PPG Automotive Refinish has announce that Daimler AG has approved its new matt clearcoats D8115/D8117 for use on all Daimler AG matt finished passenger cars worldwide using PPG’s unique “Dual Clear Repair Process”, recently validated by MERCEDES-BENZ.

Full body matt clears have increased in popularity in recent years and have continually proven technically complex to repair with the perfect level of matt effect, especially when dealing with black and other very dark colours. Often minor damage has had to be repaired by painting full panels in basecoat and clearcoat, or even by painting the whole side of the vehicle. The new Dual Clear process now allows the basecoat to be blended which significantly reduces the required repair area, bringing the process back into more conventional dimensions and providing big material and labour savings.

Demonstrated to Daimler AG on a matt black bodyshell in Hilden, the Dual Clear process, designed by PPG, uses a glossy clearcoat as the first coat of clearcoat followed immediately by a second coat based on a blend of two new clearcoats, D8115/D8117. This provides a match to the original colour while providing an even level of mattness across the repair area. The two new matt clearcoats, one semi-gloss and one fully-matt, were specially developed to provide the end user with the full flexibility in blending the clearcoats together to achieve a perfect match to original matt finishes. This approach can be used on all colours to achieve an effective repair right first time, and is a key step in the efficient repair process for darker colours such as Black MB Nachtschwarz.

Ron Thomas, Product Platforms Manager EMEA said, “The two new clearcoats were developed to provide the basis for the concept, and then in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz the process was further developed to create a perfect result on darker colours and matt blacks. Renato Liano, Front End Evaluation Manager at PPG, originally developed the dual clear concept and followed up in close collaboration with Daimler AG to validate the overall process. This ultimately led to the approval from Mercedes-Benz who are extremely pleased with the technical results.”

PPG say bodyshops will benefit greatly as the application and blending of the basecoat can still be carried out using existing processes, saving time and increasing efficiency.