HEAVY Acid Etching

[NickJRE]

Hi All,

I own a 92 Mustang LX, The car was well taken care of for the most part and still has the factory paint. However... It has very noticeable acid rain etching in... Looking for a plan of attack or if it is even worth trying to fix?

Pictures below

[Murr1525]

The pics dont look too bad, but maybe it didnt quite show in the light. Certainly seen worse water spots.

No reason you cant fix it up.

Are you trying to do it by hand, or wanting to invest a bit more in a machine, etc?

[NickJRE]

I have a PC and Hitachi Rotary tons of pads and products... It is really really bad I dont think the pictures show just how bad it is person

[Murr1525]

Well, if you already own a PC, that is a good starting point. Always start mild, then jump up to the rotary.

You would normaly start out with #80 and a 8006 pad on the PC, but if it is as bad as you say, you could probably just jump up to the #83 and a 8006 pad.

Do a panel as a test, concentratin on 1x1 foot squares. See how the panel turns out. If after 2 -3 applications, there is no improvement, then it is time to think about using the rotary, and that is not my department.

[NickJRE]

#83 on the PC didn't put a dent tryed it, I tryed 3M perfect it III on the PC and SSR 2.5 all on cutting pads and seriously not even a dent, I tryed using the rotary as well and it helped a little bit

[Mike Phillips]

If a rotary applied cleaner/polish or compound isn't removing the defects, or in other words, removing the paint surrounding the defects, this is an indicator that the paint must be fairly hard.

You could try getting more aggressive, but you must temper this with common sense so you don't remove too much paint.

Do you have a foam cutting pad and some M84?

[NickJRE]

Hi Mike,

I have access to a foam cutting pad and can pick up some #84. However I have a quick question.. Since the Vehicle is a 92 should I be concerned with the amount of clear left? The paint really looks great and it looks like there is a decent amount of clear with no noticeable clearcoat failures or anything. Is it possible to tell how deep the etching is?

Mike you are a huge help!!

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by NickJRE
Hi Mike,

I have access to a foam cutting pad and can pick up some #84. However I have a quick question.. Since the Vehicle is a 92 should I be concerned with the amount of clear left?

How much clear or more important how much working film-build you have to work with depends on how much has been removed in the past by anyone else that's worked on the car. This is the unknown variable unless you bought the car new and know who all has worked on it.

The paint really looks great and it looks like there is a decent amount of clear with no noticeable clearcoat failures or anything. Is it possible to tell how deep the etching is?

As far as measuring how deep the defects are, it's really hard to do without a film-build meter and if you have one, or access to one then you could set up a complex procedure to remove and test and recored, etc., probably what's more practical is to do a test in a small section and see if you're able to remove remove the defects fairly easily.

Then make judgment call, decide if the risks are worth the results for the value the car holds for you.

Sometimes you're better off only trying to improve the defects instead of trying to completely remove the defects. Your call.

[NickJRE]

Thanks Mike.. I see your logic