No Clear Coat - advice needed

[SKY350]

Hi All,



Been a browser here for a while, and wow, great forum.



I have a 1992 R32 N1 GTR, which is 1 of only 228 made. These cars were made for production based racing, and as such they all came in white only, and from what I`ve been told no clear coat. (As the teams would paint the car anyway) Some also say this was for weight saving.



Anyway, the car for me will be used only a few times a month and was wondering what products people would recommend to put a nice tough coat on in place of the clear coat.



I was thinking of using Zaino as i`ve used it in the past and a fair few agree it`s quite tough and protects well.



The car has a few swirls in it but is in generally very good condition. Not sure if i want to risk trying to get the swirls out seeing as there is no clear. The guy i picked got it from has already tried to buff a bit of a mark off the rear spoiler and has gone straight through the paint:mad:



Here`s some pics.



http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9839/n1icg0.th.jpg (http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=n1icg0.jpg)



http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9206/nismo4xm5.th.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nismo4xm5.jpg)



http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1962/n1iies3.th.jpg (http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=n1iies3.jpg)



Any advice is appreciated

[SKY350]

Can anyone help?

[jwinders]

This just simply means you have a single stage paint, which does not require a clear coat. I know some of the new Mitsubuishi Lancers still use single stage paint because it does save a little weight. The good news is single stage paints are usually easier to correct. I like using Meguiar`s Color X on single stage paints because it removes oxidation and it still adds a coat of wax as well.

[ReklessIntent]

I was actually just going to make a thread about this! Glad I looked first! Sorry for hi-jacking but figured no reason to make two threads.





I have an 83 trans am that the prior owners repainted using acrylic enamel, no clear. The car turns pink within a month. I`ve buffed it, ive hand waxed it. Any ideas other then applying wax every month to pro-long the wax life and protect the paint? The cars not driven very often so it sits a lot. I put a cover on it when I can but it lives outside and cuz of where I live it gets really windy and the covers either don`t stay on or rub the edges to no end.



Suggestions? I`ve been using mothers 3 stage waxes. I just turned over to meguiers however I have yet to use it on the t/a. It`s been used on the G5 and the Lincoln.

[the other pc]

SKY350,



You should be in good shape. As jwinders said, single stage is generally very easy to maintain.



One caveat is that sometimes single stage whites can be very hard. In those cases they don’t tend to scratch as easily but it also takes more work to remove defects. At least white does hide defect well.





ReklessIntent,



It may be that you haven’t entirely removed the oxidation and that the products you’re using are “glazing� the finish, basically adding oils that make the color come back temporarily. If this is the case, it needs to buffed with a more aggressive process to fully remove the dead layer and expose good paint.



That’s one possibility, but unfortunately it’s not the most likely situation. I’ve seen finishes do exactly what you’re describing and just kept doing it no matter what. Something about the paint just went unstable and would deteriorate quickly. I only saw that on a couple very old single stage enamel finishes.



If that’s the case there’s not much more you can do about it unless you can figure a way to keep it out of the sun.





PC.

[fueler]

WOW. nice car!!

[ReklessIntent]

SKY350,



ReklessIntent,



It may be that you haven’t entirely removed the oxidation and that the products you’re using are “glazing� the finish, basically adding oils that make the color come back temporarily. If this is the case, it needs to buffed with a more aggressive process to fully remove the dead layer and expose good paint.



That’s one possibility, but unfortunately it’s not the most likely situation. I’ve seen finishes do exactly what you’re describing and just kept doing it no matter what. Something about the paint just went unstable and would deteriorate quickly. I only saw that on a couple very old single stage enamel finishes.



If that’s the case there’s not much more you can do about it unless you can figure a way to keep it out of the sun.





PC.





******, that`s what I was afraid of. The car used to be kept in immaculate shape and it still is but I don`t have to the time to wax it as often as I used to. I used to do 3 stage wax at LEAST every 2months usually every month tho with one stage wax weekly. obsessed? yes hahaha. It`s my first car and I`ve had it since I was 14.... im 21 now.

It was buffed fairly well about 3 months ago. I want to do it again. I`m trying to get it down to my friends place in NH so he can do some body work on it then it`ll get a new paint job. Can`t find a driver tho to take my G5 down cuz it`s standard :furious:

[SKY350]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help. I was kind of worried that I may need to wrap it in cotton wool or something :-)



It`s got a couple of paint chips which i want to correct, and being on the older side, the paint needs a little attention on the plastic spoilers and bumper, but is otherwise in very good condition. Judging by the inside of the wheel arches I don`t even think the car has seen rain. They are almost as clean as the body paint :-)