Ceramic coating paint protection

**thelews** · 02-21-2019, 08:01 PM

I've read, heard and seen all the wonderful testimonials about ceramic (nano) coatings. My question is as follows:

I have a vintage car with at least 45 year old paint if not 58 years old. When I got the car I worked the paint back to an excellent finish (all things considered) by feeding it emollients, polishing, glazing and waxing. It looks great.

However, when the car sits in the sun, the paint on the horizontal surfaces will dull down and lose it's shine. It can happen in hours, or sometimes over longer periods. Hence, I only drive it or have it out on cloudy days.

Will ceramic coating resolve this issue? My understanding of what this product does leads me to think it won't.

Thanks.

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Mike Phillips · 02-23-2019, 02:08 PM

Hi thelews,

Sorry I missed this post, I was making a shop call in New York on Thursday and had the trip from hell when I returned home Thursday night.

The answer to your question is technically "no". The reason why is because in order to apply a ceramic paint coating you're supposed to chemically strip the paint so the coating will properly bond to the paint.

As you stated you

I worked the paint back to an excellent finish (all things considered) by feeding it emollients, polishing, glazing and waxing.

These chemicals you used to restore the paint, if chemically stripped off would then dull the paint and applying the coating would seal over dull paint.

While there is no "LAW" against applying a ceramic paint coating over old school, solvent-evaporation paints like lacquers and enamels, the process to do so is what I call,

Working backwards

What you say,

However, when the car sits in the sun, the paint on the horizontal surfaces will dull down and lose it's shine. It can happen in hours, or sometimes over longer periods.

You have just described a category of paint I defined in my how-to book, The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine called,

Past the point of no return

And as the title of this category describes, the pigments in your car's paint are simply dead.

I'll type more about this for you on Monday when I'm behind a real keyboard and my arm holder uppers so I can speed type.

Would you like to see a video on this topic? I'd be happy to shoot one and explain what's taking place instead of typing about what's taking place.

Just reply back and say so in the comments.

And because this was your first post to our forum,

Welcome to AGO

p.s.

I would challenge anyone to find the above information anywhere on the net and specifically a FB group and get this type of info.

**thelews** · 02-23-2019, 03:44 PM

Thanks a lot for your reply. I agree, I've had no luck finding an answer to this question until now and would least expect to find it on a FB group.

Sure, I'd love to see a video on the issue, but don't go out of your way just for me.

Looks like cloudy days and indoor showrooms are where I'll have to be with this paint.

John