Help!!

[wallacefan]

Hello,

I recently became a member of your community and am amazed at the knowledge people are willing to share. Now the question.. I have a 1987 Pontiac Fiero that is in fairly good shape. The finish needs some help. It contains swirls and scratches(light) and some oxidation spots. You can feel the slightest depression on the oxidation spots. What product should I use first. The clay or the scratch-x or even the paint cleaner. I would like to restore the finish to show car level. Thank you for you help.

[cnfowler]

Re: Help!!

It sounds like your spots of oxidation are actually clearcoat failure. From my experience, paint doesn't oxidize in spots. It is usually the whole panel. My father's 99 Grand Prix has a spot on the roof about 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches give or take that is hazy looking. But at closer inspection, it is clearcoat failure. For some reason, Pontiacs are notorious for having this happen. Over the years, my wife has had several Pontiacs going all the way back to the late 80's and every one of them have had this problem. Hopefully for your sake I'm completely wrong!! I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Help!!

Hello,

I recently became a member of your community and am amazed at the knowledge people are willing to share. Now the question.. I have a 1987 Pontiac Fiero that is in fairly good shape. The finish needs some help. It contains swirls and scratches(light) and some oxidation spots. You can feel the slightest depression on the oxidation spots. What product should I use first. The clay or the scratch-x or even the paint cleaner. I would like to restore the finish to show car level. Thank you for you help.

Before we get to far into helping you fix the paint on your car, when you say your car has oxidation, if the car has a clear coat on it, then we need to make sure this is in fact oxidation and not clear coat failure.

So many people confuse oxidation with clear coat failure because we're going on 3 generations of factory clear coats on all new cars and many people don't know what oxidation is or looks like so they confuse clear coat failure with oxidation.

The big picture is this, if the paint on your car is experiencing clear coat failure and not oxidation, then there's nothing you can do except to repaint the car, in other words, there is nothing you can pour out of a bottle or scoop out of a can and apply with your hand or a machine that is going to undo the damage and restore a showroom new appearance.

Hang on and I'll find some pictures of clear coat failure.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Help!!

Clear Coat Failure

This is the beginning of clear coat failure, note how the paint is turning cloudy or hazy but it's not yet flaking off.




These 3 pictures show the last stage of clear coat failure, the clear coat has turned white and began to flake off. The car looks like it has a bad rash. This is not oxidation, but the extreme deterioration of the clear layer of paint over the color coat. There is nothing you can do to fix this problem except to repaint the car.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help!!

What do you mean feel a depression at the oxidation spots? Like the sheet metal is dinged, or giving way? Or if it is failure as mentioned above, and you can actualy feel a layer of paint missing?

Listen to Mike first about checking for failure, then read what i have below as for how to care for the good panels, or all of them if it isnt failure.

---------------

You are planning to work by hand for now, or invest in a machine?

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

This would be the hand applied routine:

1. Wash - Good quality wash like Gold Class or Nxt, two bucket system, good quality towels, sponges, etc.

2. Clay - Smooth Surface Clay kit.

3. Clean - This will **** by hand, but it is doable. You will want to apply ScratchX to the paint, working it in very very well. You might want to just focus on a panel or 2 a day.

Once you have the panels up to your liking, in the future you can use a milder cleaner like Deep Crystal #1 which would be easier to apply.

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

4. Polish - Use a pure polish like Deep Crystal #2 or #7 Show Car Glaze.

5. Wax - You have lots of choices here. #21 Synthetic Sealant is my current favorite, but #26 Hi-Tec Yellow is a popular carnuba blend, as is Gold Class.

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

One possibility is to clay, then use a cleaner/wax on the paint for now to clean it up a bit, and get some protection on it. Then go through and actualy ScratchX each panel.

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

If you are looking at machines at all, we can always add those in as well.

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Help!!

The finish needs some help. It contains swirls and scratches (light) and some oxidation spots.

You can feel the slightest depression on the oxidation spots.

Look at the pictures we've posted that show clear coat failure, especially the first one where the clear coat failure is just beginning and then re-inspect your car's finish to see if this is what your clear coat looks like, if so, then it's not oxidation.

What product should I use first. The clay or the scratch-x or even the paint cleaner.

Murr1525 has posted the relevant link for you to read, start with

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

It will show you the steps and the product to use in the right order, in a nutshell,

Wash
Clay
Paint Cleaner
Polish
Wax

Decide how you want to work by hand or machine and then we can recommend specific products and processes for you to follow. Regardless of whether there are areas of oxidation or clear coat failure in your car's paint, we can help you take what you have to work with to its maximum potential.

[wallacefan]

Re: Help!!

thanks for all the help. I think the problem is clear coat failure. It is not that bad. only two spots on the hood roughly the size of a half dollar. Do I need to repaint the hood for this small amount. Can I use any of the products from meguiars? If so which ones and how would I use them? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

[dietoremain]

Re: Help!!

I have some clear cloat failure on the roof of my truck but basically just polish it with the rest of the vehicle and get a sealant on it. as far as I can tell that seems to protect it. But restoring it theres nothin you can do except paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help!!

Yeah, just be a little more gentle in those areas, and hopefully a clean/polish/wax will at least slow it down from spreading until you are ready to repaint.

Though it is failing underneath and you are polishing on top, so cant even say that will do a whole lot.