Camry Coloring Book

Does a "mica" color like the Camry's "Desert Sand Mica" have the same kind of rusting problem as a metallic, silver-like color like the Camry's "Lunar Mist Metallic?"

Thanks.

Reply to
Built_Well
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Hmm, a couple definitions of mica:

"Any of a group of chemically and physically related aluminum silicate minerals, common in igneous and metamorphic rocks, characteristically splitting into flexible sheets used in insulation and electrical equipment."

ALSO:

"Any of various minerals consisting of hydrous silicates of aluminum or potassium etc. that crystallize in forms that allow perfect cleavage into very thin leaves; used as dielectrics because of their resistance to electricity [syn: isinglass]"

Reply to
Built_Well

FWIW I am completely missing your point. Mica is a color reference - not the inclusion of the mineral in the paint -- "desert sand" wouldn't mean you could expect to find actual sand. My guess, is that the "mettalic" finishes use tiny plastic flakes to simulate the reflectivity of metals - give the finish more visual interest than non metallic paints like black or white or red Modern finishes generally have clear coats - for sure the metallic finishes have clear coat so the color coat of the paint in not exposed to the atmosphere. Rusting problems generally only occur when corrosive anti icing road chemicals atack the finish, far as I know.

Reply to
Daniel

Metalics wont last as long as say white, when paint fails that is it for a newer car no paint should not matter, most rusting starts inside where water salt is trapped and cant be cleaned in summer or dried out quick

Reply to
m Ransley

Local dealer's down to 3 Camry LEs that have carpteted floor mats as the only option. Two are "Desert Sand Mica" and one is "Super White."

Do you think the Camry's "Desert Sand Mica" (kinda light tan) will hide minor dings and small scratches as well as the Camry's "Super White" should?

Also do you think the light tan color will hide dust and dirt as well as the white?

Does silver really age badly, like some say? I'm still considering the silver-like "Lunar Mist Metallic" but somebody wrote 4 years ago in another newsgroup that:

[QUOTE:] "I wouldn't buy a silver paint job at gunpoint. Silver, or any metallic finish, uses powdered metal with a clear coat over it. Once the clear coat wears, it's all over. That metallic base coat will suck wax like the desert sucks water. And, factory paint always scimps on the clear coat."

Somebody else wrote in 1999:

"White is usually standard old enamel pa "NO!!! Silver is metallic paint, white is not. [Silver] will get hotter & your chances of oxidation or fading or other problems are greater."

Finally, someone wrote in 1999:

"Actually silver (and gold) are the few colors I would not buy anything in. I would hope that they have improved the paint over the years, but I see more silver cars and trucks which have oxidized than any other color."

[END OF QUOTES.]
Reply to
Built_Well

If it is in the sun all day it will age faster then white. the metal heats and cools in the metalic at a different rate , it is a suspended additive that eventualy separates, sun is the enemy

Reply to
m Ransley

The 'Desert Sand Mica' sounds like a Metallic paint, with microscopic aluminum flakes to add sheen. There's only one big problem with metallic paints, if you need to repair a panel you can't touch up the paint without redoing the whole panel, unless you get lucky and the body shop has a master car painter who can duplicate the 'lay' of the paint from the factory.

It literally matters what angle they hold the paint gun at, how fast they move it, whether they apply L-R, R-L, Up, Down, at an angle... And how heavy per layer. This all affects which way those metal flakes are laid down.

If you back off 30 feet it won't matter, and to the average person, they can't tell - but if you park the car in the sun and look any closer, it sticks out like a beacon to people with a good eye for it.

White is White. Coolest in the summer, among the best for visibility, easiest to touch-up invisibly...

And good for being anonymous, too. You can slap a couple of appropriate fake company name stickers on the plain White door (or call in a favor and borrow a Pizza Shop shirt, roof sign, a warmer pouch and a few pizzas) and bluff your way into industrial sites or gated communities to look around. ;-P

There were a lot of horror stories about Silver cars at that time, when they were reformulating car paints to reduce emissions - The US Domestic paint and automobile makers all had the paint peeling off the hood roof and decklid in sheets down to the primer, and there were big fights over warranty repaints when this showed up just out of the warranty periods... I sure hope they figured out exactly what they were doing wrong by _now_.

Car paint was never meant to be permanent 50-year stuff - back in the days of Organic Lacquer paints you were lucky to get 10 with it still looking decent. Earl Scheib (regional auto painting franchise shops) made a boatload banking on this.

But the materials and methods have gotten a whole lot better over the years, to where 25 years before the car really needs painting isn't at all unusual - but let a lot of cars painted a certain color all go bad in 5 to 10 years, and people notice it.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Silver ages very well, as long as you wax the thing a couple times a year.

White is probably the best.

I have a red Corolla (85) that still looks new, paintwise. Waxing 4-5 times a year did the trick. Otherwise, red is the worst.

Reply to
Hachiroku

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