Fading Paint??

[Johnson]

What would cause a hood to fade?

This car is new to me, only have had it since June. I started to notice it when it was getting serviced a while back. You really couldent tell when it was outside. In the shop, It looked different but still really couldent tell. I did a full detail about 3 weeks ago and now its very noticeable. I wouldent say its faded, It has a nice bright shine, but you can tell its different from the rest. The hood is the only place it is like that.

Is there something I can do to get it to match again? I will see if it will show up on a camera and post it up.

THanks again

[ColonelCash]

Re: Fading Paint??

Is the hood made of metal? Are there any other metal pieces on your car that show the same behavior? Is the car stored outside? If the hood is cloudy looking, that means clearcoat failure is probably coming your way. Is there any chance the car (especially the hood) could have been repainted in the past?

I had this happen on my TransAm and just got it repainted a few weeks back. The hood was the starting point, which just happens to be the only piece of metal on the body. I am suspecting the reason the clear failed there is because A) metal tends to get hotter than plastic and B) it was never really garaged for the last 13 years.

[Johnson]

Re: Fading Paint??

The hood is the only place that it shows it. As long as I have had it and the last owner, it has been kept in the garage most of its life. I wouldent say it looks cloudy, It looks like it has a good color to it, its just different from the rest. As far as being repainted, I dont think so. Its never been in a accident.
If I would repaint it, would it still be noticeable? There are some scratches and rock chips on it that I wouldent mind getting it touched up. Its nothing bad, just normal that a car would have. I dont see any clear coat failure that I can tell. Ill see if I can get some pictures up soon..

As I said before, If really wasnt noticeable until I did the full detail (claybar,clearner,polish,wax)

[Precision]

Re: Fading Paint??

Probably it would be good to post some pics of the hood.

[Johnson]

Re: Fading Paint??

I took some pictures of the hood. You can kinda tell on the one picture. I can really tell in a shop. I will try to maybe get a shot of it when it is in the shop next.

Hope this helps.. Thanks a bunch

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: Fading Paint??

I would have the paint gaged on the hood roof and deck lid if there is a big diff. on the hood most likely the hood was repainted.

This happens way to often due to transportation issues both by rail and truck.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Fading Paint??

Have you ever tried any fine polishing on the hood or elsewhere? I have seen some modern made cars in yellow (and white, black, and red) come in single stage paint more often than you might think. (Lexus has year 2000+ cars in single stage, white and black, Mitsubishi has some very new cars yellow and red in SS, Toyota corollas as recent as the last body style ending in 2006? were single stage white, etc).

At any rate, try using some polish or a cleaner wax like M66 and rub it on the paint to check for color transfer. This way you can determine if there is clear coat or not.

After that, the only other options I can think of that might help if it has clear would be A.) Doing a fine polish like M80, M82, M09, ScratchX or the new stuff coming out : Swirlx, Scratch X 2.0, M205 etc to try and restore clarity. It is possible that there are lots of fine scratches that have produced a light haze on the paint and a gentle polish might remove them and restore clarity to the paint.

Option B would be trying some M05 or M07 pure polish (no abrasives), or some good wax like Gold Class, or NXT 2.0 to see if they restore some needed oils/clarity to the paint surface. Along those lines, using a cleaner wax like M66, A12, or D151 would also be a great way to kill two birds with 1 stone (so to speak).

Hope this helps.

Mark

[Johnson]

Re: Fading Paint??

When I did my detail about a month ago, I did use the claybar, cleaner wax, M07 polish and nxt wax.

I havent had the expirence with power tools so if that would help I dont know. Without help, I would haft to do it by hand.. What product would work good with the gold old hands?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Fading Paint??

When I did my detail about a month ago, I did use the claybar, cleaner wax, M07 polish and nxt wax.

I havent had the expirence with power tools so if that would help I dont know. Without help, I would haft to do it by hand.. What product would work good with the gold old hands?

Did you notice any yellow paint transfer onto towels or applicators?

As for products that work well by hand, M105 is fairly aggressive but is amazing by hand. A good portion of the new 2009 products work by hand as well, so if you don't get the results you want now, in a couple months it should be very obtainable.