mre1974

I have a '99 C5 Hardtop/FRC that I keep toying with the idea of doing a full respray color change. Toying with the idea of a satin or matte finish Olive Drab Green for a possible 'military theme' but not 100% sure about the upkeep and maintenance for these finishes.

Can someone provide some insight on cleaning, waxing/protecting, etc?

I know that the color pallet I'm looking at could be done in traditional gloss finish but a satin or matte would be more 'true to the theme'. Thanks for any help.

DUB

Any matte surface is somewhat hard to maintain and keep the matte looking the same all the time. No waxing or polishing can be done due to it then would not longer be a matte finish. The same holds true for a satin finish.

I can say that many years ago I painted parts for a company that had a contract with the Dept. of Defense and I painted them in the Olive drab CARC (Chemical Acid Resistance Coating). It was some good stuff but you could take your finger nail and leave a mark but not necessarily scratch the coating off due to the painting process for applying it ...made it relatively bullet proof. This CARC was non-reflective stuff.

This stuff could cover white epoxy primer in ONE coat. So it 'hides' very very well and would not take that much paint at all to paint the car. Seriously I bet a gallon would do it and you would still have a lot left over due to I reduced that CARC about 50% to 75% with Methyl Ethyl Ketone.

DUB

mre1974

Thanks for the insight and information. I did some brief looking into CARC paints and found some decent reading on them. Seems like there are a few brands/manufacturers out there of that style paint. I wonder how well this product will wear, adhere and flex/not crack on the urethane bumper covers? I would assume that on the main body panels that it would be fine. Maybe there is a flex additive that could be used? I'm also wondering if after I fill and sand the blemishes in the factory finish if I would need to do an epoxy primer or if I could just do a full scuff on the factory color and clear and spray over there?

DUB

When I shot the CARC paint I was not really trying to get build on it. I did all of the build with the white epoxy primer...because I had a minimal mill thickness I was trying to achieve. So I was not wasting paint and applying too much due to how much stuff I needed to paint. I remember mm minimal mil thickens was 3.2 mils. And when the inspector checked them I was basically at 3.2 to 3.4 mils across the board on the parts I shot. The other guys and the stuff they shot 5.0 to 7.0 mils.

So...I can not respond if using a flex additive will work or not. Because as long as the surface is prepped well and it is applied on there rather tin. I feel it should hold up for some time...but do not hold me to that.

AS for doing any repairs and then painting it. I would get my repairs done and then possibly apply black epoxy primer on the car and then shoot the CARC paint if that is what you want to do.

AS for the wear aspect. I guess if you talk to someone in the military who maintains the vehicles that have the CARC on it...which I am sure about all of it is when dealing with ground vehicles. I am sure it would last.

DUB

csherman

ever thing of doing a wrap
There are wraps in satin / flat colors....