Paint hardness

[Krzdimond]

Is there a list (or can we make one) that covers the hardness of the paint on cars? I know that Audi and Corvette are hard, but what about "normal" cars like ford, chevy, honda, etc?

 

I detail on the weekends and this would be invaluable info when a new customer shows up.

 

I was thinking something on the line of a 1-10 scale, 10 being that wonderful ceramic clearcoat and 1 being mozzarella cheese

 

 

IE:

 

Audi - 10

Buick - 4

 

ETC.....

[estecoca]

excellent idea! what criteria should be used when assigning a value???

[Bill-V8V]

It is a great idea but it will not be easy to do. Even the year and model of the car can make a big difference. Never mind if it has been repainted. But I'd love to see a list too

[mikegeaney]

Perhaps, in addition, polish and pad combo could be added in? Such as "X needed Swirl and Haze remover w/the orange pad" vs. "Y needed only fine machine polish with the white pad". It took me a while to figure out the various combos that would work with my own two vehicles.

[Krzdimond]

After googleing I found a PDF that was pretty good (in concept) but I can't open it - need to be a member- had to do with this:

 

http://forums.professionaldetailer.com/showthread.php?t=101&page=2 POST# 12

 

plagiarized from that site and adjusted for my use

 

I like the idea of having the same scale for paint hardness and pad/product abrasiveness. I think this could develop as this -

 

If you could assign a value to each product like this

heavy compounds (SHR)= 10

twisted wool = 10

foam cutting pads = 10

 

polishing compounds (FMP)= 7

polishing wool = 7

polishing foam = 7

 

major defects = 10

moderate defects = 7

minor = 3

 

hard paint = 10

medium = 5

soft = 1

 

then we could develop a scale that would equate:

hard paint = 10

moderate defect = 7

 

total = 17 - then you would need to combine products that would give you a range of 17. You could use a heavy compound (10) with a polishing foam pad (7); or polishing compound (7) with a foam cutting pad (10)

 

I hope this makes sense. My values aren't exact, and I've put them in only for demonstration, but I hope that it illustrates the concept.

 

About the Manufacturers, General terms should be fine. I know that 2005 and up Mercedes used the Ceramic clear, along with the Maibach.

Edited January 10, 2009 by Krzdimond