Mercedes SLS a quick detail.
- Thread starter zey
- Start date
Preachers Sheets
New member
Is this your factory paint? I know on custom paint jobs there are little holes when the paint is applied to thick, a side effect of orange peel, fish eye or whatever you call it.
Can you see the panel through the holes, is it all over your car?
They wouldn't be rock chips would they?
Can you see the panel through the holes, is it all over your car?
They wouldn't be rock chips would they?
I don't think it's related to painting or orange peel. I've got the exact same situation. Very tiny pits in the paint, mainly on the horizontal surfaces only i.e. hood and trunk sections, but it's the worst on the hood. And, it's really only visible under florescent lights and with a magnifying glass or looking really close to the paint. So, my theory is that it's either from the many years of daily driving where pebbles, sand, brake dust shavings or other debris etch into the paint over long periods and/or some sort of acid rain etching when water lays on the horizontal sufaces for extended periods. And, the accumulation of years of these happenings creates these tiny pits or holes in the surface. And, the bad news is that there is no easy way to fix the problem without professional help. It either must be color/wet sanded out or repainted altogether. The wet sand would be the best place to start so that the sanding grinds the surface down to the area of the pitting. But again, this is left up to professionals or those who understand how to sand properly. I might give sanding a shot when/if I get a PC....
Otherwise, you must live with it...
Otherwise, you must live with it...
Lowejackson
New member
Just a wild guess, but have you tried using clay? Could it be these holes are debrit that appear to be holes?
Steven
Steven
vettefan67
New member
Do these little "pits" any of you are describing (I'm not saying they are all the same type because we don't know) turn white on black cars after detailing? Carguy and myself have had this problem, I will know better after I strip my Klasse and everything.
I was told that mine is likely clearcoat failure, which makes some sense to me because it's only on the hood where I know the clear is failing. It's also on my trunk which, come to think of it, got the worst hazing after I polished -- it looked worse than it did swirled at one point! Very negative results from polishing the trunk, but could be technique too, who knows.
The marks I speak of are tiny tiny little "cracks" in the paint, not circular pits or anything. They were visible before detailing, but they were the same color as the paint so you had to look close to see them! Maybe there is residue in there -- I'll put some alcohol on there later on today to see if that does anything. I've just been putting up with it thinking it's the clear, but who knows . . .
I was told that mine is likely clearcoat failure, which makes some sense to me because it's only on the hood where I know the clear is failing. It's also on my trunk which, come to think of it, got the worst hazing after I polished -- it looked worse than it did swirled at one point! Very negative results from polishing the trunk, but could be technique too, who knows.
The marks I speak of are tiny tiny little "cracks" in the paint, not circular pits or anything. They were visible before detailing, but they were the same color as the paint so you had to look close to see them! Maybe there is residue in there -- I'll put some alcohol on there later on today to see if that does anything. I've just been putting up with it thinking it's the clear, but who knows . . .
imported_doug
New member
Puterbum - mine aren't tiny - they are from gravel strikes - range from about 0.3mm to 1.2mm or so. I don't think I have any of the "micropits" that Zey is describing - but what I do have will indeed gather wax (because the pit edges are sharp - just like dragging your foam pad over a knife - the knife will pull off a bunch of wax) - and when you go to buff your towel doesn't get in there. Next time this bugs me enough at a convenient time I'm going to try lacquer thinner and a q-tip. I tried some alcohol - it was denatured, not isopropyl - and it didn't help much.
Or maybe I'll just smear peanut butter all over my hood......
and see if i can find a girl car with jelly on hers - then who knows......
Or maybe I'll just smear peanut butter all over my hood......
and see if i can find a girl car with jelly on hers - then who knows......
Andre'
New member
The tiny pits are from Acid rain. The only way to remove them is to compound them, or wetsand them out of the finish. You also need to nutrarliz the acids so the pits don't get deeper into the clear coat.
Could be from rail dust or industrial fallout. Anyway if it does turn out to be a ferrous metal problem, or acid rain fallout, I believe there is a website that has what they call an ABC treatment. It gets all of these metal shavings, rail dust, and acid out of your finish so you can seal it.
Try WWW.Autoint.com and see if what your looking at is anything like what is described on their site. That may not be your problem, but check it out when you have time. Enjoy!
Try WWW.Autoint.com and see if what your looking at is anything like what is described on their site. That may not be your problem, but check it out when you have time. Enjoy!
puterbum,
My pits don't turn white or any other color after or before waxing, polishing, or anything else. I know they're not just rock chips because there is still paint in and around the pit.
They best way I can describe mine are very small, almost microscopic, craters all over the surface. They're definitely not cracks, more like tiny indentions.
I also think it could very well be from brake dust shavings that possibly etched/imbedded into the surface, thus leaving the "pit." At least, that's what it looks like. Like I said, I recently did a full claying but it didn't affect the pitting in any way. And, it's odd that this only occurs on the horizontal surfaces, not vertcal.
When I asked a Meguiar's rep about it, they said they don't make a polish strong enough to correct this type of problem and that pro help is probably necessary. :nixweiss
My pits don't turn white or any other color after or before waxing, polishing, or anything else. I know they're not just rock chips because there is still paint in and around the pit.
They best way I can describe mine are very small, almost microscopic, craters all over the surface. They're definitely not cracks, more like tiny indentions.
I also think it could very well be from brake dust shavings that possibly etched/imbedded into the surface, thus leaving the "pit." At least, that's what it looks like. Like I said, I recently did a full claying but it didn't affect the pitting in any way. And, it's odd that this only occurs on the horizontal surfaces, not vertcal.
When I asked a Meguiar's rep about it, they said they don't make a polish strong enough to correct this type of problem and that pro help is probably necessary. :nixweiss
Detailing NY
New member
Since your car was painted about 2 years ago, was it due to an accident or something you just wanted to get done. What kind of paint did the shop use. If you went a professional body shop, you might be under some kind of warrany on the paint. I know the shops in my area give a life time warranty for as long as you own the car. If you went through insurance and used a shop the insurance company recommended then you might be under warranty from them as well.
I would take it back to the shop and have them look at it, you have nothing to lose.
I would take it back to the shop and have them look at it, you have nothing to lose.
Thought I?d share some of my recent work.
SLS and AMG just lovely!!
This wasn?t a full blown exterior correction, but as you?ll see later the Carbon Fibre sills on this particular Mercedes SLS certainly benefited from some paint correction.
I was contacted by my friends at Paintshield, one of their good long standing clients and one of my previous customers had asked me to have a quick look at the sills on his new SLS before they were covered in Paint Protection Film. Always happy and up for a challenge I was soon up to Paintshield to see what could be done.
The SLS will be joining a collection of 30+ supercars (I honestly can?t keep up with what he has got now) but it?s a proper petrol heads collection! So it was really nice to be let loose on one of his cars again and show the difference in my work since the last time I detailed his cars.
Anyway on to the detail, the boys had already washed the car and installed their full front paint protection kit, so it was on me to do my work on the sills before they covered them and the side skirts to finish the install.
So onto the sills in question :doublesho
The driver?s side was the worst with lots of swirling but a few worryingly deep scratches and a very small chip.
Up close.
One to the correction, two good passes had removed 80-90% of the defects, but had highlighted a few of the deep scratches. On one of the deeper marks I was in two minds as to whether to wet sand the area or try to compounding it.
Stepping up to a light compound removed all but 80% of the deepest scratch, I did one more polishing set of this area, but in the end it was just too deep to safely remove, but with 90% of the scratch removed it was only really visible when up very close, I was also confident that once Paintshield was installed you?d be very lucky to see it all.
The passenger sill was in better shape, but again a few nicks and scratches were going to require a little extra attention, also present were some buffer trails showing someone had machine polished (poorly) this area before.
It took two passes with a compound to remove all the marks, both sills were then refined with a finishing polish leaving a lovely deep sharp finish free of imperfections.
Driver?s side.
Passenger side.
I had been doing multiple IPA wipe-downs throughout the process to check for a true correction, so with one final wipe-down to remove any polishing oils, I left the car in the capable hands of Paintshield.
I returned a couple of days later to give the car a quick wipe down, and apply some wax to the body. No correction is required currently with only a few very slight marks present, the exterior is pretty much swirl and blemish free. So a quick wipe down with ONR, followed by two coats of Optimum Car Wax later here is the end results.
Flawless PPF install :thumb:
Completed and PPF protected sills.
Custom painted TVR in the back ground is getting a full PPF wrap after 20hrs of Paint correction. More on that another day.
My favourite couple of pictures.
Nice deep reflections.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Kind regards, Roy.
SLS and AMG just lovely!!
This wasn?t a full blown exterior correction, but as you?ll see later the Carbon Fibre sills on this particular Mercedes SLS certainly benefited from some paint correction.
I was contacted by my friends at Paintshield, one of their good long standing clients and one of my previous customers had asked me to have a quick look at the sills on his new SLS before they were covered in Paint Protection Film. Always happy and up for a challenge I was soon up to Paintshield to see what could be done.
The SLS will be joining a collection of 30+ supercars (I honestly can?t keep up with what he has got now) but it?s a proper petrol heads collection! So it was really nice to be let loose on one of his cars again and show the difference in my work since the last time I detailed his cars.
Anyway on to the detail, the boys had already washed the car and installed their full front paint protection kit, so it was on me to do my work on the sills before they covered them and the side skirts to finish the install.
So onto the sills in question :doublesho
The driver?s side was the worst with lots of swirling but a few worryingly deep scratches and a very small chip.
Up close.
One to the correction, two good passes had removed 80-90% of the defects, but had highlighted a few of the deep scratches. On one of the deeper marks I was in two minds as to whether to wet sand the area or try to compounding it.
Stepping up to a light compound removed all but 80% of the deepest scratch, I did one more polishing set of this area, but in the end it was just too deep to safely remove, but with 90% of the scratch removed it was only really visible when up very close, I was also confident that once Paintshield was installed you?d be very lucky to see it all.
The passenger sill was in better shape, but again a few nicks and scratches were going to require a little extra attention, also present were some buffer trails showing someone had machine polished (poorly) this area before.
It took two passes with a compound to remove all the marks, both sills were then refined with a finishing polish leaving a lovely deep sharp finish free of imperfections.
Driver?s side.
Passenger side.
I had been doing multiple IPA wipe-downs throughout the process to check for a true correction, so with one final wipe-down to remove any polishing oils, I left the car in the capable hands of Paintshield.
I returned a couple of days later to give the car a quick wipe down, and apply some wax to the body. No correction is required currently with only a few very slight marks present, the exterior is pretty much swirl and blemish free. So a quick wipe down with ONR, followed by two coats of Optimum Car Wax later here is the end results.
Flawless PPF install :thumb:
Completed and PPF protected sills.
Custom painted TVR in the back ground is getting a full PPF wrap after 20hrs of Paint correction. More on that another day.
My favourite couple of pictures.
Nice deep reflections.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Kind regards, Roy.
bmw5541
New member
Very nice job on a totally hot car Roy!!:thumbup:
imported_rwright
New member
Very nice :thumbup:, thanks for sharing.
Leadfootluke
New member
Looks great! Nicely done