Flat Clears

[Chex]

Hi everyone:

I have heard of flat clear coats and I remembered I once saw a car painted with one of those.

Can I use ordinary car care products without damaging these kind of clears?

If I use the professional line of products, will they be safe for these clears?

Thanks in advance for attending my question

[ozSS]

Re: Flat Clears

what do you mean by 'flat'? i mean, do you mean a matte finish with no gloss (in which case it doesnt have a clear coat)? or do you mean the clear coat has been blocked back and buffed to give it a perfectly flat surface, i.e. show car reflections etc.? anyway youll find all meg's paint products are clear-coat safe, so i doubt youd have a problem.

[Lydia]

Re: Flat Clears

Not so fast. I think they actually do make cars now with a matte clear coat. If that's the case (matte clear from the factory), a paint cleaner such as #80 applied correctly will cause the matte look to become shiny. There was just another thread about this a few days ago. I'm too tired to look it up (sorry), but if you search matte paint, you should be able to find it.

[Chex]

Re: Flat Clears

Thanks for the help I found the information I needed.

And yes, the first time I saw a flat (matte) clear was in the "pimp my ride" TV show.

So now I see that if you buff matte finishes, they will change in look, but The thing in here would be to fix the defects without damaging the paint.

So I can use my products without any problem...except telling the owner that the look will change. Now I hace to find a car with that kind of paint :P

[ozSS]

Re: Flat Clears

hmm interesting. how is that even possible, surely because the clear is applied while wet it must have some level of gloss? or is it blocked/sanded back without buffing afterwards?

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Flat Clears

I saw an ad a few years ago advertising the PPG flat clear.

The idea is to provide a paint that matches the look of a primer - really popular on street rods and older customs. The problem with having a primered car is that primer attracts moisture and can cause rust. By having a flat clear, it eliminate the problems attributed with a primer.

[lariat]

Re: Flat Clears

hmm interesting. how is that even possible, surely because the clear is applied while wet it must have some level of gloss? or is it blocked/sanded back without buffing afterwards?

I believe the manufacturer uses some sort of "flattening agent" added to the paint to eliminate the gloss.

[Deaner5]

Re: Flat Clears

Harley started putting these finished on bikes too and they might have some specialized products for this. They were just coming in as I was moving from washing bikes to doing accounting work for them so I did not do that many.

If you have a Harley shop in your area I would check with them and see what they say, but also take it with a grain of salt too, as either someone in the parts department or sales may not know the specifics. But it never hurts to ask a few different opinions.

[dvtldav]

Re: Flat Clears

I don't know about car finishes, but with polyurethane that is used on wood, there is flattening agents added to change the gloss. I think it is silica. With that you can take a gloss finish sand it to get a semi gloss or satin finish, but you can not take a satin or semi gloss and buff them to a higher gloss than what they were manufacured for.

[roushstage2]

Re: Flat Clears

I'd be real curious to hear to more about that, whether that is accurate or not. I have tossed the idea around of going satin black on my car later on.