To clear up the confusion ( pun intended ) and after closer inspection, the engine bay and the underside of my hood are not clear coated. They are painted and finished to what I would call a semi-gloss finish. While it isn't as glossy as the clearcoated exterior, the finish is smooth enough to easily apply a coat of wax to, which I recently have done.

In my previous post, I was just trying clarify the term "flat" for all of us non-bodyshop guys. In my experience, "flat" paint has a finish like primer or like the paint on a military vehicle. All of the gloss and semi-gloss paints that I have used had a shine to them even without coats of clearcoat.

In a nutshell, paint can be glossy without clearcoat ( although clearcoat makes it much glossier ). The paint on my 73 Cougar is sure glossy without any clearcoat.

 

Just saw this posted by shawnq in the SRT section and I think it sums ups the underhood paint finish perfectly.

Thanks ShawnQ

"IMHO, That's because it is just base-coat. If you've ever laid base/clear, you'll see that some base coats can look 'rough' if they are sprayed with too much air. The clearcoat fills this minor texture, and adds gloss. Obviously, the smoother you lay your basecoat, the better it looks without clear. I would hope that Karman (or whoever built our cars) has their machines dialed in to lay that base coat down nice)."

 

Ok - I wasn't downing anyone...I was just curious if there was a time frame, model year, or model specific underhood painting change. I had only seen non-cleared finishes under the hood...so I assumed all of them were that way. When you all mentioned waxing, and gloss finishes, I assumed you had clear coat under there. Knowing that I did not made me wonder why and when/if it changed.

I would venture to guess that this is just base coat sprayed under our hoods, just like most cars. I'd be surprised to find that it had a semi-gloss enhancer added to it or anything of that sort from the factory. The factories often use machines/robots to spray these cars, not humans (not sure on our particular cars). This takes out a lot of human error, and therefore yields a more consistent product. With base coat, too much air will make the finish 'rough'. If you lay it down wet enough (less air, more liquid), you wont get the rough finish, and there will even be a tiny bit of 'shine'. Too wet, and you get a minor orange peel effect.
If you look at a lot of older cars, the underhood paint is actually faded to the OE self-etching primer that comes on the body panels after they bend them. That's because there is no clearcoat on it and the base coat isn't as durable when it comes to heat and solvents/oil/etc, and eventually fades away.

So, in closing, be careful what you spray on that paint underhood. If it is indeed just base coat, it wont hold up long to any type of harsh cleaners. Waxing it would be a good idea as the wax will repel some of the cleaners, and help repel some of the dirt (or at least make it easier to wash). Wax should also last quite a while under there as it is out of the sun.

Andrew, trimming the fenders with base only ('flat' version of your exterior color) is standard practice on almost ALL of the factory non-custom work I have done in the past. Your body shop did great work, BTW. The new owner will likely never know it was 'trailered'

SQ