Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

[ezrre]

Hello Everyone.
My wife has a Silver Mustang that was repainted about 6 years ago,
but now it has No Clear Coat and it looks very opaque. It sits outside, in the sun. And under current circumstances, I can't take it for a paint job.

But even that it has No C.C. the paint coat looks still healthy,
and it has been like this for 2 years.

The thing is that there are stains everywhere (looking like deep dirt) that can not be removed with a regular wash.


My question is:
Can Clay + DC1 help me get rid of them ?
I don't expect it to shine, but I would like to see a more uniform color all over the car.

I know I couldn't go beyond that, I mean if I used SwirlX or a polish, I would be thinnig the paint coat.
What do you guys think?

Thanks very much in advance.

[Carfire]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

I think you can still polish it like normal.
You just need to be ware that what ever you are using is going to get paint on it.
So you may need to change pads or clean them, as they will get clogged with paint.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Can you get pictures?

Did the clear coat fail, and peel off? Or was it re-painted with a single stage paint job?

[Carfire]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

From what I read Mark, I think when it was repainted there waas no clear coat added.

[geert dr]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

If it was a singlestage paintjob you should have no problem making it shine again !

If you can turn this



into this !

[ezrre]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

From what I read Mark, I think when it was repainted there waas no clear coat added.

Hello Carfire,

When it was repainted, they added clear coat, I think.

I never saw flakes or peeling, but I can see some C.C. under the back wing.

I will post photos soon.

[ezrre]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Last time I took her mustang for detailing, was about 2.5 years ago.

At that time I thought they did a good job, because the car was very shiny. But yet then I didn't know about swirls, thin clear coats, or other common paint problems. I just wanted it to look better, in general.

Now it seems as if they used very aggressive products and took away all the remaining Clear Coat that was left.

The worst panels are the horizontal (hood, roof, trunk).
The verticals are in better shape.

Remember, this car sits in the sun every day.
I never saw flakes.
I don't know if it has single stage paint on it.
The car wasn't mine when it was repainted, so I don't know.

I am expecting someone to tell me if it can be fixed.


Paint on the roof looks very opaque :





I applied some ScratchX 1.0 and ColorX to see the difference,
I got a little reflection of a window, after 2 passes (with passion)
but still I am not convinced.

Paint transfered to my terry towel (dark gray, almost black) :





Then I took a picture under the back wing. I did not applied any product.
I just cleaned it. As you can see, it is shiny :





This one is from the back (vertical photo). Sides are the same. Not as shiny as under the wing, but better than horizontal panels.






Is it Clear Coat failure ? or Single Stage ?

Thanks !

[Murr1525]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Is that spot on the trunk before or after you did something?

[ezrre]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Is that spot on the trunk before or after you did something?

That is after I applied ScratchX + ColorX two times.
At first I did a square (cleaned it first),
but then I extended a little further into the middle of the trunk.
(The extended part was not cleaned, I know it should have been cleaned first, I think I was not very happy with the results and I didnt care)

The results of the square alone wasn't affected.

[02zx9r]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

did they use cans of spray paint?

[geert dr]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

[quote=geert dr;293796]If it was a singlestage paintjob you should have no problem making it shine again !

If you can turn this



Into this !!

[ezrre]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

did they use cans of spray paint?

Good question.
Yeah it seems like they used spray paint.

I dont know what it is. Enamel, Lacquer, S.Stage, Paint + Clear...
All that I know is there never was C.C. flaking off
Another question would be:
Is it possible the last detailer took away all remaining Clear Coat with aggressive products?
Or Sun took its toll?
As I stated before, paint color looks uniform.
Only horizontal panels have no shine.

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

If you paint comes off onto your towel, it has no cc
I'd use M105, but you may want to start out with something less agressive.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Do you see the color of the paint coming off on your applicator pad?

If so, then you're working on a single stage paint, not a clear coat paint.


If it's single stage paint and it's a silver metallic single stage paint then first of all it wont' have a lot of depth to start with but also it will be more difficult to restore than a non-metallic single stage paint like geert dr is posting pictures of especially if the flake used in the paint is actually a type of aluminum particles.

So the questions is, are you seeing the color of the paint on your applicator pads and wipe off towels or are they remaining the color of the products you're applying?

[ezrre]

Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)

Do you see the color of the paint coming off on your applicator pad?

Yes, but it is not Silver color. It looks more like dark gray.

What are my options?
How should I proceed?

Thanks!