Clay scratched/swirled my paint!

W

Warez

New member
I've clayed another one of my car's before and didn't have a problem. But for some reason, on my new car, now I'm getting scratches!



The car is new and I Dawn washed it a few days ago. It's been in the garage ever since. I used a new Zaino clay bar and the water/Z7 mix for the lube. I worked on a corner of the hood, sprayed the lube on it and very lighty rubbed with the clay. I then wiped it down with an MF towel. OMG! I couldn't believe the scratches that resulted! The paint was clean before claying and the claybar was brand new! Why did it scratch the paint so bad?



As I had the claybar on the shelf for about a year, I figured I would try another, newer one that I bought in October. I wiped down another section of the hood with my MF towel and examined it for scratches/swirls. I then sprayed the lube and lightly clayed the area. I wiped it down with the MF towel again, this time making sure to only wipe in one direction so I could make sure it wasn't the towel causing the scratches.

BAMM! More scratches!:mad:



What the heck am I doing wrong?!?!

BTW, here are some pics.

Picture 1

Picture 2



Btw, the second picture shows a spot that the clay won't remove for some reason. Picture 3 shows the reminants of protective tape removed from the side mirror that I cannot seem to clay off either.



Any and all tips/tricks/hints/advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Gabriel
 
Well, I think you know as well as we do that SOMETHING created those scratches, and it wasn't the clay (unless someone got fired from Zaino and went postal--adding powdered glass to the big pot 'o clay :mad: ).



So you just have to check all the options--the MF, the paint, the QD. Find out what it is and let us know before we have to endure another newbie "I'm so scared of clay" thread or a scolding by Larry Reynolds of CarCareOnline (Mr. "Overspray Clays rub me the wrong way") ...
 
So you just have to check all the options--the MF, the paint, the QD.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I tried switching the MF and used Z6 this time... Still got scratches.

BUT...

I noticed this only seems to be happening on the hood. I clayed the fenders and didn't get any swirls/scratches.

One thing about the hood... I notice it already had quite a bit of swirls, where as the rest of the body does not. This is a '02 Trans-Am WS6. The Ram-Air hood is added AFTER the car is painted... I guess the paint/clearcoat on the hood is just not that great. Another thing about the hood... I see several spots on it that look like waterspots.(Picture) Claying them has no effect however.:(



-Gabriel
 
I think that the hood is painted at the same place as the rest of the car on a WS6, but the paint may be softer on the hood, it is on my camaro but the hood was painted at SLP not at GM.:nixweiss
 
Redcar GUY said:
I think that the hood is painted at the same place as the rest of the car on a WS6
Click to expand...
Actually, the car is put together as a Trans-Am at the GM plant, then sent to ASC where the WS6 modification is done, which includes several upgrades including a new hood. What I've read is that GM includes somekinda temporary hood before sending it to ASC.

I just now examined the paint on the hood and compared it to the paint on the rest of the car. It's definately different. You can see something like very tiny wrinkles or something under the paint. Also, those spots I mentioned are all over the hood... only they seem to be under the surface.



As far as the swirls added by the clay, I used some 3M-SMR and a cotton towel and it greatly reduced the swirls. I'll be trying the PC(7336SP) as soon as I can get some pads for it.



-Gabriel
 
OMG!

I was using a halogen spotlight to examine the swirls and saw something I couldn't believe! Under the halogen light, the hood looks rather brownish, while the rest of the car looks black.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Definately proof that the hood was painted separately from the rest of the car.

:(
 
wow thats remarkable! Are u only getting the scratches on the hood (from the clay)? I would ask for my hood to be repainted, correctly. Also, etched on water spots will not be removed by clay, only by buffing with an abrasive.
 
That is amazing!





Get that bad boy repainted. Make them do it. I have never seen anything like that before. I was going to say you might have been pressing too hard, but after that, I have no idea. I think something is up with the paint. Good luck in getting it fixed.





:up
 
Wow Warez, I feel badly for you. :( But those two pictures are really interesting and I've never seen an effect like that before.



I wonder if there (was) the possibility that the hood had been coated with a polymer sealant type product (which probably would not Dawn wash off) and that was what was scratching and not the actual paint. :nixweiss Well, I guess that's academic speculation now.



Hey, now that the paint's been polished clean, maybe try claying a tiny spot now and see if the same thing still happens? Just an idea to try before getting on their case to get another coat of paint sprayed on.
 
yep that is verry common in F-bodys, I knew that the SS's and Firehawks had soft paint from SLP but I thought that the WS6 was still painted "at home" any how, ya I would take that back and ask for a repaint, that it just to far off :mad:
 
I saw your post on ls1.com, but my hood is exactly the same as yours, looks different color in bright enough light. Under normal conditions you can't tell the difference. It is not only the black cars either, I have seen the nbm cars have a different shade to them and also red ones. As far as the spots, on the hood, mine had some too when I picked the car up. Could have been from when the car was transported. I used a clay bar on mine and it will eventually take them out, it took a while though, but I just used some meguiars cleaner wax on the spots and it took them off. I think part of the reason why it has a different shade and it may get swirls easier is because the hood is fiberglass where as the rest of the car is not. It may take the paint differently or maybe it needs a couple more coats to be the same as the rest of the car since it is fiberglass. The only good thing about the hood is that it does not have orangepeel compared to the rest of the car. With mine, I did not clay the hood for the reason that you experienced, major swirl marks. Just being too close to the car will give you swirl marks on the hood. I have tried using 3m swirl remover,it works, but the will come back, MUCH easier on the hood compared to the rest of the car. It is not worth it to keep using the stuff on the hood and then they return. I have had the best luck with MANY coats of zaino after eliminating most of the swirls with the 3m. I probably have twice as many coats of z5 on the hood compared to the rest of the car. The SS camaros and Firehawks are the same way with swirl marks. A buddy of mine has a red 02 firehawk with the optional spoiler and his hood and spoiler look like they were wiped with steel wool compared to the rest of the car. One last thing, I sometimes check out the vette boards and they are always complaining of paint which is extremely soft and thin on the c5 cars and swirls very easy. They are also fiberglass. I don't know anyting about fiberglass, but maybe that is the reason?:nixweiss
 
thought this was a good place for this Zaino pic :)



Clay/ZFX-Z5 X 3



1046som_ws6.jpg








:wavey
 
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