1990 "foggyness" and etchings?

[psuvette]

I have a 1990 corvette with a steel blue metallic finish. On the hood, right above the drivers side wheel, if you look at the paint at a sharp angle, there is what looks to be likea 'hazyness' or 'foggyness'. I have tried using a machine polisher with a foam pad and some meguiars swirl remover, but it doesn't seem to help much. I'm not even sure what could have caused this, but i admit that it is difficult to see unless you look at it at the proper angel. Do you know of any product that will help remove this defect or if it is simply age that has caused the clearcoat to haze in this one specific area? Could it have been caused by my polisher?

Also, on the top of the rear of the corvette, there is what looks to be the remains of water spots, but I suppose I'll just use some scratchx or some cutting compound to remove that, if that is what you recommend. Again, you must look at the right angel, but they are there and i'd like to remove them to restore this finish.

If you have any suggestions on any products to use or techniquse to try, I will do my best to try them!

[Mike Phillips]

Hi psuvette,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

Worst case scenario someone before you has buffed this are too much and removed the clear coat and exposed the color coat. Most color coats used in basecoat/clear coat paint systems do not polish to a high gloss and are somewhat flat or dull looking. They depend upon the clear coat to create the clarity, gloss and reflectivity.

Horizontal surfaces such as hoods, roofs, and rear deck-lids are prone to too much buffing by some detailers because it's so easy to stand and buff on the horizontal surfaces while it's less comfortable and more work to buff on sides. In my life I've seen the tale-tale signs of cars that have had the what are called the Gloss points buffed till the clear was removed.

If you're lucky, the clear coat is still intact and it's something affecting the clear coat. If this is the case then you can fix it and we can help.

What kind of buffer do you have, and what kind of products have you tried so far?

Mike

[psuvette]

I have a orbital waxer/polisher, and a rotary buffer. I believe that they were both made by vector. I've used a wool pad on the rotary buffer with scratchx and #9. I don't know that I've used anything else on it that would be more abrasive. Usually the only other products that I use are the meguiars 3 step process. The most abrasive product i've ever owned is the fine-cut cleaner from meguiars, which I don't know that I've ever used that on this car.

The orbital just had a terry cloth applicator pad, while the rotary buffer had a wool pad. I have used them on the car before, but only once or twice, so I don't know that I could have done that kind of damage to the paint.

As I said, it's only visible at an angle in the right light, but I would like to get rid of as many imperfections as I can. From a distance and in the right light, it does remain glossy and shiny. However once you get up to it, it almost looks as if something was imbedded into the clearcoat, if that makes sense.

On a side note, I really like that NXT tech wax and I recommend it to all of my friends!

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

Though difficult, is it possible to take a picture of the area? I would like to get a look at it.


Tim

[psuvette]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that until perhaps next week. The car is at my parents and I no longer live there...I'm not sure if my digital camera would really pick it up anyway, but I could try. I will try to do that when I get home over the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

[Mike Phillips]

Quick question,

When you run your hand over the area, do you feel any difference between the hazy area and the rest of the fender?

Have you ever tried claying this area?

Did you purchase this Corvette new?

Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Without being there it's always hard to accurately diagnosis a surface problem, but here is what I would do if this was my Corvette.

Since you already have the #9 Swirl Remover 2.0, I would try making a couple of light passes with the #9 using a foam polishing pad like this rotary buffer.




Meguiar's W-8006 foam polishing pad



Make a couple of light passes with the buffer on the 1500rpm setting or the low setting if it's a two-speed buffer. Then wipe off your residue and inspect. If it looks better you can make some more passes. If this is in fact a case of thin paint, then two light passes won't hurt it much and it won't improve it at all.

You could also try polishing a section at the edge of where you see this hazy are beginning using ScratchX by hand with a soft, clean foam applicator pad and the directions outlined in the link below for removing a below surface defect.

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

The area you apply the ScratchX to should improve and look more like the area that surrounds the hazy section, or it remain the same, and in a worst case scenario, it may look worse. The worse case scenario is only going to happen if this section is thin and through the clear coat, or almost through the clear coat.

It's all about the film-build. What you can and cannot fix in any car's finish will always be determined by how thick the paint is.

Best of luck...

Mike