Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

[eighthpint]

Hello, I have a truck I've tried 6 different Meguiars products on - it just makes it worse and worse. I was trying to get rid of a small amount of white oxidation, and have ended up with this:




Notice the shiny Maroon fiberglass? Now see the white in the bottom left? Thats where I've used the products. Here's a closer view of that:

.

It's made the fiberglass so "dry"(?) it's cracking.
I've used the cleaner wax, then tried the 4-part professional body shop mirror glaze set, then out of desperation tried the one step aggresive marine compund.
WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING WRONG AND HOW CAN I FIX THIS POOR TRUCK?????
Here's also an overview pic:



PLEASSSSSSE HELLLLLLLP!!!

Thank you

[TrufflePig]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

you followed the 5 step process and this still happened?

The 5-Step Paint Care Cycle.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

[Thejoyofdriving]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

That souldnt happen.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

Hello, I have a truck I've tried 6 different Meguiars products on - it just makes it worse and worse. I was trying to get rid of a small amount of white oxidation

We need to know exactly what you're working on;

Is it Gel-coat?
Is it Single Stage Paint?
Is it a Clear Coat Finish?

When you applied any cleaning product or oxidation remover or paint cleaner, did your application cloth show any red color? As in pigment transfering to your pad or cloth?


Kind of like you see the blue on these applicators from a car we worked on with single stage blue paint.

[eighthpint]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

One person said it looked like gel coat but I'm not sure. And yes I did a 5-step process, washed then used the 4-part system. Step 1 was the diamond cut compound, Step 2 was the compound power cleaner, Step 3 was the dual action cleaner polish and Step 4 was the Speed glaze. Yes there was red on the cloths we were using.
I also got some liquid glaze to put on but don't want to put it on over the white. If I can get back to red and put liquid glaze on, will that restore it a bit?
Thanks for takin the time to try and help. I sure appreciate it.

[Lucky161]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

You should be able to check with Kenworth or a Kenworth dealer's body shop to determine the type of finish for that particular year model truck.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

First, we can't emphasize the importance of doing a "Test Spot"

Before working an entire car or truck in your case, always do a Test Spot, try the products and process of your choice to a small area from beginning to end and make sure you can make a small area look good with your choice of products and process before tackling the entire car or truck.

If you can't make a small area look good... then you'll be very glad you didn't tackle the entire car, or truck in your case. At this point you can begin to trouble shoot and look for a combination of products that will work, but at this point you only have a small area that looks bad, not the entire vehicle.


Make sense?

Now onto your problem...

Step 4 was the Speed glaze. Yes there was red on the cloths we were using.

Red pigment means no clear coat and this is likely a gel-coat finish and that tends to mean you have a lot of film build to work with as gel-coat finishes are usually a lot thicker than car paint finishes.

How did you apply the M80 Speed Glaze as in what kind of tool and pad?

You should be able to apply this product by hand or machine and see the color return to normal with enough polishing either by hand or machine.

Try to do this to a small area about 16" square.
Another good product for this would be M03 Machine Glaze

The product you really wanted to cut this with and it's not too late to start over would be our M01 Medium Cut Cleaner, you're process would look like this,

#1 Medium Cut Cleaner/Rotary Buffer/Wool Cutting Pad - 1500 RPM
#3 Machine Glaze/Rotary Buffer/Foam Polishing Pad - 1300 to 1500 RPM

Then go to wax

I also got some liquid glaze to put on but don't want to put it on over the white.

Correct. You need to remove the white oxidation first.

It's possible that this could have had a clear coat finish that has turned white, (failed), and what you've done is buffed through the clear coat to the color coat underneath, hard to say without being there.

The FIRST thing you should do at this point is find out what you're working on. Call the manufacture or go to where you bought the truck or ask a painter, a Professional Painter to look at it and tell you what exactly it is you're working on.

Is it a gel-coat finish
Is it an automotive finish

It's actually possible the finish could be so far gone it can't be saved, again hard to say because I'm not standing there to look at it and try a couple of Test Spots. If it's gel-coat however, and has any kind of thickness to it then you should be able to save it.

#1 Medium Cut Cleaner/Rotary Buffer/Wool Cutting Pad - 1500 RPM
#3 Machine Glaze/Rotary Buffer/Foam Polishing Pad - 1300 to 1500 RPM

Then go to wax

If I can get back to red and put liquid glaze on, will that restore it a bit?

Find out what you're working first. Then do a test spot and dial in a system that restores the color in one small area, the you can duplicate this over the entire area.

If it's gel coat, get some #1 and some #3, this should do the trick.

Unless it's really, really bad then if it's gel-coat and really really bad, but you have some thickness in the gel-coat to work with you could wet sand it and then buff it.

[Chex]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

It's pretty bad to see that kind of finish, and I'm pretty sure it's not that common to see a truck's paint in that kind of condition in the US, but believe me you'll see LOTS down here in those conditions, and I really mean it.

I think that the paint has also reached the primer, since it looks too gray for it to be restored, Also, if it has a clear on it, may it's at a point where no matter what you do, you'll see it nicely buffed and 20 minutes later you'll see it dull and almost the same as when you first started.

that pic reminds me of a silver contour I buffed once: the clear was in a pretty bad shape that I just used M66 since I knew compounding was not going to work, but I did use a compound and sort of worked, but the haziness came back pretty soon (and believe me I knew it wouldn't work, but sometimes the carwash owners JUST DON'T UNDERTAND, and working as an employee doesn't help that much).

the trunk showed the same thing, and the more I compounded it, the worse it looked so It just kept detailing the car with M66 and a foam polishing pad.

I'd suggest you to check the surface pretty well and see if the basecoat is still visible. If it is, try wet sanding a test spot with a very fine one, like 2000 or finer, and then proceed to compounding, polishing, etc. though it's not respecting the "use the least aggressive product" rule, you've tried everything except wet sanding and IMO this defect looks very severe.

Hope This Helps

[eighthpint]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

ok, I heard back from the body shop manager at Kenworth, and he said "the paint on this model is single stage imron".

Thanks for all your replies..... keep 'em coming!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need Hellllllllllp! (includes pics)

ok, I heard back from the body shop manager at Kenworth, and he said "the paint on this model is single stage imron".

Thanks for all your replies..... keep 'em coming!

If heavy compounding followed by polishing with a product like M80 isn't removing the oxidation/whiteness and then restoring the color to the paint, or the color isn't lasting... then it's likely that the paint is too far gone and has become unstable, and can't be fixed.

Again, try working on just a small area and see if you can restore the color to one area. If you can do this you can probably fix the entire thing, if you can't make one small are look good then you probably, (likely), can't fixe the entire finish.

Sorry....