Ceramiclear paint

[Lou K]

I purchased a 2005 SL55 in black this weekend. The car was not detailed per my request but when I got it home I noticed that it looked like someone laid something on the hood and left 2 groups of scratches. I tried to buff them out by hand and barely budged them. Before I go after it with the PC, I would like to know what you would suggest? I really don`t want to make it worse.



Thanks,



Lou K

[Bill D]

Welcome to Autopia, Lou :wavey



You`re going to need at least a PC. I attempted removing only a handful of small isolated scatches on a SL55 AMG, even with my Cyclo, and didn`t get much results. I used Menzerna( the polishes for Ceraimclear) and 1z ( 4 different products in total) still couldn`t get them all out. If your paint defects are at least as bad as these were ,trying to work by hand definitely will not work. Maybe hours and hours by PC and Cyclo will do the trick if you don` have or are experienced with a rotary. Unfortunately, that`s the problem with this type of paint.

[JaCkaL829]

Menzerna has a line of ceramiclear polishes out, might want to look into them. Here`s a review of them

http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44763&highlight=po106

[jimmybuffit]

Welcome to Autopia! Difficult question, and one that hasn`t come up often. Automotive International`s Cerious polish was developed with your finish in mind. I have used the polish, with excellent results.



BUT NOT ON A CERAMICLEAR FINISH, so, I guess I can only steer you to autoint.com -



ValuGard`s Cerious Polish (http://autoint.com/autostore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=24&idproduct=69)



I`ve been quite pleased with their products in general, so I would expect great success with Cerious.



Let us know...



Jim

[jmsc]

Because Ceramiclear is still so new, I would contact Jeff Silver at Menzerna USA (do a google search for their web site) by E-Mail or telephone and ask him. He`s very knowledgeable. I believe that after the paint has cured, Menzerna recommends either Intensive Polish or Final Polish II for removing scratches, swirls and paint defects on their ceramic clear coats. Don`t know if the ccc will require a rotary or cyclo or pc. Also, remember that IP has more bite than the 2 new ccc PO106 and PO85RD products. Another Menzerna product called PowerGloss is even stronder than IP. But I would talk to Jeff first. Good Luck with that new M-B and I would like to know how you solved your problem.

[togwt]

CeramiClear:

PPGâ€â„¢s CeramiClear clear coat is the first automotive clear coat to use nanoparticle technology and raises the standard for combined resistance to scratches mars and acid etch. The patented nanoparticle technology creates a highly cross-linked network at the surface of the coating for superior resistance to damage caused by day-to-day use, car washes and environmental hazards such as acid rain and tree sap.



PPG Industries Inc (2004) ceramic clear coat is unmatched in scratch, surface marring and acid-etching resistance as well as gloss retention. Test results have shown that after a period of six months gloss retention shows an 80% improvement and acid-etching resistance is 50% better compared to that of a non-ceramic clear

coat.



PPG have also developed an aftermarket refinishing clear coat to provide approximately the same level of protection as the OEM ceramic clear coat. PPG Industries Inc and Menzerna have formulated aftermarket abrasive polishes (Intensive Polish and Final Polish II) for removing surface imperfections like scratches and paint defects for the (2004) ceramic clear coat.

JonM

[Scottwax]

Meguiars DACP, polishig pad and a rotary will also work. My understanding is Meguiars is one of the companies PPG worked with to make sure the paint wasn`t so hard it couldn`t be corrected.

[Lou K]

Originally posted by Scottwax

Meguiars DACP, polishig pad and a rotary will also work. My understanding is Meguiars is one of the companies PPG worked with to make sure the paint wasn`t so hard it couldn`t be corrected.



:xyxthumbs For anyone who is interested I detailed my car this weekend, a `05 SL 55 AMG, black ceramiclear paint. I used Menzerna Intensive Polish, followed with Menzerna Final Finish (applied with a Porter Cable dual action buffer) and finally Meguiars #16 carnauba. Turned out beautiful looks like Black Glass. The ceramiclear paint is truly a bear to work with. The Menzerna polishes work great but they are time consuming. I tried 3M rubbing compounds with a Porter Cable dual action machine to see the difference. The 3M product did nothing to the paint while the Menzerna`s did polish out scratches; great polish that will work with the new MB paint.



I also did a small section of another black car that I own that does not have the ceramiclear with great results and it was much easier to use.



Lou K

[paco]

Check out the phorums website. A fellow there (shall go nameless here for obvious reasons i.e. RK) has worked with Ceramiclear a lot and I believe he has a new set of polishes coming out for it.



Ceramiclear`s protection is on the outer most layer (part of the baking process) and if you polish it away, you pretty much compromise the actual added benefit of having Ceramiclear.



I`d read a lot of about how the finish is applied and it`s implications for polishing prior to ever attempting to polish it out. A Ceramiclear finish is new and you need to be careful with how you polish it. Not only do you now need to be careful about burning through the clear and polishing too much such that it leads to premature failure but for Ceramiclears, you also have to worry about possibly removing it by an uniformed detailer.



Paco

[Lowejackson]

RK knows his stuff

[Bill D]

RK`s polish is Cerious Compound and Menzerna`s polishes are also made for Ceramiclear. If I understand him correctly, cerious oxide is the principle ingredient that allows proper polishing of this finish

[TortoiseAWD]

Please, don`t cross-post. Your three threads on this subject have been merged into this thread.



Thanks,

Tort

(moderator)

[Mikeman]

Digging up an old one here.....



If the hard ceramic part of Ceramiclear is only 2 microns thick, how can anything but the lightest marring be removed without defeating the benefits of the new paint? It seems to me that anything more than minor swirls from washing should NOT be buffed out. That is, if you want your Ceramiclear to continue to have superior resistance to scratches compared to conventional clearcoats.



This Ceramiclear would have to be VERY scratch resistant, virtually eliminating the need for paint correction, for me to embrace it. Think about it......2 MICRONS of the hard stuff! How hard is the stuff below that? This is what we`ll be working with a couple of polishing sessions later.



Mikeman out.



Mikeman out.

[Ed Fisher]

That is sure a hard one... My uncle has a 2005 S300-something an he has a scuff on his boot. He couldn` t get rid of it so he had to squeeze out a good $300 to have it removed at the local Merc service station... It looked horrible on the very dark smokey grey but now the car rocks !!

(Dammit ! I`ll never afford one !!!) :(