Scratch Removal

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     The top coating on your vehicle is called the clear coat. It is a transparent, glossy plastic material. Its main purpose is to be aesthetically pleasing and also to prevent the metal from rust. Your vehicle is coated with many layers of different corrosion preventing materials. All vehicles are first immersed in a positively charged chemical liquid. It is then sprayed with a corrosion preventing primer. Then, the base coat or color (pigment), is added. The last coating (top coat), or layer that is added is called the clear coat. Paint Correction Pa

     Rust, fading, peeling and cracking of the paint and metal have plagued all vehicles since the first car was made. These different coatings that are applied to a vehicle have evolved and advanced to the point where cars are lasting longer and rusting to a lesser degree over a longer period of time. Car manufacturers have spent an incredible amount of money, research, and time in order to make cars look better and last longer. The prep process and layers of coatings are a huge part of that success. 

     Let's talk about the different layers of coatings that have been applied to a vehicle. The chemical coating process adds about 15-20 microns of thickness. The primer coating adds 20-25 microns of thickness. The color (pigment) coating adds about 15-20 microns of thickness. The top coating (clear coat) adds about 30-40 microns of thickness. All of the coatings work in conjunction with each other and prevent corrosion in varying ways, but they all have the same purpose....to prevent rust and corrosion,  fading, peeling, and to resist chemicals.  

     The top coating or clear coat is the first line of defense against the elements. It is the thickest coating on your vehicle. To give a frame of reference, 30-40 microns is about as thick as a post-it note. We all know that when you purchase a brand new vehicle it looks so incredibly glossy and the depth of color is intense. Over the next few years, your friend pulls their brand new car next to yours and you notice that theirs looks incredibly glossy and yours looks dull and dingy. Why is this? The top coating is plastic. Exposure to the sun and oxygen in the air combine to "cloud up" the clear coat. It creates a dulling effect kind of like a cataract on the eye. The clouding effect blocks the color of the paint (pigment). Since the clouding effect is on the very top of the top coating polishing (paint correction) it will remove the oxidation (clouding). If you have ever noticed that a car that lives in the garage always looks better than one that doesn't is because the sun increases the negative effects of the oxygen to expedite the fading process. The top coating (clear coat) is thick enough to last for many, many years. But, over time, the fading and dulling makes the car look ugly, hard to clean, and may even cause you to trade it in and spend a whole lot more money to buy a newer car. Keeping the car you currently have is way less expensive than buying a newer one. 

     It does not take long for a new car to start to oxidize (cloud up). Polishing (paint correction) the top coating is the only way to remove the oxidation, restoring the gloss and clarity back to new. The down side to polishing the clear coat is that each time this is done a thin layer of clear coat is removed depending on how aggressive it was polished. The top coating is not really designed to be polished more than once and not aggressively. The hardest part of the top coating is the top 10 microns. Remember that the top coating is only about 30-40 microns thick. Since the hardest layer is the top 10 microns, it is not wise to remove any of it. It's best to remove the oxidation and then stop. Removing any amount of the top coating will weaken the clear coat and cause it to become more easily scratched and also reduce its life expectancy. It's best to enhance, preserve, and protect the top coating. Since it is the thickest coating on the vehicle, this tells us that it will wear or become thinner as time goes on and the manufacturer has taken this into account and that's why the top coating is the thickest. 

     There are two different approaches to restoring the top coating back to its original form. Polishing it in order to restore clarity or add clear coat to restore clarity and thickness. How do we know which one your vehicle needs? That will be determined by us. We will bring the vehicle inside, washing it so we can see the top coating properly. Over time, scratches accumulate due to many different factors, and the clear coat loses thickness due to weather, chemicals, dirt, and aggressive polishing.  The reality is that scratches on the top coating are a part of life. Like wrinkles, they will happen. We can help to prevent them by proper washing, not using an ice scraper brush, and keeping it clean but scratches will still accumulate. Polishing the top coating is the preferred method because it is the most straight forward, least expensive,  and the path of least resistance. Most vehicles will fall under the category of polishing. Once in a while, we come across a vehicle with much thinner than factory clear coat or very heavily scratched. One or both of these criteria will usually create a circumstance that warrants the need to add clear coat. 

     Adding clear coat or restoring the thickness of the clear coat is a more involved and costs a little more than polishing. The reason for this is because it takes a little more time, and a curing process or time is needed for the new clear coat. Why do we need to add clear coat? When thinning clear coat or heavy scratches are present then polishing is almost pointless. In other words, we are in danger in removing clear coat to reduce the scratches which will make the clear coat potentially fail much sooner than it should have. Furthermore, if those scratches are 20 microns deep then in order to remove them we need to remove 20 microns of clear coat. Now, single scratches can be slightly reduced by polishing, but when the vehicle is covered in medium to heavy scratches, then adding clear coat would be a better option. We can add clear coat by properly prepping the vehicle in the wash bay and then slightly scuffing the clear coat in order to promote proper adhesion. 

With all of that being said, scratches do not have to be removed. They are unattractive to look at but thin clear coat needs to be made thicker, otherwise it may fail leading to corrosion and rust. 

     We have years of experience knowing what your clear coat needs in order to thrive. We know how to restore and protect it. We are not referring to show cars. We are referring to daily driven vehicles that are used every day and need to be restored or polished. At the very least, polishing the top coating is necessary to deep clean and prep the paint for whatever level of protection you desire. As Americans, we love our cars. We are not obsessed with them but we have pride in what we drive and love to clean them or have someone else clean it for us. We love everyday cars. In other words, exotic or high spec cars, to us, are not our specialty. We love normal, everyday, popular vehicles. Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep are just a few of the vehicle makes we love detailing, restoring, and protecting. Call us to find out more or schedule an inspection so that we can look at your vehicle and determine how best to restore and protect it. Paint Correction Pa York Hanover

Cost is $ By Estimate Only $