Why are cars Painted?

Crazy Dazz · 03-01-2021, 05:55 PM

It's one of those weird "facts of life" that often leaves me puzzled.
Is there anything more pointless than turning out a new car with a bright shiny paint job??

First thing they do is cover the car in plastic, because otherwise it wouldn't even make it to the dealership unscathed.

Is there anything more disheartening, than having your new car for a few days, and some oxygen thief doors it in the carpark?
Then there's all the stonechips, bird****, bugs, cats, etc. And that's before we start talking about actual crashes.

Surely by now we could have come up with a better, more resilient coating?

I actually wonder if maybe cars shouldn't just come with a plastic coating from the factory?
Or maybe even entire panels made from Coloured plastic?
(The crazy thing is that even parts that are made from plastics, we paint them anyway.)

**GO FURTHER** · 03-01-2021, 06:02 PM

I always thought a coloured rubberised coating would be a good idea.

Thicker on the doors, front and bumpers to resist stone chips, and car park door dings.

prktkljokr · 03-01-2021, 06:04 PM

If your car always looked new and didnt deteriorate, they would not be able to sell new cars, thats why more parts break on a new car compared to a 40 year old car and the clearcoat fails just out of warranty

Pis-ton broke · 03-01-2021, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

It's one of those weird "facts of life" that often leaves me puzzled.
Is there anything more pointless than turning out a new car with a bright shiny paint job??

First thing they do is cover the car in plastic, because otherwise it wouldn't even make it to the dealership unscathed.

Is there anything more disheartening, than having your new car for a few days, and some oxygen thief doors it in the carpark?
Then there's all the stonechips, bird****, bugs, cats, etc. And that's before we start talking about actual crashes.

thats one reason why i don,t drive a nice car, and mine's white 2pack , which is easy to paint and hides imperfects and dirt, better than a darker colour.

but elons got the right idea with a stainless body , yeah.
he even makes rocket out of the stuff.

lra · 03-01-2021, 07:14 PM

Why are cars painted ?
Back in the old days, so you can find them easily in a car park.
These days, 50 shades of grey on identical looking SUVs.

fnp · 03-01-2021, 07:15 PM

Straight hot dip galv might not be a very attractive finish. I bet someone's tried it somewhere, though.

**Rallye Sport** · 03-01-2021, 07:19 PM

I've noticed a few Mini Mokes being done at my powdercoater, great idea I thought, much tougher than paint. Size of the oven permitting I can't see why you couldn't do a whole car.

Yellow_Festiva · 03-01-2021, 07:36 PM

They have tried plastic panels with limited success. They can't get the colour uniform throughout the panel if I recall.

Then there is the fact that a scratch can't be easily repaired.

When you think about it, paint is about the best option if you take into consideration all factors.

I'm sure if the manufacturers found a better yet cost effective option they would have gone with it.

Rubberised coatings don't look good and probably play on the aerodynamics.

Stainless steel body would be a nightmare come repair time. And the cost??

Powder coating?? Don't know enough about it? Can it be polished? Repaired? Clear coat? Metallic and pearl finishes?

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

JasonACT · 03-01-2021, 08:07 PM

CyberWasp · 03-01-2021, 08:10 PM

Self Healing Paint is not too far away.

Until then you could try Lichen as a self healing alternative.

XR Martin · 03-01-2021, 09:23 PM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=srgE6Tzi3Lg

**aussiblue** · 04-01-2021, 12:50 AM

..and http://theangryhistorian.blogspot.co...th-busted.html

roKWiz · 04-01-2021, 07:54 AM

Beauty of an all aluminium cab with a fibreglass roof. Polish it.
Would love to try it one day.

fnp · 04-01-2021, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Beauty of an all aluminium cab with a fibreglass roof. Polish it.
Would love to try it one day.

image

Hate to know how much all that aluminium cost...

GCRXR6 · 04-01-2021, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Beauty of an all aluminium cab with a fibreglass roof. Polish it.
Would love to try it one day.

image

Crikey, it hurts my eyes just looking at the photo.

**Ratmick** · 04-01-2021, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Self Healing Paint is not too far away.

Until then you could try Lichen as a self healing alternative.

image

I'm not sure I'm lichen that...

happy1 · 05-01-2021, 04:29 AM

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=car+covere...ages&ia=images

here you go, fluffy green cars

Pis-ton broke · 05-01-2021, 09:56 AM

a page on henry fords , full bodied stainless steel model A, and others.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/art...936-ford-tudor
https://www.justcars.com.au/news-and...l-fords/888032

Pis-ton broke · 05-01-2021, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussiblue

..and http://theangryhistorian.blogspot.co...th-busted.html

maybe something like this could be in the future, cheech and chongs weed van.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S7AMveTOLQ

Bossxr8 · 05-01-2021, 10:33 AM

I remember seeing a car that had a coloured gel coat instead of paint. But it was also probably a fibreglass body.

roKWiz · 05-01-2021, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fnp

Hate to know how much all that aluminium cost...

Freightliners, Kenworths, Petes are built with aluminium cabs, fibereglass roofs OEM and some with aluminium frames too. Reduces tare and they last well with no cab rust, some suffer rom corrosion around some steel fasteners.

That's why there are plenty of old ones still on the road and so few Ford Louiseybuilts kicking around being (edit....badly made) steel cabbed.