Bring out the clay!
#31
I would agree that clear coat is a type of paint but since it does not have any color and it is the only surface that you can actually treat, there is a limit of how much you can do to make it look better. Cars used to be painted with multiple coats of lacquer or a coat of a baked enamel. The lacquers certainly looked better and had no clear coat so they could be very smooth and looked fabulous. I firmly believe with today's base color coat/s followed by clear coat you simply do not get as good a job with most car companies as they just don't do enough sanding, etc., of the color coat to get out the orange peel which is so often seen today. That being said, you are limited as to what you can do with the finish of the clear coat. With older paint jobs if the color began to fade or haze you could directly compound or sand the color to bring out the original quality paint but not so with clear coat. All you can do is remove any scratches or swirls and any haze or cloudiness. Sure, you can get better reflection off the clear coat, etc., but you cannot get it to look any better than what the factory did and if the color has orange peel or other imperfections you cannot get to it. Some polishes will also fill in the fine scratches but proper preparation will get rid of those fine scratches and it is nearly impossible to remove too much of the clearcoat if you are using a random orbital polisher with a swirl remover. A regular high speed polisher with an abrasive compound is very aggressive and should only be used by an expert so the clear coat is not damaged. All that being said, I would say that the most important part of keeping your car looking good is washing it properly by hand using the proper method to avoid any swirl marks which really hurt the look of the paint.
#32
Race Director
#33
Rennlist Member
Sealants are not even in the same category as cleaner waxes, which are abrasive? Seriously just do some research on the products.
There are plenty of sealant products that have no more abrasive qualities than pure carnauba wax.
There are plenty of sealant products that have no more abrasive qualities than pure carnauba wax.
#34
Jerry- color sanding is a major reason those old lacquer paints looked so good. Color sanding levels out and removes orange peel yielding a glass-smooth surface. Only custom paint shops do this any more because its so labor-intensive. The better manufacturers like Porsche use incredibly sophisticated automated paint systems that are able to apply paint with virtually zero orange peel. I got a chance to talk with someone about this once and was amazed at the depth they go into. With metallics for example, the metallics align depending on nozzle position. In order to look right its not enough that the paint be applied over the right primer (Porsche uses I think 7 different primer colors on the 991) because light reflects off the primer back through the paint, and that the color coat be precisely the right thickness (to within fractions of a mil) across every part of the car, but it also must be applied so that the metallics all align uniformly across the whole car. I've seen cars that were painstakingly multi-lacquer-coated and color sanded, and they do look good, but the new Porsches are drawing awful close, and would even be ahead if you factor in durability and color. But then I LOVE those Porsche colors!
#35
I was thinking the same thing.
Threads like this really make me miss OCBen - banned a few years ago just for being abrasive.
Ben would've stepped into this discussion with a "Now listen, guys....." and a three-page treatise on the subject of waxing, claying, polishing et al during which everyone would be offended but we all would have learned something.
We miss you Ben
Ben would've stepped into this discussion with a "Now listen, guys....." and a three-page treatise on the subject of waxing, claying, polishing et al during which everyone would be offended but we all would have learned something.
We miss you Ben
#36
Burning Brakes
#37
Chuck: I agree with you that Porsche does better than most others although sometimes I have visited showrooms and the cars on the floor are loaded with swirls which sort of kills the qualitity. Mercedes and BMW are notorious for orange peel in their paint yet no one seems to care; I guess ignorance is bliss.
#38
#39
Chuck: I agree with you that Porsche does better than most others although sometimes I have visited showrooms and the cars on the floor are loaded with swirls which sort of kills the qualitity. Mercedes and BMW are notorious for orange peel in their paint yet no one seems to care; I guess ignorance is bliss.
#40
Drifting
Ouch! Yes, check immediately. A polish is an abrasive. A wax is a coating.
I only use a polish when I am doing paint correction - fixing swirls, minor scratches, etc. And I use a random orbital machine to work with the polish because the speed and heat are important to get the abrasive working.
You should *not* use polish as a regular maintenance item!
I only use a polish when I am doing paint correction - fixing swirls, minor scratches, etc. And I use a random orbital machine to work with the polish because the speed and heat are important to get the abrasive working.
You should *not* use polish as a regular maintenance item!
which looks to me like the right thing to use (based on the recommendations of another poster on this forum).
Whew!
#41
Burning Brakes
It was a half an hour later that I saw the "truck washing" van in the lot, with one guy spraying each car with a pressure washer (on a high setting), and another guy following with a single dirty rag "drying" them all off.
It was painful to watch. This is why I always put a "NO WASH" sign in my car when it's in for work.
#42
We had a Porsche Club get together today at a Porsche dealer and I looked at the cars on the showroom floor and they all had incredible amounts of orange peel but people today just accept it as there really is no alternative.
#43
Been using Zaino for 20 years, first on black and now on Guards Red. Cars have always looked brand new. Would never use anything else. Highly recommend using it.
#44
I've never seen orange peel on any Porsche factory paint. There will always be a very slight mottled look. Only way to eliminate that is color sanding. Technicians probably have a term for the fine surface undulations people are seeing. As I said before, the technology is incredible. Dr Evil can't get a fricken laser-mounted shark but we got laser-mounted orange peel detectors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_peel_(effect)
Maybe someone can find the word we're looking for. Meanwhile, here's a pic of truly "incredible amounts of orange peel". The showroom cars looked like this, you say?
Maybe someone can find the word we're looking for. Meanwhile, here's a pic of truly "incredible amounts of orange peel". The showroom cars looked like this, you say?
Last edited by chuck911; 01-28-2014 at 06:51 PM.