very happy with the paint..Maybe someone else would know what type it is?
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GM Cleacoats are normally pretty hard. All the GM's I've done were pretty finicky and required M105.

To be honest, orange peel is pretty common on cars. I notice it alot on brand new Yukons, Denalis, Suburbans in black (speaking for GM of course).


02blackout said:
I'm getting a Mach1 for my senior graduation present! Cant wait. But what exactly is "orange peel?"
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I love the sound of the 4V's.
 
Lasthope05 said:
-The only Mitsubishi Evolution with single stage paint is the red ones. All the others are base clear.

-Honda's dont necessarily have thin clears. They just have super soft clears.

-Nissan's, I would put them in the medium/average workable clear.

-The majority if not all German cars(Audi/VolksWagon, BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Porsche) will have rock hard clear.

-Most Infinity models from late 08 to either late 09 or early 2010 will have the self healing paints which are a complete pain to work on.
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Not true I have worked on many VW and Audi's and the clear wasn't to hard. This isnt a good thread to start because every car is diffrent. You might get on VW with hard and another with soft.
 
sullysdetailing said:
Not true I have worked on many VW and Audi's and the clear wasn't to hard. This isnt a good thread to start because every car is diffrent. You might get on VW with hard and another with soft.
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Yes it is true that every car is different and the paints used at certain factorys can differ form the rest. I know for BMW's you can get one thats pretty hard and on the flip side work on one thats really soft. All the VW and Audi's ive worked on so far are on the hard side.

What polishes are you using? I personally find it hard to judge a cars clear coat if you are using something aggressive like M105/M205 or Menz Ceramic polishes. You need to go with a traditional polish to truly access the hardness.
 
How can you tell if the clear coat is hard or soft?

And is there a general rule of thumb on how to do paint correction on a soft clear coat vs a hard clear coat?
 
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^^ yes i would like to know too... what is the advantage/disadvantage of a hard clear/soft clear....how do you polish different?
 
Camaro2010 said:
2010 Camaro, don't know what type of clear coat, but have orange peel and I think the clear coat is very thin and soft, but that just what I think. Not very happy with the paint..Maybe someone else would know what type it is?
Click to expand...

I'd like to know myself.........I've done a lot on my car but I don't have the experience to know if a clearcoat is considered hard or soft.
 
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