Am curious as to whether the paint (base color and clear
coat) on our Jags is lacquer, shellac, enamel, polyurethane or
acrylic. Anyone know for sure? Reason I ask is that I’m
thinking of having some areas spot painted, and I want to be
sure they match the rest of the OEM paintwork as much as
possible, esp. in regard to the clear coat.–
&
Paul '94 XJS 4.0 cp. (
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In reply to a message from AttyDallas sent Thu 6 Oct 2016:
I don’t know what formulation Jaguar used as OEM, but it most
certainly is not lacquer, shellac, or uncatalyzed enamel. If
Jaguar were a low-end manufacturer there’s a slim chance they
could use a catalyzed enamel since they would also be baking
the finish in an oven, but I find this unlikely.
It probably is not a polyurethane because typically those are
only produced in a limited number of colors and are mainly used
for commercial vehicles like semi-trucks, fire engines, and
airplanes.
Most likely it will be an acrylic urethane paint (not
polyurethane) and if you are purchasing or commissioning
matching paint there’s a 90% chance that’s what will be
supplied. Only the cheapest, budget refinishers would use a
non-urethane enamel.
I would not worry too much about specific type of paint being
used if a professional is handling the job. If it’s a urethane
it should be fine.
If not, I’d question the pro. The lesser paints will not be as
durable as the original paint. Not a big problem with a
pampered show car which isn’t used much, but a bad idea for
something used regularly. You don’t want the new paint
chipping, or worse, fading prematurely.
Dave–
The original message included these comments:
Am curious as to whether the paint (base color and clear
coat) on our Jags is lacquer, shellac, enamel, polyurethane or
acrylic. Anyone know for sure? Reason I ask is that I’m
thinking of having some areas spot painted, and I want to be
possible, esp. in regard to the clear coat.&
Paul '94 XJS 4.0 cp. (
–
David Y.
Bothell, WA, United States
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In reply to a message from bdragon sent Fri 7 Oct 2016:
Thanks, Dave. I’m trying to debate re-covering her clear
coat on the roof and trunk lid area using Maaco. I’d just
like them to shoot a coat of it over the base paint, which
still appears to be in good shape (just not ‘‘shiny’’, if it
originally was). The clear coat had somehow managed to
‘‘evaporate’’ completely off those two surfaces (not sure how
else to describe it) over the many years in the hot sun. A
very few places it appears to have turned to a ‘‘milky’’ color
instead of transparent. When wetted down at the car wash,
those surfaces look almost good as new, so I’m thinking just
spraying some clear-coat over it will have that effect
permanently. I don’t expect the new clear-coat to exactly
match that of the rest of the car’s surfaces, but would like
it to come at least close and not look ‘‘obvious’’.
Maaco offers a basic enamel paint, a ‘‘combo’’ paint (mid-
grade), which consists of a mixture of the base-coat and
clear-coat shot at the same time, and a top-level $$ job
which is a true enamel base-coat with separate clear-coat on
top. I know last time I checked with them about doing the
job 3 or 4 years ago they balked at just doing the clear-
coat, claiming to me ‘‘we don’t know what shape that base-
coat is in or what’s under it, so we have to do both’’ (I’ve
heard they love spot-painting, b/c it’s more $$s for them,
btw), but maybe this time I can talk them into just the
clear-coat.
What do you think?–
The original message included these comments:
I would not worry too much about specific type of paint being
used if a professional is handling the job. If it’s a urethane
it should be fine.
If not, I’d question the pro. The lesser paints will not be as
durable as the original paint. Not a big problem with a
pampered show car which isn’t used much, but a bad idea for
something used regularly. You don’t want the new paint
chipping, or worse, fading prematurely.
–
& Paul '94 XJS 4.0 cp. (
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In reply to a message from AttyDallas sent Sat 8 Oct 2016:
TSB 501-09
Introduction Of Water-base Color �
Base-coat Paint � 1998 MY Paint Colors
Issue:
Water-base color base-coat paints will be introduced as a
running change in production during
the 1998 Model Year. This Technical Bulletin provides
information on the use of conventional
solvent-based and water-based paints for vehicle refinishing
purposes.
BACKGROUND
To comply with UK and EEC Environmental Protection Industry
legalization regarding volatile
organic compound (VOC) emissions, Jaguar is introducing a
water-base color-coat paint system.
Use of the system will begin with the introduction of the
1998 Model Year vehicle range.
The change to water-base paint only affects the color coat
of Jaguar�s current clear lacquer coat
over base color-coat (COB) paint system. The full
introduction of 1998 Model Year water-base
colors will be achieved as a running change, color by color.
This will mean that a number of
1998 Model Year vehicles will be painted in solvent basecoat
material.
To distinguish between solvent and water-base paint
finishes, a new body color paint code has
been devised.
Read the entire TSB if you want more info.
I have uploaded it on the internet through other forums and
GUS has it as well.
bob–
Bob Gauff Owning and Repairing Jaguars Since the Early 70’s
Decatur, TX., United States
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In reply to a message from bdragon sent Fri 7 Oct 2016:
I agree with bdragon that prior to 1998MY production the
paint is SOLVENT BASED.
I don’t know what car you are asking about but your XJS will
have solvent based paint.
bob–
Bob Gauff Owning and Repairing Jaguars Since the Early 70’s
Decatur, TX., United States
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In reply to a message from motorcarman sent Sun 9 Oct 2016:
Very interesting, Bob. And looks like it is solvent-based
for the pre-'98 XJ6s, which would include the X-300s. It
looks like the clear coat is in fact lacquer and not acrylic
urethane. I wonder how Jag was able to avoid the ‘‘checking’’
problem with lacquer?
Thanks.–
& Paul '94 XJS 4.0 cp. (
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In reply to a message from AttyDallas sent Sun 9 Oct 2016:
Paul, whatever you do decide on DON’T do CHEAP and just
Clear Coat the existing colour! At least get the areas you
are doing flashed over with the main colour first or as your
Finisher has implied you’ll be wasting your money and regret
it when those areas show like sore thumbs.–
The original message included these comments:
for the pre-'98 XJ6s, which would include the X-300s. It
–
Neil 1997 3.2 http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1242166704
MALDON, United Kingdom
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In reply to a message from Neil Maldon sent Mon 10 Oct 2016:
O.K. Guess he was just being honest, then. Thanks.–
The original message included these comments:
Paul, whatever you do decide on DON’T do CHEAP and just
Clear Coat the existing colour! At least get the areas you
are doing flashed over with the main colour first or as your
Finisher has implied you’ll be wasting your money and regret
it when those areas show like sore thumbs.
–
& Paul '94 XJS 4.0 cp. (
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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In reply to a message from AttyDallas sent Sun 9 Oct 2016:
I’m pretty certain Jaguar is using lacquer in a general sense
to describe the clear coat. This seems common in the UK. (I
wouldn’t have been shocked if they used the term ‘‘varnish’’.
Technically speaking, ‘‘lacquer’’ is a paint that dries solely
via solvent evaporation.
‘‘Enamels’’ dry both from solvent evaporation and via chemical
crosslinking of the paint molecules. Unactivated (1-part)
enamels can take months to fully dry via the cross-link process
unless baked in an oven. Activated (2-part) enamels use a
chemical accelerator to speed the cross-linking, and are
necessary with urethanes.
I cannot believe that Jaguar would have used a true lacquer at
any time after 1980, if even then. These paints fade and chip
easily, and if you spill gasoline on them, can stain. Because
they dry by solvent evaporation, naturally exposure to solvent
can soften them again (think mud brick vs. concrete brick.) As
far as I know Jaguar paint wasn’t known to be particularly
fragile.
You can’t paint over a lacquer finish because of the solvent
issue (unless you use a sealer coat to isolate it from the new
topcoats.)
Anyway, regardless, I too advise against just doing a
clearcoat. The body shop might do anything you want, as long as
you don’t want a warranty. They’re correct, they don’t know
what the original paint is, and there could be problems with
just a clear coat.
Also, most modern paints are designed to have the clear coat
chemically link with the base coat (the clear coat is sprayed
over the base coat within a certain time window, allowing the
two layers to bond together chemically as well as
mechanically.) This greatly reduces the chances that the clear
coat will peel off from the base.
Ask your shop what brand of paint they plan to use. If you’re
keeping the car a while, it might pay to upgrade the paint
(budget shops will often do this for an extra charge.)–
The original message included these comments:
Very interesting, Bob. And looks like it is solvent-based
for the pre-'98 XJ6s, which would include the X-300s. It
looks like the clear coat is in fact lacquer and not acrylic
urethane. I wonder how Jag was able to avoid the ‘‘checking’’
problem with lacquer?
Thanks.
&
–
David Y.
Bothell, WA, United States
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ive got 2003 xjr and the lacquer is peeling on roof and starting to blister elsewhere .is this unusual as my previous 4 xj,s never had a problem?
You’d think by 2003 Jag would have overcome this “durability issue”, but I guess they hadn’t. My '96 X-300 (Scrapper) had lost all her clear coat on the roof and trunk lid area by the time I got her. 
They tell me this problem was due to a change Jag made around '95 or so, required by new EPA standards, regarding paint and clear coats. What really gets the stuff coming off though, from what I have read on here, is taking the cars through brushed car washes. Always hand wash your cat, if possible.
That’s correct Paul, you’ve triggered a grey cell or two! It was about that time that the EU regulated to ban certain solvents in paints along with things like rosin based solder fluxes and replaced all these processes with water based products.
That brought major production issues across many industries.
And introduced all the crap water based paint we now find ourselves using.