Nissan GT-R Self healing paint question

Hey guys I have a Nissan GTR (Black) scheduled for next week and have been trying to investigate the supposed "Self Healing Paint". Does anyone know for sure if this car has this technology...is it standard or did the buyer have to special order it? I will say that if this car does have it, the technology is far from perfected as I have seen this car for several months and it has swirls and scratches everywhere. and none of them are healing on their own. I did check under the hood and it has a badge stating "Hard Clear" thats about it. Anyone with some experience polishing this paint I would gratefully accept some feedback on the process and products. I have a Metabo, Flex 3401, and UDM, Menz, Megs, and Optimum Polishes. Thank you! Also if anyone has some Ideas they want me to try let me know... I'll post my findings after I finish the car. Thanks in advance.

Paul
 
i dont remember the guys name .. but he did a short video on detailing a black GTR with self healing paint .. he was using a flex rotary and the new LC kompressor pads .. forgot what polish he was using .. but his main point was to not use your normal aggressive polish .. he stated that you should use a very minor aggressive polish
 
I cant verify if self-healing is any different than the standard cerami-clear/ Nano offerings from PPg and Sikkens. But lest assume self-healing is the same as "Hard Clear" from Nissan.



My Infiniti has a "Hard Clear" sticker under the hood. Menzerna SIP, 106, and Zaino Z-PC have worked perfectly with Lake CCS pads.



I'm going to try the new Meguiars M105 / M205 this weekend on it if I have a chance.
 
GLuXuRy said:
i dont remember the guys name .. but he did a short video on detailing a black GTR with self healing paint .. he was using a flex rotary and the new LC kompressor pads .. forgot what polish he was using .. but his main point was to not use your normal aggressive polish .. he stated that you should use a very minor aggressive polish



That was Anthony Orozco. You can search to find his videos.



It might also be on Optimum Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board)
 
Think of this paint as paraffin wax in the sense that it can only be cut when cold so heat is not the best course in correcting this paint type.



In short, use a mild polish like Ultrafina, FPII or the new Optimum Finishing Polish and a finishing pad/finesse type pad and see how that works for you.



My personal technique on this paint is to try and "cold buff" the paint. We are experimenting with a cold wipe down of the paint, buff it, cool it down and continue. Now this seems to go against the whole idea of buffing because it naturally creates heat and friction which in turn levels paint but I am trying to level the paint with more friction than heat and I am attempting to do this by lower rpms and multiple passes.



The milder polish choice plus a softer pad also aid in keeping temps down a bit. I'll keep some ice water close by, spraying in between polishing steps.



So far this method seems to work very well but perhaps you can add your own modifications to it and please share it with us as this type of paint is not very common just yet.



If I can be of more help let me know,

Anthony
 
Thanks for the responses so far. Anthony sounds like the Flex 3401 May work better than a Rotary then as it does not generate nearly as much heat as the Rotary does. Do you have the Flex Orbital? if so have you tried it?
 
Conan777 said:
Thanks for the responses so far. Anthony sounds like the Flex 3401 May work better than a Rotary then as it does not generate nearly as much heat as the Rotary does. Do you have the Flex Orbital? if so have you tried it?



The Flex will work nicely and I would try the Flex first, with your pad/product choice and work it in well. See how that works and then if needed go to the rotary.



Post pics up when done and of course your course of action.



Anthony
 
If the sticker under the hood says "hard clear" it is most likely the regular Nissan paint.



What I would do is get the VIN or paint code (on my Maxima, it is a 3 digit code towards the base of the hood) and see if your local Nissan dealer can tell you for sure what paint is on the car.
 
Scottwax said:
If the sticker under the hood says "hard clear" it is most likely the regular Nissan paint.



What I would do is get the VIN or paint code (on my Maxima, it is a 3 digit code towards the base of the hood) and see if your local Nissan dealer can tell you for sure what paint is on the car.



I agree with Scott. Get the truth before you start assuming, I did not even think this paint was out yet??



I was under the impression that this paint was still in the experimental stages??



I have also read that it can only heal itself once in that spot and does require sunlight to trigger this process. But if you get a scratch in the same spot a second time you're out of luck.







Anthony, I'm confused as to why heat would not be a good thing when polishing out this kind of paint ?? Please further explain.....



Josh
 
jdoria said:
I cant verify if self-healing is any different than the standard cerami-clear/ Nano offerings from PPg and Sikkens. But lest assume self-healing is the same as "Hard Clear" from Nissan.





Sikkens (Akzo Nobel) isn't used at the OEM level and don't offer a SRC.



I have a friend that's an executive @ Finish Master and he tested an early hybrid version of this clear for PPG. He claimed the "self healing" properties will only be a preliminary effect and will change over time where standard SRC clears will remain the same.
 
Josh-the EX35s were the first Infinitis with the self healing paint. I have a customer with a black one and it is pretty much swirl and defect free. I've never detailed it, they just have me take care of their 21' trailer (for their Harleys) and their Excursion.



My understanding is the self healing properties last about 3 years and are heat activated. My first instinct to correct that type of paint would be a finishing polish and high rpms to put some heat into the paint.
 
From my reading this paint technology was introduced on their SUV (forgot the model off hand) awhile ago and like others have posted it is a one time deal for serious scratches to heal themselves. One article said you can speed up the healing process by pouring hot water over the defects and within a couple hours they should be gone however UV radiation is the preferred method ie. Direct sunlight to heal the paint. I am going to try the paint code idea first and call Nissan to know for sure which type of paint I am dealing with. Thanks for the feedback!
 
Ok the question has been answered in regards to the paint on these cars. I spoke with Nissan Today (had to get a specific phone number to talk with people knowledgeable with the GTR specifically) They said that they too have heard rumors of the "Self Healing Paint" being on the new GTR but they say it just is not true. They have the normal "Hard Clear" that is standard clear coat, nothing fancy, nothing self healing so buff as you would any hard clear.
 
JoshVette said:
Anthony, I'm confused as to why heat would not be a good thing when polishing out this kind of paint ?? Please further explain.....



Josh



My apologies for a late reply. Since this is a rather new paint (to our end at least) I am only working on theory here. The way this paint (self healing) is designed is to basically eliminate buffing which is accomplished by a hybrid of sorts with paint....kinda like when a person grafts 2 different fruit trees to get a hybrid of a certain fruit....and there are 2 types of paint, of which I can't recall the names, but anyways one type will supposedly melt or a better description would be that it self levels if a scratch occurs.



Ever shot an arrow into one of those self closing or healing targets they make for archery? Will that's the general idea behind this paint. So based on our experience so far attacking this paint with heat (in the buffing process) just didn't work well at all because a few days later it didn't look like anything was done to the paint, in fact it looked worse. Now if this is a super hard clear then it's not very hard because a trip to a hand washing place scratched the hell out of it.



I am confused though because when we contacted Nissan they did not deny that the GTR had this self healing paint, in fact the specialist that called us back stated that they knew of issues with this paint type.....so there seems to be some misinfornation about the paint type on these GTR's.



Regardless of that it was obvious that the paint type on the GTR responded better to a less aggressive, cooler approach.



Anthony
 
Any input on this guys? I have the 09 fx and I'm sure the self healing paint is on there. I have light swirl marks already and I'm thinking of using swirl x by hand to remove it for by few layer of opti seal than opti spray wax. good idea or no?
 
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