Self healing paint appears to be working
- Thread starter threezero
- Start date
- Location
- Portland, OR
- Location
- brooklyn, ny
theres a film for windshields, kinda like a clear bra... supposed to be great, but also very expensive.. don't know a whole lot about it but I have seen it before...
far as the clearcoat, the first time I had to do an 09 I spoke to infiniti rep after rep till I finally found one with a clue who refered me to ppg ceramicoat clear as the recommended proper repair procedure... at the time even my ppg rep didn't know what I was talking about & had to actually call ppg to find out about what I was asking for. now honestly I can't say that I've researched this to death, I mean I didn't have much reason too, I thought I had all the info right from the source at that point... well, ok maybe not THE source, but at least from my source... I didn't question it all that much...
at the time most infiniti insiders I spoke to told me that infiniti themselves (dealerships) were even repairing these cars with conventional normal clearcoat in most cases, but the correct procedure was ppg ceramiclear or comperable competitive product... you'd be surprised if you saw how many infiniti's were actually repaired with regular clear, yet the customers were assured that yes, the correct scratch shield paint was indeed used... you think you could tell? I'm not even too sure I could unless I actually wetsanded & polished it myself... even then a bit hard to be 100% sure really
at the time I originally searched all this I couldn't find much info really & you'd be surprised how many professionals & even higher up officials were even clueless... the most common answer I got was don't worry about it, regular clearcoat is fine & no one could ever tell the difference.... I didn't agree with that....
anyway, you've peaked my curiosity now, so I did a little searching now & have found that yes, the info I dug up back then seems to have been correct... at least according to the trade sources I have... heres something for you:
Infiniti is working with paint vendors to develop approved materials and procedures for proper refinishing of vehicles with Scratch Shield.
To ensure proper color matching, adhesion and long-term wear characteristics, vehicles needing paint refinish work must be refinished with products that have been tested and approved by Infiniti.
The refinish paint manufacturers that have provided materials and procedures that meet Infiniti requirements at the time of this publication are listed in Table 1.
table 1:
I've seen reference from ppg that there the prefered premium repair product for these & the triangle on table one denotes that "I think"
and some manufactures contact #'s
this is from this source:
http://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/Article/4883/applying_scratch_shield_on_the_2008_infiniti_ex35.aspx
I also found some other evidence to support this direct through my ppg access but the info is propritary & privledged & conidential to authorized ppg dealers & I'm not allowed to copy or share any of that & don't want to play in that area just to show it to you here...
if you can find any info to the contrary I'm all ears, I can only know what I learn & so far this is all I've learned on the subject... I'd be interested to see anything contary to this info though... I now believe that the infiniti scratch shield paint is NOT ceramic clear, just that ceramic clear is infiniti's recommended REPAIR PROCEDURE, which leads me to now believe that the actual scratch shield finish from infiniti is indeed not truly duplicatable in the field... these products they recommend as proper repair procedures are COMPATABLE products & authorized to be used in the repair of the scratch shield finish... I'm now under the impression from this latest info that the actual scratch shield finish from infiniti is simply NOT TRULY DUPLICATABLE in the field after the vehicle leaves the assembly line... I also further now see that some of what infiniti rthemselves authorizes & accepts as a "proper" repair can indeed include a regular conventional clearcoat too, as some of the products listed in table 1 are indeed conventional urethane clearcoats, so Idunno, maybe they weren't so much jerking me off when I was told I could just use a conventional clearcoat.... ??? dunno tbh... all I know is what I've shared here really & that the best sources I have al still recommend ppg ceramiclear as the best choice in repairing these vehicles... also the spies hecker diamond clearcoat is also supposed to be very good too, I have never used that one though ... if you find any other info about this I'd love to hear it, I'd like to know as much as I can about it too, but at this point I think it's safe to say that the real deal scratch sheild finish from infiniti is not truely duplicatable at all, just repaired with compatable products that infiniti ok's as proper procedure, which is really about the most I could possibaly do in this case anyway... so technically I guess you are probably correct, ceramiclear is probably NOT the same as infiniti's scratch shield finish... problem is, getting any "real" info from infiniti corporate is almost impossible unless you can communicate with the head engineers in japan & they don't talk to anyone
far as the clearcoat, the first time I had to do an 09 I spoke to infiniti rep after rep till I finally found one with a clue who refered me to ppg ceramicoat clear as the recommended proper repair procedure... at the time even my ppg rep didn't know what I was talking about & had to actually call ppg to find out about what I was asking for. now honestly I can't say that I've researched this to death, I mean I didn't have much reason too, I thought I had all the info right from the source at that point... well, ok maybe not THE source, but at least from my source... I didn't question it all that much...
at the time most infiniti insiders I spoke to told me that infiniti themselves (dealerships) were even repairing these cars with conventional normal clearcoat in most cases, but the correct procedure was ppg ceramiclear or comperable competitive product... you'd be surprised if you saw how many infiniti's were actually repaired with regular clear, yet the customers were assured that yes, the correct scratch shield paint was indeed used... you think you could tell? I'm not even too sure I could unless I actually wetsanded & polished it myself... even then a bit hard to be 100% sure really
at the time I originally searched all this I couldn't find much info really & you'd be surprised how many professionals & even higher up officials were even clueless... the most common answer I got was don't worry about it, regular clearcoat is fine & no one could ever tell the difference.... I didn't agree with that....
anyway, you've peaked my curiosity now, so I did a little searching now & have found that yes, the info I dug up back then seems to have been correct... at least according to the trade sources I have... heres something for you:
Infiniti is working with paint vendors to develop approved materials and procedures for proper refinishing of vehicles with Scratch Shield.
To ensure proper color matching, adhesion and long-term wear characteristics, vehicles needing paint refinish work must be refinished with products that have been tested and approved by Infiniti.
The refinish paint manufacturers that have provided materials and procedures that meet Infiniti requirements at the time of this publication are listed in Table 1.
table 1:
I've seen reference from ppg that there the prefered premium repair product for these & the triangle on table one denotes that "I think"
and some manufactures contact #'s
this is from this source:
http://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/Article/4883/applying_scratch_shield_on_the_2008_infiniti_ex35.aspx
I also found some other evidence to support this direct through my ppg access but the info is propritary & privledged & conidential to authorized ppg dealers & I'm not allowed to copy or share any of that & don't want to play in that area just to show it to you here...
if you can find any info to the contrary I'm all ears, I can only know what I learn & so far this is all I've learned on the subject... I'd be interested to see anything contary to this info though... I now believe that the infiniti scratch shield paint is NOT ceramic clear, just that ceramic clear is infiniti's recommended REPAIR PROCEDURE, which leads me to now believe that the actual scratch shield finish from infiniti is indeed not truly duplicatable in the field... these products they recommend as proper repair procedures are COMPATABLE products & authorized to be used in the repair of the scratch shield finish... I'm now under the impression from this latest info that the actual scratch shield finish from infiniti is simply NOT TRULY DUPLICATABLE in the field after the vehicle leaves the assembly line... I also further now see that some of what infiniti rthemselves authorizes & accepts as a "proper" repair can indeed include a regular conventional clearcoat too, as some of the products listed in table 1 are indeed conventional urethane clearcoats, so Idunno, maybe they weren't so much jerking me off when I was told I could just use a conventional clearcoat.... ??? dunno tbh... all I know is what I've shared here really & that the best sources I have al still recommend ppg ceramiclear as the best choice in repairing these vehicles... also the spies hecker diamond clearcoat is also supposed to be very good too, I have never used that one though ... if you find any other info about this I'd love to hear it, I'd like to know as much as I can about it too, but at this point I think it's safe to say that the real deal scratch sheild finish from infiniti is not truely duplicatable at all, just repaired with compatable products that infiniti ok's as proper procedure, which is really about the most I could possibaly do in this case anyway... so technically I guess you are probably correct, ceramiclear is probably NOT the same as infiniti's scratch shield finish... problem is, getting any "real" info from infiniti corporate is almost impossible unless you can communicate with the head engineers in japan & they don't talk to anyone
Last edited:
- Location
- Portland, OR
I researched it a bit when first I heard of the magical "self healing paint". The first iteration was invented by a guy named Marek (I remember because I have a friend named Marek) at the University of So Mississippi, if memory serves. With that particular product, the instrument of the initial damage ruptured small spheres in the coating, which when broken regrouped or "pooled" into the crevise, thereby "healing" the damage...mostly.
The second was invented at UCLA in the early 2000's, and performed the same basic function but used UV radiation (sunlight) to trigger the reaction.
That's all I remember. I do know that there is a difference between the term "invent" and the term "develop", and Infiniti very intentionally uses the latter on their website in regard to their "self healing paint", which in fact is only the clear coating...
Sidebar; I'd be pissed if my 09 was repaired with regular clearcoat!
Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab
The second was invented at UCLA in the early 2000's, and performed the same basic function but used UV radiation (sunlight) to trigger the reaction.
That's all I remember. I do know that there is a difference between the term "invent" and the term "develop", and Infiniti very intentionally uses the latter on their website in regard to their "self healing paint", which in fact is only the clear coating...
Sidebar; I'd be pissed if my 09 was repaired with regular clearcoat!
Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab
philipblack114
Member
- Location
- montreal
I've done quite a bit of detailing and theres an easy way to know if a scratch will come all the way out, run your fingernail over it, if you feel anything it wont come all the way out with buffing. Using a orbital polisher can help reduce the appearance of the scratch and a rotary polisher can take it a step further, but that about it.
shumby
Member
- Location
- Edmonton Alberta
theres a film for windshields, kinda like a clear bra... supposed to be great, but also very expensive.. don't know a whole lot about it but I have seen it before...
It is called clearplex. I have it on my G it is about 200-300 to get it done. I was going to get it done to the FX but the window is tooo curved and it would be too difficult to apply.