Self healing paint

M

mini1

New member
Has anyone worked on an 2010 Lexus LS 460/600hl yet? I'm wondering how the new (standard) Lexus self healing paint is to work with? I have a client that may be getting a 2010 LS 460 and they are very excited about the new paint. I may have worked on the Nissan/Infiniti self healing paint, but I wouldn't have known it unless someone told me (which they didn't). If someone can comment on either brand of paint, I'd like to know more! Is is hard or soft, how is it to correct? Does it really heal fine scratches?
 
They call it Scratch Guard. It's basically a coating as thick as a normal coat of paint which goes over the clear coat of your car. The paint will fix itself after it had experienced a scratch that has not penetrated the Scratch Guard coat; allegedly pouring hot water over the affected surface speeds up the process. The Scratch Guard basically contains a highly elastic resin that mends itself over time when it is exposed to a heat source such as the sun.
 
I recall reading someone voicing their anger over having to polish a Nissan GTR with self-healing paint. They said that no matter how fine a polish, how slow/fast they polished and how they wiped off the polish, there were still swirls. I guess just tell the cutsomer "pour some warm water on it and wait a week", there goes our jobs. I'm terrified of having to work on a car with scratch-healing paint.
 
Why am I tempted to think this is all marketing similar to how clear coats were supposed to save everyone from waxing?
 
I swear there was a thread on here somehwere in which the detailer stressed that cool temperature maintenance while polishing was critical to successfully correcting the paint. He used a heat sensor throughout the detail. I just searched but didn't find it. I can even recall the pictures in my mind's eye.....but maybe my mind's eye is hallucinating.
 
I had to do an extensive correction on a GTR. The paint does NOT heal itself in anyway shape or form. The clear is very soft and easily correctable. This particular car had OFF (bug spray) all over it. The spray caused pitting and bumps at the same time. I instructed him to set it out in the sun for hours before he brought it to me. There was absolutely no change in any of the scratches or swirls. I wet sanded half the car and then used M105, SIP and 106ff then Ultrafina. The car came out amazing and I didn't have any problems.



This claim of self healing paint is the biggest farce I have heard since Obama claiming to all of a sudden being a fiscal conservative. Don't buy into it.
 
To quote an article:



Cars get their glossy shine from a special transparent layer on top of the coloured paint. But this ultra-thin coating is scratched by thousands of tiny impacts from road grit and from rubbing when the car is washed. Now, boffins at German firm Bayer have worked out how to make this vital top layer heal itself. The magic formula is called 2K-PUR Clear Coat, and a spokesman told us: "It heals right before your eyes in a few minutes."



In laboratory tests, a panel painted with the new coating was scratched until it had lost 30 per cent of its shine. But after being gently warmed, it recovered virtually all its former sparkle. "Now, we're working on making the scratches disappear in cold weather," explained the spokesman.



The coating won't make production until long-term tests are completed. But preliminary trials show it can withstand being washed with sand and even doused in acid.



From: 'Self-healing' Paint On Way! | Auto Express News | News | Auto Express
 
The paint doesn't heal from rotary swirls. Got a customer with an Infiniti EX35 that I need to correct eventually.
 
I have come to find out that this whole "seal healing paint" is rather sketchy....in it being difficult to know which cars actually have this type of paint finish.



I was told by several people that the GTR's had it but now others that I trust in this area tell me it doesn't have this type of paint.



Now our theory is that IF one does work on this type of paint that heat is not what you want but rather you would want to "cold buff" the paint. Think of it as paraffin wax. You can't cut paraffin wax when warm or hot but you can when it's cold.



So how does one polish paint without heat? Well use a finer pad and polish then you would normally start off with. The GTR's we have done respond great to a dense finishing pad and a product like Ultrafina or FPII. Low rpms and justtaking your time. The GTR seems to have soft paint so treat it with kid glove.



We just polished out a 370Z and it was a pleasure to do so. Very soft, correctable paint but again go slow, go low.



Anthony
 
GTR's I've worked on were typically soft paint, but the black Infinity I worked on with self healing paint was extremely hard and very difficult to remove sanding marks and swirls from. I could not get it 100% with the amount of time I had. If I had longer yes but otherwise give yourself a lot of time.



Josh
 
I believe not all GTR's had the self healing paint, IIRC it was an option for them. And the paint can only heal so much, you cant scratch it everyday and expect it to heal forever, I forgot what I read but it said the paint could only heal a certain amount.
 
Anthony Orosco said:
I have come to find out that this whole "seal healing paint" is rather sketchy....in it being difficult to know which cars actually have this type of paint finish.



I was told by several people that the GTR's had it but now others that I trust in this area tell me it doesn't have this type of paint.



Now our theory is that IF one does work on this type of paint that heat is not what you want but rather you would want to "cold buff" the paint. Think of it as paraffin wax. You can't cut paraffin wax when warm or hot but you can when it's cold.



So how does one polish paint without heat? Well use a finer pad and polish then you would normally start off with. The GTR's we have done respond great to a dense finishing pad and a product like Ultrafina or FPII. Low rpms and justtaking your time. The GTR seems to have soft paint so treat it with kid glove.



We just polished out a 370Z and it was a pleasure to do so. Very soft, correctable paint but again go slow, go low.



Anthony
Click to expand...



I agree with every word (except the 370Z as I polished a GTR and a G37)... The paint I can most closely compare it to is soft, black, PITA Porsche paint. It's soft, scratches easily and needs very fine pads/polishes to correct. On the other hand, there was something to it that seemed different than the regular PITA, jet black and soft paint... it corrected very easily with no buffer trails (when going slow, slow being 1000ish and white LC/M205 or less abrasive) and simply felt different when polishing. I did try heat (hair dryer) on a panel and warmed it up until it was just warm to the touch and nothing happened. That said, as Anthony said above, go slow, go low and use finer polishes and you'll be set.
 
Bringing this thread back....



I just got off the phone with Infiniti. I was trying to find out what years/ models have the self healing paint. The person I talked to didn't know what I was talking about. Put me on hold, then told me that information is not available to them.
 
My white Infiniti G37s Coupe is supposed to have the magic paint but I have a hard time seeing any magic healing to some light swirls spots I watch.
 
My client with the GT-R moved on to another car, but I will be seeing a black G37 this spring and will try to do some experimenting with the paint. From the few details I did on this type of paint, it seems that it reacts well to heat created by the rotary buffer, at least better than regular paints. As I said above, it finishes down very well with slow rotary speed, slow arm motion and something like M205 or less abrasive. If I'm able to experiment a bit with the paint I'll definitely post up the results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top