Newbie Paint Diagnosis

J

jam

New member
I recently got more enthusiastic about detailing and got a G110. I practiced on a older car but I've run into the newbie problem of not having any more cars to detail lol. I have a friend with an older black Mustang that I'd like to work on, but I have some quick questions about the paint condition and the plan of attack.



The car has probably never seen the inside of a garage, has very obvious water etchings, swirls, and scratches. It also has this patchy cloudiness and I think it's oxidation, but I want to make sure it's not clear coat failure. I probably won't be able to correct some of the more serious defects, but I definitely don't want to make things worse. Some pics -



Oxidation or Clear Coat Failure?



b2dd5a54.jpg




59449481.jpg




e11089cc.jpg




400670f8.jpg




Like any aspiring Autopian, I've started a small collection of products. By the end of the week, I'll have



M105 DA version

M205

Prima Swirl

Prima Amigo

KAIO



LC PFW (4")

LC CCS Yellow, Orange, White, Black pads in 4" and larger

Soft Pad 2.0 Polishing and Finishing



Along with some sealants and waxes.



If this is oxidation, should I used the KAIO after wash and clay to reduce the oxidation, or should I just polish first and wipe with KAIO as the first layer afterwards? Any suggestions on what polish combo to start with? M105 on PFW would be the most aggressive that I have I think.



Thanks for the help!
 
^ looks like it.... along with some serious pitting. you can always tell the cars that weren't waxed / sealed often enough. then you always get the "u know i really haven't waxed it much.." from the owner :(
 
I agree that looks like CC failure. However, it also looks like it might be limited to that insert on the hood which is likely some sort of plastic. I had a car where the plastic/fiberglass pieces had the clear fail while the rest of the car did not, so if that failure is localized to certain areas of the car, you can polish the rest with your G110 and do some very careful light hand polish on the failing areas just to bring up the gloss a bit.



If the rest of the car looks thin be really careful with that M105, I haven't used it but at a cut of 12 it's surely going to wipe out any thin areas. I believe the 205 has a cut of 4, that might be better to start with to get a better idea what's going on (I'm not familiar with what the Prima products are like).
 
Thanks for all the answers, it seems like it was pretty obvious. Now I know what CC failure looks like.



Now, I'm guessing that it's not a good idea to polish failing CC, even a little bit? Will I see any improvement with a little polish or is it better to just leave it alone?
 
Generally polishing makes it worse. A heavy carnauba like Collinite or #16 may improve it for a while. You're kind of between a rock and a hard place if you're trying to polish the rest of the car, you don't want to leave the failed spots untouched because it calls attention to them even more, that's why I suggested some careful hand polishing on those areas.
 
Thanks Setec, I think I'll just leave that Mustang alone. I would rather not damage it anymore.



A couple more pics up for review. I initially thought this was some severe tar or bird bomb damage, but now I'm not so sure. Is this CC failure also? You can actually feel some of these pitting. 1995 Volvo, garaged about 1/2 the time.



650ff629.jpg




edadd902.jpg




c4a778f9.jpg




ef2adae4.jpg




974ce913.jpg




bb26389f.jpg




d63dc1fa.jpg




Is this a progression from the very faint defect in the last pic, to the "wiggly lines ones, to the "cracked" pics?



Thanks again everyone!
 
Or tree sap damage. I have 2 spots on my wifes focus where she let it etch in cc [before i knew her] and it looks exactly like that
 
Thanks guys. It might be a combo of both bird bomb and tree sap damage. I've seen pics of people polishing out bird dodo damage. Is that also possible with tree sap damage? I'm concerned because you can actually feel the indentations into the paint on the more severe spots. Thanks.
 
Ive tried polishing it out and wet sanding and it does reduce the look but its pitted so badly its there for good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top