no clear coat
- Thread starter phildeez
- Start date
2wheelsx2
New member
I don't know if your car has clearcoat or not, but one way to check it to use a cleaner type wax on a pad and rub. If the colour comes off, then there is no clearcoat.
I recently did an older red Miata which was faded to almost orange, and the paint felt like sandpaper on the horiz. surfaces. I washed, clayed for what seemed like an hour, and then went at it with my PC and DACP. Went at the tight spots by hand, so the results were not quite as good there....but the final result was that the car was super shiny and a bright red. I sealed with #20 and topped with #26. The owner was speechless.
So I would say that you should do the following:
1) wash
2) clay
3) polish (DACP, SMR, #9 - depends on what you have and what the paint responds to)
4) Sealant of choice
I recently did an older red Miata which was faded to almost orange, and the paint felt like sandpaper on the horiz. surfaces. I washed, clayed for what seemed like an hour, and then went at it with my PC and DACP. Went at the tight spots by hand, so the results were not quite as good there....but the final result was that the car was super shiny and a bright red. I sealed with #20 and topped with #26. The owner was speechless.
So I would say that you should do the following:
1) wash
2) clay
3) polish (DACP, SMR, #9 - depends on what you have and what the paint responds to)
4) Sealant of choice
mrdetailer
New member
paco said:
Blackfire does well on conventional coats.
The rest, What 2 X 2 said.
Products and procedures are basically the same for clear and non-clear coated cars. Paint is paint. The phrase "clear coat safe" that you see on some products just means it doesn't have harsh abrasives (that can break through the clear).
Zaino has Z3 because they claim it's specifically tailored to look better on non-clear coated paint, but I bet you wouldn't hurt anything switching use on Z2 or Z3.
Zaino has Z3 because they claim it's specifically tailored to look better on non-clear coated paint, but I bet you wouldn't hurt anything switching use on Z2 or Z3.
2wheelsx2
New member
Actually, I know for sure that a '91 red Miata has no clearcoat. My foam pad is still stained red from the paint. 
I think red might be the only colour not clearcoated though.
As Brian said, Z3 is tailored for non-clearcoats, so will look better, according to Sal. But there was a post a while back where someone posted an answer from Sal that said you can use Z2 and Z5 on non-clears, no problem.
To reiterate Brian, the only worry with clearcoat is that it's thin, and you can break through it with really aggressive polishing, but once you are through, then you can treat the paint as a non-clearcoated paint job. As a matter of fact, there are posts where guys have done this exact. I think one was an older corvette, where the clear failed, and the owner basically treated his paint as if it was not cleared.
I think red might be the only colour not clearcoated though.As Brian said, Z3 is tailored for non-clearcoats, so will look better, according to Sal. But there was a post a while back where someone posted an answer from Sal that said you can use Z2 and Z5 on non-clears, no problem.
To reiterate Brian, the only worry with clearcoat is that it's thin, and you can break through it with really aggressive polishing, but once you are through, then you can treat the paint as a non-clearcoated paint job. As a matter of fact, there are posts where guys have done this exact. I think one was an older corvette, where the clear failed, and the owner basically treated his paint as if it was not cleared.
VetteToVair
New member
2wheelsx2 said:
i think the Z bottles (z5 & z2) also say they are safe for conventional finishes or something like that...