The technology is amazing because these are the first automobile panels which are completely polypropylene. The material is called Daplen ED230HP. There is some confusion about painting because all panel colors have a clearcoat painted on them. The red, blue and silver have a color coat plus the clearcoat.
So even the solid dyed colors can suffer a chip to the clearcoat.
My understanding is that three of the body panels are solid color through and through. They are yellow, white and black. You can see the raw materials used for these panels in my SCOA gallery. The blue, red, and silver are not painted, they are powdercoated. Repainting may not give favorable results. Paint will not adhere very well to powdercoating. To repaint one must re-powdercoat or strip all previous powdercoat before painting.
My understanding is that three of the body panels are solid color through and through. They are yellow, white and black. You can see the raw materials used for these panels in my SCOA gallery. The blue, red, and silver are not painted, they are powdercoated. Repainting may not give favorable results. Paint will not adhere very well to powdercoating. To repaint one must re-powdercoat or strip all previous powdercoat before painting.
My take on powder coating is:
(a) the dry powder adheres to the base material by electrical charge,
(b) the power coat is then cured onto the base material in an oven under very high heat,
(c) the finished powder coating is somewhat dull in appearance.
That is OK for coating metals, but not so OK for coating polypropylene plastic. The three metallic colors are painted, then clear coated.
Last edited by Old smart; 01-09-2008 at 10:33 AM.
Reason: sp.
Very cool info, thanks! I'm stoked about it since this is to be my 'parking' car and not having to worry about dings will be a great relief from the other cars. I've had clear bra on cars and doubt I'll do the panels on our white Smart, however I can see doing the powder coated bits and headlights/fogs. (That said I'd look into Venture Film vs some others, it very clear and lasts well).
One thing I always do I am not sure of on the Smart is window tint, hmm
I do a lot of powder coating at home. Powder coatings are urethane, cured and baked at high temperatures. I have a hard time believing that the NON conductive plastic body panels are powder coated. Certainly the Metal conductive Tridion, steel frame, floor pan, and other metal parts are powder coated...in fact we have video of the process and the hand buff out of the exterior Tridion assy.
Powder coating requires and electrostatic charge to the metal structure and the opposit charge to the spray/dust gun... the electrostatic charge is what keeps the plastic urethane "paint" media firmly attracted to the metal...then the entire part must spend time in a 350~450 degree F oven to MELT the urethane plastc "paint" into a uniform coating.
My understanding from the Smart "Eco freindly" press releases is that the new 451 has a water based paint used for the metallic and the clear coat. By having no VOCs they solved one "Green" eco freindly problem...but the trade off is that the new "water based color coat paints" take a lot longer for full cure and hardness. On top of a already soft medium --the plastic body panels--- the European owners are experiancing more dings and damage to the front areas from gravel and stones...
... My understanding from the Smart "Eco freindly" press releases is that the new 451 has a water based paint used for the metallic and the clear coat. By having no VOCs they solved one "Green" eco freindly problem...but the trade off is that the new "water based color coat paints" take a lot longer for full cure and hardness. On top of a already soft medium --the plastic body panels--- the European owners are experiancing more dings and damage to the front areas from gravel and stones...
I'm guessing that a characteristic of the metallic paint, and the clear coat used on all the panels, is that it is particularly flexible so it won't crack when the soft panels are deformed.
I had it on a couple of cars and while pricey it was worth it when it came time to sell them but not sure i would bother with the smart. guess it depends on which one and what the panels are. I would avoid buying online and then trying to find somebody to install it. I did that once and would up doing it myself when nobody would touch it. Came out 'ok' but was nothing like the next car i bought with it dealer installed...
I had the 3M ChipGuard Protection installed on my blue/silver passion coupe by the dealer.....or at least the dealer contracted it out with a local company to do the install. It was fairly pricey at $800 installed, but since I live in Washington state, and what they use to "SAND" the roads in the winter is anything BUT sand, e.g. pea gravel, usually, and since someday (hopefully) I plan to have a motorhome and use the fortwo as a TOAD, I decided to have it done. SO FAR........I don't have any regrets! It looks pretty good. You have to really look to see the lines........and it cleans up pretty easy with soap and water. They did the front panel, service panel, back of mirrors, and both sides on the top behind the tridion, plus a heavier film over the headlights. I STILL think it's overpriced, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run if it keeps my car from becoming "sandblasted" by all the trucks on Interstate 5 that I have to drive to work everyday!!
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