Over polishing clear coat?

Kotsios

Kotsios

New member
Am I in danger of thinning my clear coat to much? This is what I have polished with over the passed 3 years or so, pc4225xp speed 4.5 on a 93 Vette,



Megs ultimate compound 3 times with orange pad

Megs 205 6 times black pad

85rd 7 times black pad
 
lkotsios- The honest answer is "nobody knows", if only because nonbody *can* know what else might've been done to that paint over the years.



Whay you've done is not what I'd consider aggressive by any means, though that *is* a lot of work with the finishing polishes (at least the 85rd hardly takes off any clear).



I guess I'd say you don't have to worry at this point, but that you oughta quit doing the M205 so often.
 
Accumulator said:
lkotsios- The honest answer is "nobody knows", if only because nonbody *can* know what else might've been done to that paint over the years.



Whay you've done is not what I'd consider aggressive by any means, though that *is* a lot of work with the finishing polishes (at least the 85rd hardly takes off any clear).i



I guess I'd say you don't have to worry at this point, but that you oughta quit doing the M205 so often.
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I bought car in 1996 previous owner did no polishing so what ever has been done is by me.
 
lkotsios said:
I bought car in 1996 previous owner did no polishing so what ever has been done is by me.
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Roger that, but unfortunately that still doesn't guarantee that the paint is still at "new car thickness". Dealerships/etc....[stuff] happens like you wouldn't believe. And GM doesn't always give ya a perfect job to begin with :grinno:



I'm no authority on C4 'vettes (to put it mildly!) but I'd probably be thinking primarily about the painted plastic bits like the bumper covers.



Again, what's done is done and it doesn't sound extreme, but I myself would say ixnay on all that work with the M205. 85rd is one thing, but eh...if I have to do *any* polishing on an annual basis I figure I messed up big-time. Sounds like you went a good long time without doing any abrasive work on it (what...'96 to '08 or so?) and if you can just give it a light go with the Menzerna every year that oughta be OK for a good long time. Assuming there are no surprises lurking in the car's history ;)



But hey, this is all just my crystal-ball take on it and as I said, I don't know from C4s :nixweiss
 
My father has an '89 convertible. The paint's a big PITA to polish, so be forewarned. Only other paint I've worked on that's worse is my Coupe de Ville's.
 
Bill D said:
My father has an '89 convertible. The paint's a big PITA to polish, so be forewarned. Only other paint I've worked on that's worse is my Coupe de Ville's.
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Please explain why it is a PITA to polish>
 
The clear is difficult to polish. It takes multiple ( often more than average) steps to remove or at least improve swirls,making it rather time consuming. Also, you might have to be more careful regarding any heat you may build with the polisher because the body is fiberglass. Some areas of the paint towards the bottom, near the tail lights for example, often have flexed, and it's not uncommon that microfissures are present in the paint-those cannot be polished out to the best of my knowledge. You can improve the paint for sure, even get it to practically perfection,--granted you have no acid rain etching ( that's a different story)--just tedious via DA or rotary.



My older deVille is even worse and no fiberglass body to worry about.
 
Bill D said:
The clear is difficult to polish. It takes multiple ( often more than average) steps to remove or at least improve swirls,making it rather time consuming. Also, you might have to be more careful regarding any heat you may build with the polisher because the body is fiberglass. Some areas of the paint towards the bottom, near the tail lights for example, often have flexed, and it's not uncommon that microfissures are present in the paint-those cannot be polished out to the best of my knowledge. You can improve the paint for sure, even get it to practically perfection,--granted you have no acid rain etching ( that's a different story)--just tedious via DA or rotary.



My older deVille is even worse and no fiberglass body to worry about.
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Can you please tell me what acid rain etching might look like on a corvette c4.
 
It looks like round spots with jagged edges all over in the paint or it could be one or a few or some randomly on the paint. I can't find a good sample photo to post at the moment....
 
Bill D said:
It looks like round spots with jagged edges all over in the paint or it could be one or a few or some randomly on the paint.....
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Yeah, like waterspots that have "melted depressions into the paint".



And yeah, fiberglass doesn't respond to heat build-up the same way metal does. I never got aggressive with either of my 'vettes, but I can imagine the whole thing being more of a challenge than some "regular" car.
 
They do as in difficult to correct, and with the fiberglass-heat build up potential issue, they can be more of a challenge



wascallyrabbit said:
i though vettes had pretty hard paint.
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Has anyone ever seen tiny pits in paint all over car in the shape of a 1 quarter of a circle not noticible until close inspection? Especially on a Vette after paint corection.
 
Well, there are two things we can do, guess or measure. What stinks is you'll need to find someone with an expensive paint guage since the vette is non metallic.



That said, hitting a car with 105 once a year is very excessive. With proper washing, even on a DD you should be looking at a light polish once or twice a year.
 
lkotsios said:
Has anyone ever seen tiny pits in paint all over car in the shape of a 1 quarter of a circle not noticible until close inspection? Especially on a Vette after paint corection.
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If you can take some pics, it would help.



It sounds like it 's some form of road rash, debris such as gravel from the road literally sandblasted the paint at a high speed while driving (?) Corvettes may be prone to this more since they're closer to the ground, and therefore closer to the flying debris in the road :(
 
lkotsios said:
Has anyone ever seen tiny pits in paint all over car in the shape of a 1 quarter of a circle not noticible until close inspection? Especially on a Vette after paint corection.
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Like little "hooks" or "pig-tails"?



Those are from something going wrong with the polishing and oughta be *corrected* by (subsequent) polishing.
 
Accumulator said:
Like little "hooks" or "pig-tails"?



Those are from something going wrong with the polishing and oughta be *corrected* by (subsequent) polishing.
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More like tiny slighty curved lines, thickness of a human hair and less than a quarter centimeter in lengh all over car except roof, back bumper and to a lesser extent on the bottom half of doors.
 
lkotsios said:
More like tiny slighty curved lines, thickness of a human hair and less than a quarter centimeter in lengh all over car except roof, back bumper and to a lesser extent on the bottom half of doors.
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OK, that does sound like either a contaminated pad or some artifacts from an aggressive product. What have you tried as a remedy? I'd pick a representative area and do some (careful ;) ) testing; that's the sort of flaw I'd expect your polishing to fix. Depending how deep they are, well...hard to say what you'll need to correct them. But I wouldn't be using stuff like 85rd for burnishing/etc. until you get issues like that sorted out.
 
Accumulator said:
OK, that does sound like either a contaminated pad or some artifacts from an aggressive product. What have you tried as a remedy? I'd pick a representative area and do some (careful ;) ) testing; that's the sort of flaw I'd expect your polishing to fix. Depending how deep they are, well...hard to say what you'll need to correct them. But I wouldn't be using stuff like 85rd for burnishing/etc. until you get issues like that sorted out.
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I have done some agressive polishing in some spots and they do help in getting them out.I dont think it is pad contamination the whole back bumper does not have spots neither does roof. What does sandblast effect look like?
 
When sun hits car in a certain angle especially on hood it looks like hundreds of pin pricks evenly spaced all over hood. At sundown with low sun on horizon you dont see anything except show quality paint.
 
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