Millienium yellow clearcoat question
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 526
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From: Tampa fl
Millienium yellow clearcoat question
My wife's 01 Millienium yellow coupe is in the chevy dealership for some paint work on the front end and I am wondering about the clearcoat on this car. I thought that I have read somewhere that these cars were painted at the factory using a yellow tinted clearcoat. Can anyone confirm this for me? Does anyone know of a link to some reliable info on this question? 
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2000
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From: Arlington, Texas
I'm fairly certain that it's the same clearcoat as all the other paints. Millenium yellow has 2 coats of paint, a white coat then a yellow coat over it with then the clearcoat. That's the reason it costs extra.
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Pro
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Tampa fl
Conflicting opinions is precisely the reason for my post. I remember reading about the "yellow tinted clearcoat" either in corvette mags or here on the forum. The problem is when we asked the dealership about the clearcoat he said it is the same as any other car. I did not want to argue with him at the time because he is the body shop manager and I would hope he would be more knowledgable than me on this subject and I had no facts to back up what I thought had read. Even more confusing is when my wife e-mailed GM she received a response stating that the clearcoat is not tinted yellow. So far the dealership has made 3 unsuccessful attempts to repaint the front bumper on the car and I believe part of the problem is they are not using the right clearcoat. I need some hard data that I can give to the body shop manager to support the "yellow tinted clearcoat" theory.
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Yes, the clear is tinted on the mil yellow cars.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2003
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From: Tampa fl
Thanks for the responses. I just talked with the body shop manager and he acknowledged the yellow tinted clearcoat applied by the factory. He then went on to explain how the factory has special painting processes that cannot be duplicated by the "aftermarket" paint processes. Basically he said that they are using regular clearcoat and that it will look just as good and last just as long as the factory paint. I guess we will just have to wait and see how it looks when we pick the car up tomorrow. What do you guys think about this?
Safety Car
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From: Fishing Somewhere Cold
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Well, if the factory cc is yellow tinted and he is using clear I do not see how it can look the same 
Hopefully it does come out fine as it sounds like you are going ahead with the re-spray. Good luck. 
Hopefully it does come out fine as it sounds like you are going ahead with the re-spray. Good luck.
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The tint coat is NOT in the clearcoat.
The factory uses a white colored "tint base" coat, a yellow color coat, and finally the clearcoat....same clear as all C5's get.
Aftermarket painters using 2 stage bc/cc paints typically will put a little color into the clearcoat to arrive at a good match, and it works...but this is not how it's done at the factory.
The factory uses a white colored "tint base" coat, a yellow color coat, and finally the clearcoat....same clear as all C5's get.
Aftermarket painters using 2 stage bc/cc paints typically will put a little color into the clearcoat to arrive at a good match, and it works...but this is not how it's done at the factory.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Cerritos/Mooresville CA/NC
MY (or any color for that matter, except maybe white or black) can not be panel painted successfully. They may get it very, very close but the rate of change is going to be much faster (or slower) than the factory painted panels. In other words; it may look great upon leaving the shop but in 4 to 6 months you would be able to notice a difference manifesting itself. It would continue to get worse. I'm certain that you have observed vehicles on the road that have a particular panel that is darker, lighter, shinier or duller than the rest of the car. This is a result of someone’s attempt to panel paint a damaged and/or repaired panel. The proper way is to blend the color (yellow) into the hood and fenders in order to establish the proper match and then color sand everything again. After that the entire front end (in your case) would be clear coated, color sanded, buffed, etc............. As a favor to yourself, pay the extra money and have it fixed properly.
