My brother in law has a 1999 metallic green Audi A4 and he has said in the past he has bought Tcut metallic green polish to get some football scratches out of his bonnet surely if he has done this he will have rubbed away the clear lacquer layer that is sprayed on top of the metallic paint. Could someone tell me what the clear lacquer coating is applied on top of the metallic paint for, in other words what is its function and what are the consequences of removing this clear lacquer layer.
Thanks
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It is both protective and shiny. Take it away and the paint will deteriorate far more quickly and it will look distinctly dull too. What it's made of I don't know, but someone here will, I'm sure.
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you can t/cut the lacquer but obviously you dont cut through it to the base coat, hands are better for this than machine tools as they can also "burn " this coating on the corners of wings etc if you are not careful
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Most paint applied in car factorys is water based. The laquer or 'Top Coat' as it is called,seals the paint in.Other wise it would,quite literally,wash off in the rain! Strangley enough it is much harder to spray on,and needs more coats.The extra manpower needed in the paint-booth is off-set by the cheapness of the paint! The paint is so thin they have to use colour coded primer so as it does'nt show through!The whole of the Auto Industry is 'Cost Based' these days.
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What its made of? I dont know,but where I worked, Humans are not allowed to spray it.It is applyed by Robots in sealed booths-Bit Nasty I think!
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It's also water-based as they are no longer allowed to vent the solvent fumes to atmosphere.
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It's also water-based as they are no longer allowed to vent the solvent fumes to atmosphere.
I was told by a body shop that the laquer isn't water based at all. It kind of makes a mockery of the law saying that paints should now be water based, but as laquer isn't a paint as such, but more of a protective coating.... make your own minds up.
Re: the comment "Humans are not allowed to spray it."
Are you refering to two pack paint?
If so:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=23...6
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Metallics are laquered to protect and give a shiny appearance to the matt basecoat. The appearance of metallic depends upon the metallic flakes being applied uniformly throughout the paint finish. Unlike solid colours, if a metallic colour coat is heavily polished it will 'shear' ie the metallic flakes are exposed ruining the appearance of the paint.
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Most paint applied in car factories is water based. The lacquer or 'Top Coat' as it is called, seals the paint in.Other wise it would,quite literally,wash off in the rain!
Really? How long would it take before it would wash off?
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>>I was told by a body shop that the laquer isn't water based at all. It kind of makes a
>>mockery of the law saying that paints should now be water based, but as laquer isn't
>>a paint as such, but more of a protective coating.... make your own minds up.
The basecoat is water based, but the laquer is still solvent based. If it wasn't solvent based then it would not work. The reason that manufacturers had to swap to water based products is because of pressure from the enviromentalists and the such like, hence they have had to cut down on the number of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compunds)that they use in order to not destroy the planet quite as quickly as they were doing with completely solvent based products. Its not so much that the solvent based products have been banned, but everyone has had to cut down their useage of them to the bare minimum hence the widespread use of water based basecoats.
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I think someone is getting confused about the water based bit. The water is simply the solvent that allows the paint to flow as it is applied. Once the water has evaporated & the paint is dry it is just as hard as other solvent based paints (in theory) & won't wash off in the rain. Non-metallic single coat car paints are also water based. The lacquer is for protection & to make the paint very reflective.
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>>I think someone is getting confused about the water based bit. The water is simply
>>the solvent that allows the paint to flow as it is applied.
True technically water is a solvent, but in the refinish industry the accepted terms are 'water based' for paint that is based on water, where as the traditional VOC based paints are known as 'solvent based'.
>>Non-metallic single coat car paints are also water based.
No they are not, they are still 'solvent based'. The technology isn't good enough yet to make a durable vehicle paint finish that is based on water.
>>The lacquer is for protection & to make the paint very reflective.
The lacquer provides a coating to protect the fragile basecoat and makes it shine. Basecoat by its very nature dries to a matt finish and needs the lacquer to make it work otherwise it would just be a dull finish. Lacquer is also still 'solvent based' for the same reasons as the non-metallic single coat paints (direct gloss colours).
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