pitted acura clearcoat?....

M

miker2012

New member
I am trying to remove some light/medium scratches from a 2012 acura.... used both a white and an orange pad with wolfgang total swirl remover

as I am polishing, the scratches are lessening but it is revealing "pitting" in the paint, for lack of a better word

I tried taking pics but they don't show up.... basically this car sat outside for 2 years, near trees and sap and pollen... I clayed barred the car and the surface before starting the paint correction and the pitting was clearly not as visible then

from a distance it is not visible but up close you can see tiny little pits all over the surface, they cannot be felt with a fingernail or anything.. I worked an area with flex3401 on speed 6 with orange pad and wg tsr, but didn't do anything to the pits, made the paint shine beautifully but didn't diminish the pitting

this car has never been paint corrected before, can the pitting be removed? I have a flex 3401, and many cutting pads (cyan/mf) and I also have fg400

thoughts?
 
I have tried taking pics but the pits don't show up.... they are not deep enough to catch a nail on or anything, cant be felt on the paint but when you shine a light down on them and kneel down towards the cars surface, they are very visible

whats my next step? can they be removed?

I have a cyan and mf cutting pad, I also have fg400.... I don't want to go more aggressive than I have to

thx
 
ok here is a pic..... of you look at the little light bulb, just around it you can see where the paint is slightly distorted, these are the little pits

 
I would try another place not near this spot and see if your exact process is bringing the same result. Are you positive that your process is not leaving product stuck to the paintwork??

I cant really tell from the Picture - the metallic particles kind of overwhelm the view. You have what looks like great paint clarity !

I would NOT continue to polish it further.

Have you the ability to measure the paint thickness?

Anytime you correct paintwork and things start appearing in the paintwork that you are absolutely Sure, were not there before, it is time to stop.

Good luck - sorry this had to happen !
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
I would try another place not near this spot and see if your exact process is bringing the same result. Are you positive that your process is not leaving product stuck to the paintwork??

I cant really tell from the Picture - the metallic particles kind of overwhelm the view. You have what looks like great paint clarity !

I would NOT continue to polish it further.

Have you the ability to measure the paint thickness?

Anytime you correct paintwork and things start appearing in the paintwork that you are absolutely Sure, were not there before, it is time to stop.



Good luck - sorry this had to happen !
Dan F
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Stok i think i know exactly what hes talking about, if its what i think its normal with almost every car, for example take a look at this video [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OXZkVegz_c]E-Class Mercedes Paint Correction - YouTube[/ame] at 4:15 - 4:30 hes going to show a before and after, and in the after section you could see little dots all over the hood and that is normal, is that what you are talking about?
 
I had a acura tl-s anthercite grey metallic - I got it in Raleigh Durham NC and the dealership was right by the airport - the clear coat was pitted from tip to stern on all horizontals. For some reason acura clear coat is hard as hell but melts in acid rain.
 
groebuck said:
I had a acura tl-s anthercite grey metallic - I got it in Raleigh Durham NC and the dealership was right by the airport - the clear coat was pitted from tip to stern on all horizontals. For some reason acura clear coat is hard as hell but melts in acid rain.
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that's what I have in my clearcoat... any chance of getting it off or just live with it?
 
I'm wondering if I am dealing with the same problem as OP. I have a 2013 Toyota Venza and I managed to correct all of the swirls in the hood but am still left with all these little dots that look almost like tiny water spot etchings. I just can't seem to be able to remove it. Hard to notice but if you catch the hood in direct sunlight at the right angle the hood looks absolutely atrocious. Fortunately the roof isn't a problem given 90% of it is glass. When I bought the car I noticed that on the sticker they said it was coated with some BS protectant. Didn't pay much attention to it. I'm wondering if they sealed the car without correcting it and the PC just isn't giving it enough umph to cut thru it and get to these dots.
 
neoflex said:
I'm wondering if I am dealing with the same problem as OP. I have a 2013 Toyota Venza and I managed to correct all of the swirls in the hood but am still left with all these little dots that look almost like tiny water spot etchings. I just can't seem to be able to remove it. Hard to notice but if you catch the hood in direct sunlight at the right angle the hood looks absolutely atrocious. Fortunately the roof isn't a problem given 90% of it is glass. When I bought the car I noticed that on the sticker they said it was coated with some BS protectant. Didn't pay much attention to it. I'm wondering if they sealed the car without correcting it and the PC just isn't giving it enough umph to cut thru it and get to these dots.
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that is exactly what you are seeing... they are all over this acura but moreso on the hood/roof cause of the flat surfaces

I tried hitting the roof with the flex3401 with orange pad and fg400 and they are not coming off at all, the paint got super hot but the spots remain... again the paint

if there is anything sealing your car, your pc would get thru it, these spots are deeper than our polishers can go, that is why you were able to remove the swirls b/c they were closer to the surface of the clearcoat

I don't know if I should try a mf cutting pad or a cyan cutting pad, or if I should just give up trying to remove them

somebody else must have seen this issue before?
 
miker2012 said:
that is exactly what you are seeing... they are all over this acura but moreso on the hood/roof cause of the flat surfaces

I tried hitting the roof with the flex3401 with orange pad and fg400 and they are not coming off at all, the paint got super hot but the spots remain... again the paint

if there is anything sealing your car, your pc would get thru it, these spots are deeper than our polishers can go, that is why you were able to remove the swirls b/c they were closer to the surface of the clearcoat

I don't know if I should try a mf cutting pad or a cyan cutting pad, or if I should just give up trying to remove them

somebody else must have seen this issue before?
Click to expand...

Its not what i pointed out to you in the video? all those dots on the hood
 
miker2012 said:
yes looks to be the same pitting in the video.... I wish I knew if they were repairable.... probably repairable with a rotary, which I don't use
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For what i know its veryy common, and is not worth chasing it and removing it because it will remove alot of clear coat. Dont let it bother you
 
ok... here is an update, would appreciate any thoughts

I polished the whole car.... the clearcoat is perfect except on the hood and the roof, obviously the damage to the clearcoat is due to all kinds of crap sitting on top of it... the paint on the sides and rear of the vehicle cleaned up immediately w/orange pad and looks amazing

the finish and depth and clarity of the paint on hood and roof is perfect, and the more the paint was polished (with orange pad and wg tsr) the more the damage would show itself, bad etching and pitting in clearcoat

any amount of polishing with orange/cyan pads had no effect with regular swirl removers on the damage... then I stepped up to microfiber cutting pad and fg400.... first time using both products and I was amazed at what they were able to do.... microfiber is obviously far superior to foam and fg400 finished as good as a light polish, I was amazed.... I was pleased with the results, I would say it took away most of the etching and damage but if you shine a direct light on the surface and look from certain angles, there are still spots on the hood that look like this....



can I take these down any more? what can I use? these little spots appear to be right on top of clearcoat but cannot be felt with fingernail or skin... sorry I don't have a better picture

after I used the mf pad and fg400, I polished with orange and wg tsr... would finishing it down more help?
 
i should mention, focus around the lightbulb in the middle of the pic and you will see the light distortion from the damage on the hood... they are difficult to see from above but from an angle in the right light they show up in a few spots
 
The reason you are seeing an improvement with the microfiber pads vs. the foam pads is because the microfiber offers an increased level of leveling.

There is more about leveling vs. cut at the bottom of the write up: http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums...rcare-com/43194-da-cutting-pad-show-down.html


The pitting you have is likely acid rain etching. In order to remove it, you generally have to wet sand (because of the crater-like shape of the defect) or use something with a lot of leveling power. Using foam pads can knock down some of the high spots but ultimately it will require something with more leveling ability. This is why (without specialized pads) you can not buff away orange peel.

The car looks awesome, great job!
 
Mine was too deep to repair I had to get it repainted - spent about 1/2 year fighting with Honda until they agreed to repaint.
 
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