What type of paint damage do I have and how do I fix it? (Clear Coat Failure?)

[bfaridnia]

First Post. Attended the 9/27 detailing 101 class and learned a lot so special thanks to Nick and Mike for sharing their knowledge!

I'm doing a full detail on my Fiance's 2003 Mitsubishi Diamante which has not seen a coat of wax in its life. After I got through day 1 of 2 (wash and clay) I was inspecting for day 2 (scratch2.0/Polish/Compound (I plan to go least aggressive to most with my DA to find the perfect look with the least amount of aggressiveness) and a nice coat of wax) when I noticed under all that dirt there was something going on with the paint on the roof.

When I rub it with my fingers it, the white "Stuff" pretty much rubs off. From what I remember from the clear coat failure thread, this looks to be similar with the white stuff being the clear coat. In fear of making things worse, I didn't clay the worse part of the car (didnt realize the back area was this bad until I took the photos inside).

Any tips on how to proceed? Is it safe to clay/polish?

Thanks









Doesn't look so bad in the daytime.

[Eldorado2k]

Yep, looks like clear coat failure there. I've actually got a small area on my fender with the same issue.. What I've done is gently massage Ultimate Polish over the area in hopes of moisturizing the paint.. But don't expect any miracles as the only real cure is re painting.

[bfaridnia]

Re: What type of paint damage do I have and how do I fix it? (Clear Coat Failure?)

Sigh as I suspected. Is there a trick to see the failure before it becomes more visible? The back area looks fine outside but wasn't until the photo and the amber AF light shining on it that I noticed it. Would it be worth it to wax since the issue is IN the paint and not on the paint?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What type of paint damage do I have and how do I fix it? (Clear Coat Failure?)

Definitely clear coat failure, and unfortunately it seems to be so far along that even attempting to hide it is going to be darn near impossible. Once it's gone that far, all the buffing and compounding in the world won't do a darn thing for it. You can load all the pure polish you want onto it, apply a couple coats of synthetic polymer like Ultimate Wax, and in a week or two it will look like this again. There really is only one fix - sand it all off and repaint.

Well, you could vinyl wrap the car as an alternative, and it's probably cheaper than a full repaint (unless you opt for a really cheap paint job, that is).