Choosing self-healing paints

Q1: I have heard of self-healing paints. My car is six-years-old and I'm thinking of giving it a respray since it's looking a little aged.

Are there any workshops in Malaysia offering this type of paint? It must be expensive but I can afford it.

Does AutoDetailer offer spray jobs? If not, maybe you guys should start it as a value-add service and a side revenue.

Soon Teik
Klang

International paint manufacturers like PPG, Dupont, Sherwin-Williams and BASF produce a range of scratch-resistant/self-healing clear-coats.

They will each have their own unique properties.

I am not aware if there are any body-shops locally that have use the self-healing clear-coats from Sherwin-Williams which have a unique re-flow technology that "repairs" itself under heat.

More commonly used would be the Ceramic-clears from PPG.

We were one of the pioneers locally to experiment and perform the Ceramic-clears on a number of custom-restored vehicles by us. It was solvent-based then.

The newer versions are now water-based for environmental compliance.

The ultra-hard clears whilst in theory are very durable, also presents a number of difficulties post-refinishing as imperfections when sanded are extremely hard to recover and only very experienced detailers are able to produce a brilliant finish on them because of their hardness.

My personal recommendation would be to go for the High-Solids or HS-range of clear-coats. They offer the best balance in durability and definition.

My own personal car modification projects use them.

We have been offering extremely high-quality paintwork refinishing solutions for our clients from the time we began almost a decade ago.



Q2. What’s the main difference between OEM windscreens and those manufactured by third parties?

I have heard that some third party windscreens can be so badly made that they “cloud” on rainy nights. What causes the “clouding”?

Faulty lamination process? Trapped air bubbles? Uneven surface, poor claying or what?

Gan SL
Kuala Lumpur

Always stick with OEM windshields.

Third-party/aftermarket windshields are not of the same quality even if some insist they are. OEM windshields have international certification and safety ratings which are very stringent.

I've not personally used aftermarket windshields as I prefer the OEM ones but having driven in several client vehicles replaced with aftermarket glass, my personal thoughts are that there are some distortion visible and the thickness of the material varies.

With most modern cars, you'll need the OEM windshield anyway because they will have the factory-spec rain sensors, among other things.


Q3:  Some kid in the neighbourhood scratched some letters on the rear side of my wine red car.

The marks are not deep enough and looks like a surface damage from stone or rock.
 
Will polishing clear away the scratch but also damage the clear coat and thin the paint even more? Or is it better to just respray that panel?

Tina
Kuala Selangor

It's unfortunate to hear of the damage to your paintwork.

Without photos or an actual inspection of the vehicle, it would be difficult to provide an accurate solution.

If I assume by referring to your comment that the graffiti is similar to stone-chips and you're able to see the white/grey primer underneath the paintwork, then it's off to the body-shop for a full panel repaint.

Avoid the usual "touch-ups" recommended as the only proper way to have the entire panel repaired (they will need to sand and provide filler to even out the deep abrasion), primer and then repainted to match.

A highly experienced and skilled painter should be able to help you with that.

Alternatively, pick up some automotive polish/compound from a hardware store/supplier and give it a try.

As for your question if polishing will remove the scratch but at the same time also damage the clear-coat including reducing the thickness of your paintwork, yes it will as generally the polishing process is abrasive in nature.

It's a balance and here is where a competent detailer with advanced tools like ultrasonic paintwork thickness gauges can accurately measure and correct such flaws (if at all possible) with precision.