A Detailers Maverick Experience: Thin Paint, Ceramic Coating, Etc.

[ladyhawkgt]

We can definitely work something out

cool, lemme get a truck first!

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[Deleted member 6544]

Not entirely sure about that. I’m not a painter and I don’t work for a paint manufacture, so please elaborate. But I know the car manufactures are spraying the bare minimum these days. Any experienced detailer whos read paint over the years will tell you that it’s getting thinner. The amount of cars that come off the lot with little to no paint is astronomical compared to a decade or two ago.
I’m not going to get into a he said, she said but we have a chemist in the industry, Dr. David Ghoudussi. He was part of the team that created the modern day base coat/clear coat paint system and he still works with most of these manufacturers today. He also owns Optimum Polymer Technologies. I’ve had conversations with Dr. G, listened to him speak many times and have well researched these subjects. These manufacturers are figuring out how to put less paint on your car. Whether it’s to save money, time or whatever, it’s happening. They’ve had 30+ years to research these paint systems and with the introduction of e-coats, they dont need to spray that much paint on these cars anymore to make then last. But that leaves a lot less room for error and correction. As a detailer and someone who likes their vehicles to look nice, it’s disappointing. I see 20 year old cars with more clear coat on them than I have anywhere on my brand new truck. This obviously varies brand to brand but it’s very real.

I'm not sure what you want me to elaborate on Ryan. But to your point I'm sure there is less paint on vehicles. Now that doesn't mean they don't meet the specifications. Say like 1,000 hours of salt spray. Maybe 20 years ago you could meet that spec with 2. mils of clear coat. Today, maybe the spec can be met at 1.5 mils. So yes the OEMs will say, "Sure if it's meeting our specs then we're all for it because of the cost savings." That certainly doesn't help your profession! I can't imagine the fear of breaking through the clear. You're boned.
That's awesome you have access to such a person in Mr. G. I've dealt with our 'rocket scientists' a few times and they are amazing,
Again your Maverick looks awesome and I wish you were near me. People, regardless of profession, around here have no sense of pride in their workmanship. Your work shows that you do. I love the adage, "If you are a floor sweeper be the best floor sweeper you can be." Our youth could learn something.

 

[ParagonDetail]

I'm not sure what you want me to elaborate on Ryan. But to your point I'm sure there is less paint on vehicles. Now that doesn't mean they don't meet the specifications. Say like 1,000 hours of salt spray. Maybe 20 years ago you could meet that spec with 2. mils of clear coat. Today, maybe the spec can be met at 1.5 mils. So yes the OEMs will say, "Sure if it's meeting our specs then we're all for it because of the cost savings." That certainly doesn't help your profession! I can't imagine the fear of breaking through the clear. You're boned.
That's awesome you have access to such a person in Mr. G. I've dealt with our 'rocket scientists' a few times and they are amazing,
Again your Maverick looks awesome and I wish you were near me. People, regardless of profession, around here have no sense of pride in their workmanship. Your work shows that you do. I love the adage, "If you are a floor sweeper be the best floor sweeper you can be." Our youth could learn something.

I think we are having two different conversations right now lol. I just said elaborate as in like explain what you know because I’m interested. 35 years in any given industry deserves a round of applause and I don’t take your experience as a joke. No hard feelings.
But yeah that was kind of what I was getting at. Again, I don’t work with these manufacturers. I just want to spread some awareness so people are careful. As a detailer, I feel almost obligated to share my experiences and the knowledge I have gathered working in the industry. Im just speaking from my experiences and learnings. I’ve been pretty fortunate to have been trained by some pretty respectable and admirable people but I certainly don’t have all the answer.. yet lol. JK.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I wasn’t exactly a model citizen growing up but I pulled my head outta my ass, found something that makes me burn with passion and my goal is to be the best I can be at it. Sorry if it comes off the wrong way.

 

[Eagle11]

My Maverick is cyber orange and I can see how Ford has cut corners on painting. THere are areas of the truck where you can see a "blue tint" in the paint it must be the undercoating. I wish Ford would correct this

 

[ParagonDetail]

Readings were after ceramic coating which was after rotary polishing with Meguiars rubbing compound . There are a few areas I could still check that do not have it though. Ceramic only adds like 1/10 of a micron.

Okay. Yeah I don’t doubt your paint readings. I would maybe try testing inside the door jambs or inside the engine bay and see what you get for comparison. I know some of the cheaper machines can have reliability problems. And yeah depending on the coating and layers you won’t see more than a few microns difference per layer. I just checked my truck and where the tailgate read 2.28 it now reads 2.56. Something to keep in mind.

 

[ParagonDetail]

My Maverick is cyber orange and I can see how Ford has cut corners on painting. THere are areas of the truck where you can see a "blue tint" in the paint it must be the undercoating. I wish Ford would correct this

That’s a shame, I’m sorry to hear that. I just watched an assembly line video to see how they painted these vehicles and they seem to be painted in whole, compared to the F-150 where they paint the doors seperate. So why the issues? From what I can gather the Maverick is sprayed and not dipped and in the video you can see the car is not sprayed in unison and some parts are hardly sprayed on at all

 

[BB0]

Lots of products. You’re doing a good job washing with reset, I would maybe do that every 6 months. Reset is meant to revive a coating that has maybe been neglected or is showing signs of wear. Typically I would say stay within the coating line, so maybe Adam’s Graphene detail spray would work. I personally dont believe in the whole graphene thing, it’s really a hype word or marketing gimmick. I have yet to see it proven. I’m a big fan of P&S Bead Maker, I use it every few washes on my personal vehicles. I also really like Gtechniq C2V3. If you put a sealant on it every month, that should really extend the life of your coating.

Fantastic, thank you so much for the advice! I’ll try them both out and see which I like better I appreciate your help!

 

[Dad]

Ceramic tint is built into the tint and it’s going to provide UV protection from within the tint. It is more superior than standard tint.

Ceramic coating the outside will provide UV protection but also makes the exterior glass very hydrophobic. It’s going to make it ultra slick therefore making it hard for anything to cling to the glass. It’s going to make water run right off of it. I haven’t used windshield wipers in years due to the fact that water shoots right off at speeds over 30mph. It’s almost makes the rain look like you’re going light speed in Star Wars.

Thank you for taking the time to explain the details to me. If I understand you correctly, ceramic coating on the windshield is similar to using RainX, (I love watching the water shoot off the windshield) but far more permanent. I need to look for an installer in my area to get an idea of cost. Again, thank you!

 

[ParagonDetail]

Thank you for taking the time to explain the details to me. If I understand you correctly, ceramic coating on the windshield is similar to using RainX, (I love watching the water shoot off the windshield) but far more permanent. I need to look for an installer in my area to get an idea of cost. Again, thank you!

Yes that’s correct. A true glass coating will be much more permanent and will perform much better. Of course

 

[Deleted member 6544]

Thank you. I appreciate that. I wasn’t exactly a model citizen growing up but I pulled my head outta my ass, found something that makes me burn with passion and my goal is to be the best I can be at it. Sorry if it comes off the wrong way.

Not at all. Be proud, as I am, of finding our heads, wiping off the shit and getting it together. Neither was I my friend. High School educated guy that made a few right decisions and had an awesome career. As you know the automotive business was and is a cluster. Out of the 35 years 17 were in auto at the OEM level. Your working with the largest corporations in the world which in turn have the biggest egos. I've dealt with both professionally... the OEMs and John Q. Public. I'm not sure which is worse!

 

[Deleted member 6544]

btw Ryan, Ask the good scientist about ceramic clearcoats. I believe the company I was working for did work on them. I thought they actually commercialized the technology.

 

[Eagle11]

That’s a shame, I’m sorry to hear that. I just watched an assembly line video to see how they painted these vehicles and they seem to be painted in whole, compared to the F-150 where they paint the doors seperate. So why the issues? From what I can gather the Maverick is sprayed and not dipped and in the video you can see the car is not sprayed in unison and some parts are hardly sprayed on at all

That is what I suspected in how i can see the the blue tint

 

[ParagonDetail]

Not at all. Be proud, as I am, of finding our heads, wiping off the shit and getting it together. Neither was I my friend. High School educated guy that made a few right decisions and had an awesome career. As you know the automotive business was and is a cluster. Out of the 35 years 17 were in auto at the OEM level. Your working with the largest corporations in the world which in turn have the biggest egos. I've dealt with both professionally... the OEMs and John Q. Public. I'm not sure which is worse!

Thank you for sharing, I admire you for that. I bet you have a great story to tell. 35 years, that’s quite the career. And ain’t that last bit true. I luckily don’t have to deal with OEMs but I’d sure like to give them a piece of my mind. Big egos have small ears though.

 

[ParagonDetail]

btw Ryan, Ask the good scientist about ceramic clearcoats. I believe the company I was working for did work on them. I thought they actually commercialized the technology.

I’ve actually polished a Mercedes with CeramiClear on it and it sucked lol. But I will definitely do that.

I am now really interested in deep diving into these different paint systems and getting a better understanding of them.

I found this interesting.


https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/6/2/24/htm

 

[ParagonDetail]

That is what I suspected in how i can see the the blue tint

No bueno

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