couldbefun

STOP!! a very friendly bit of not-so-well-known advice- if your paint is in good enough condition to have a good clear coat on it, DO NOT USE WAX. it doesnt allow the paint to "breathe" as it should, and actually can cut down on your clear coat life. clear coats were designed by people much smarter than you or I to replace wax, when cars didn't come with a special protective clear coat. when you wax your car, it does buff it and make it shiny, but removes micro particles off your clear coat. and, it makes water bead up on the paint. this is another myth- this can be bad, you want it to sheet off. again, youll notice that clear coats sheet off water, it was designed to do this by again, people smarter than you or I(thats why they get payed the big money) this is important to the paint beacause when water beads up on the paint, and dries, youll notice little spots, right? this is the micro grit that sits on top of the car, eating into the paint. it is essentially like sand. the leading cause of paint fade and destruction is letting water dry onto the paint. again, it deposits chemicals and grit onto the car shortening the life of the clear coat. wax destroys the very thing it is supposed to protect- your paint. the clear coat was designed to do that- protect your paint. let it do it's job, keep it clean and wax free. be sure to always dry the car w/a chamois after washing it. this isn't just my opinion, i have 3 relatives is the car business- one owns a local body shop, the other owns a car dealership, and the last works for porsche as a head designer and they all agree on this. think about it. if wax really helped cars that much, why dont car dealerships wax their cars that sit outside in open lots? theres a reason. again, just my advice. i want to keep my vette in pristine condition, and i stand by this belief. if someone has a strong opinion about waxing their car, then dont take this the wrong way, and don't flame me. I respect your beliefs and this is in no way an order, or command, just a suggestion. most of all, enjoy your all american muscle car. :flag

Turbo-Jet

Zaino is not a wax.
...but your input is noted :cheers:


[Modified by Turbo-Jet, 11:31 PM 12/16/2001]

ScubaJKD

Turtle Wax is not a Turtle :lol:

lou

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

gerry72

Clearcoat is un-pigmented paint. You treat it the same as a color coat. In today's factory paint systems, a water-based color coat is used to reduce VOCs. Obviously, the water paint isn't either durable or reflective so the factory clearcoats it with a VOC-based paint for those qualities. Since a clearcoat is no different chemically from any other paint, it suffers exactly the same from environmental hazzards such as bird poop, acid rain, tree sap, dirt, and road grime. It also responds exactly the same to the methods used to preserve a pigmented paint.

Also, if a paint system has been allowed to properly cure it has basically done all the breathing it's going to do. There is a very moderate level of outgassing in a non-hardned enamel and in lacquers, but this is not affected by protective coatings if you wait the normal 90-days post paint to apply surface protectants.

Now, if you're writing about that plastic crap dealers were for years putting on cars, well... If you do that, then you get what you deserve.

In summary, I think the reason this tip is not so well known is because it is not based upon fact.

427V8

As soon as House of Kolor tells me not to wax thier paint I'll stop waxing.

BTW they DO warn against using any silicone based wax since it WILL seal the surface :D
BUT normal waxes are recommended

mrvette

All I know is like my '87 vette did, and like most other cars do, clearcoat peels, period....just a matter of time, like silver on a GM car....
only cure I think stands a chance is to use Japanese car colors....Honda or Toyota, one step paint....some kind of Urethane, and it's not water soluble........I wish they'd give up on this EPA crap and just put the lead back in paint and have done with it....it worked fine for decades....this whole pain formulation scene is change for change sake, and no improvement, several steps backward really....

GENE

Red73

I worked at GM throughout the 80's and the only reason that GM went to BaseCoat/Clearcoat was to meet EPA standards. As far as paint peeling that has more to do with the primer coat than it does the final paint coat. As far as dealers waxing cars, that's not going to happen at any dealer. Dealerships are in the business to make money and margin. Why would I pay a yahoo to wax cars on my dealership lot when the new original finish looks great when new. I know some dealers have people wash cars on their lot but never wax. I'll put my paint finish up against anyone who has never waxed, polished or Zainoed their car, all other things being equal.

KenSny

What a load of B.S.! Sounds like a infomercial for a paint company - that way they get to sell more paint, paint shops get to repaint your car every couple of years....

I "waxed" my '86 Camaro twice a year for 14 years before selling it, and it looked like it came off the showroom floor.... and it was Medium Grey metallic basecoat with a clearcoat.


[Modified by KenSny, 9:19 AM 12/17/2001]

yellow 72

You guys are right, clear coat is just that, a clear coat of paint and imo should be treated as such.
I have heard stories of dealers telling buyers that waxing was unnessasary because the car was "clear-coated".. like that was equivalent to some type of intergalactic gamma ray deflector
:lol:
I aint buyin' it :cheers:

lbell101

:bs

ED DINAPOLI

My wifes 2000 Jeep has spots on the hood form bird droppings that ate thru the clear coat. If it had a coat of good carnuba wax on it I wonder if the paint would have pitted. My new Lincoln came with a good wax job from the dealer.
Ed

Cruzmeisters

Whatever happened to "J-Wax"? I used to use it on the '58 Ford 'vert every week (because that was as long as it lasted) :yesnod: