My Hatred of Clear Coats
Hello, I am a new member and this is my first post. Before I get started, I want to make it clear just how much I hate clear coats. I hate them with a passion. I firmly believe the only reason we even have something called a clear coat, is because auto manufacturers wanted to save money by cutting costs on paint jobs, so instead of a nice, thick, glossy layer of paint that could be buffed out or rubbed out if there is damage or oxidation, they use a paper thin (if even that) layer of flat paint, and then mist some clear coat on top of it and we are all supposed to say ooooh ahhhh look at the beautiful paint job on the car! (whatever).
In the good old days, cars actually had paint on them. My first car was a 68 Dodge R/T. The day I bought it, I thought it was baby blue. I took it home and washed it and noticed the sponge and water were turning blue. (OK, you're saying how could he not notice the oxidation?), well I was 18 and stupid and it was my first car, I don't know what to tell you. Anyways, long story short - after washings, rubbing compounds, lots of time and effort, and a high quality waxing, I ended up with a dark blue metallic paint job that I didn't even know was hiding under all that oxidation. It looked like a totally different car. The point that I am getting at is that if this car had a clear coat, I would have been driving a baby blue R/T instead of a deep blue metallic R/T. (I prefer the deep blue by the way).
OK, now that I am done venting about my hatred of clear coats, I'll get to what I need help with.
I just bought a Super Coupe and wanted to thoroughly clean and wax the car before I started driving it but whenever I have had the opportunity to do this it has been raining. (I am in Oregon). In an attempt to at least get some form of protection on the paint, I went to NAPA auto parts and bought a combination wash and wax. (I purposely left the brand name out to avoid any brand bashing, if you want to know exactly what I used send me a private message or an e-mail and I'll tell you what it was, so maybe we can determine if it's something I should not have used). The product does say "safe for all paint surfaces" but doesn't say specifically safe for clear coats so I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have used it. It is diluted at a rate of 1 ounce per gallon so I really don't think this could damage a clear coat but if it is an abrasive then who knows.
Anyways, after using the wash and wax, I noticed some hazy or cloudy sections on the paint surface, mostly on the hood and trunk. I didn't notice any paint problems before this, the car was glossy and the paint appeared to be in good condition.
I figure one of two things has happened here,
My confusion about what to do next comes from the variety of advice I have been given. I have been told everything from
"If you have any haziness or cloudiness then the clear coat has failed and the only way to fix it is to take it down to bare metal and repaint it"
to
"You just have oxidation that needs to be rubbed out to restore a consistent looking finish"
I don't have any pics online of the paint so I will try to describe it best as possible. The paint appears glossy, you can see your reflection in it, but from some angles, the paint appears hazy in some areas. The best way to describe it is, if you stare down at the trunk, you see your reflection, and if you slowly move back and forth, you notice that your reflection goes from really clear to foggy in some areas and then back to really clear. You can still see your reflection but it's inconsistent, some areas really sharp, others cloudy, so I don't know if this means I need a paint job or just a high quality wax job.
If I can't determine whether or not the clear coat is damaged, is there a product out there that I can use that will restore the shine if it is just oxidation, and not cause further damage if in fact the clear coat is failing?
(This is why I hate clear coats; they cause me to write really long messages in forums with lots of questions).
I am under the assumption that all waxes, whether clear coat safe or not, must contain some form of abrasive, otherwise they couldn't clean off oxidation and restore shine. This is where my dilemma comes in regarding the old school enamels where we just rubbed out the paint when it got bad; put a layer of wax on it, and it looked great. How can I wax a car that has a clear coat? Wouldn't I be using an abrasive on a clear surface, and dull the surface?
My theory right now is: As long as you have a clear coat in good condition, you can wax your car to restore shine. If you have an older car, and the clear coat has started to thin out, you cannot wax your car or you will just make it worse. (Let me know your opinion on this).
Let me finish by saying if we had never started clear coating paint jobs, I would be outside polishing my new T-Bird instead of sitting in front of a computer frustrated, not knowing what to do, writing this message asking for help and advice.
Thank you in advance for your guidance. It's really cool that we have a site like this where we can go to ask questions and get help with stuff like this.
Hello, I am a new member and this is my first post. Before I get started, I want to make it clear just how much I hate clear coats. I hate them with a passion. I firmly believe the only reason we even have something called a clear coat, is because auto manufacturers wanted to save money by cutting costs on paint jobs, so instead of a nice, thick, glossy layer of paint that could be buffed out or rubbed out if there is damage or oxidation, they use a paper thin (if even that) layer of flat paint, and then mist some clear coat on top of it and we are all supposed to say ooooh ahhhh look at the beautiful paint job on the car! (whatever).
In the good old days, cars actually had paint on them. My first car was a 68 Dodge R/T. The day I bought it, I thought it was baby blue. I took it home and washed it and noticed the sponge and water were turning blue. (OK, you're saying how could he not notice the oxidation?), well I was 18 and stupid and it was my first car, I don't know what to tell you. Anyways, long story short - after washings, rubbing compounds, lots of time and effort, and a high quality waxing, I ended up with a dark blue metallic paint job that I didn't even know was hiding under all that oxidation. It looked like a totally different car. The point that I am getting at is that if this car had a clear coat, I would have been driving a baby blue R/T instead of a deep blue metallic R/T. (I prefer the deep blue by the way).
OK, now that I am done venting about my hatred of clear coats, I'll get to what I need help with.
I just bought a Super Coupe and wanted to thoroughly clean and wax the car before I started driving it but whenever I have had the opportunity to do this it has been raining. (I am in Oregon). In an attempt to at least get some form of protection on the paint, I went to NAPA auto parts and bought a combination wash and wax. (I purposely left the brand name out to avoid any brand bashing, if you want to know exactly what I used send me a private message or an e-mail and I'll tell you what it was, so maybe we can determine if it's something I should not have used). The product does say "safe for all paint surfaces" but doesn't say specifically safe for clear coats so I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have used it. It is diluted at a rate of 1 ounce per gallon so I really don't think this could damage a clear coat but if it is an abrasive then who knows.
Anyways, after using the wash and wax, I noticed some hazy or cloudy sections on the paint surface, mostly on the hood and trunk. I didn't notice any paint problems before this, the car was glossy and the paint appeared to be in good condition.
I figure one of two things has happened here,
- In my haste to at least get some form of protection on the paint, I used a product that damaged the clear coat.
- The paint is in the same condition it was in when I bought the car, and the reason I didnt notice the inconsistency of the paint is because this was the first time I had washed it and really taken a close look at it.
My confusion about what to do next comes from the variety of advice I have been given. I have been told everything from
"If you have any haziness or cloudiness then the clear coat has failed and the only way to fix it is to take it down to bare metal and repaint it"
to
"You just have oxidation that needs to be rubbed out to restore a consistent looking finish"
I don't have any pics online of the paint so I will try to describe it best as possible. The paint appears glossy, you can see your reflection in it, but from some angles, the paint appears hazy in some areas. The best way to describe it is, if you stare down at the trunk, you see your reflection, and if you slowly move back and forth, you notice that your reflection goes from really clear to foggy in some areas and then back to really clear. You can still see your reflection but it's inconsistent, some areas really sharp, others cloudy, so I don't know if this means I need a paint job or just a high quality wax job.
If I can't determine whether or not the clear coat is damaged, is there a product out there that I can use that will restore the shine if it is just oxidation, and not cause further damage if in fact the clear coat is failing?
(This is why I hate clear coats; they cause me to write really long messages in forums with lots of questions).
I am under the assumption that all waxes, whether clear coat safe or not, must contain some form of abrasive, otherwise they couldn't clean off oxidation and restore shine. This is where my dilemma comes in regarding the old school enamels where we just rubbed out the paint when it got bad; put a layer of wax on it, and it looked great. How can I wax a car that has a clear coat? Wouldn't I be using an abrasive on a clear surface, and dull the surface?
My theory right now is: As long as you have a clear coat in good condition, you can wax your car to restore shine. If you have an older car, and the clear coat has started to thin out, you cannot wax your car or you will just make it worse. (Let me know your opinion on this).
Let me finish by saying if we had never started clear coating paint jobs, I would be outside polishing my new T-Bird instead of sitting in front of a computer frustrated, not knowing what to do, writing this message asking for help and advice.
Thank you in advance for your guidance. It's really cool that we have a site like this where we can go to ask questions and get help with stuff like this.
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