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Re: Cleaning the Paint Coat only (with the Clear Coat gone)
From experience, that dark gray color is a sign of an aluminum metallic flake that gives the silver metallic paint it's silver metallic appearance.
Since this is not clear coated, the aluminum metallic flakes themselves have oxidized and the color you're seeing is oxidized aluminum. It's the same color you would see if you were to apply an aluminum polish to an oxidized aluminum wheel.
There's no way to polish all the aluminum flakes individually inside the paint so the oxidation you're getting will always be a problem and the only permanent fix is repaint the car with a basecoat/clearcoat type paint job.
Again, if in fact this paint is using a true aluminum metal particle for the flake then about the most you can hope for is to make the surface clean, smooth and shiny and then keep it sealed with a quality wax or paint sealant.
You can't hope to keep cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the paint with some kind of paint cleaner and getting better and better and better results as all you do is uncover and expose more paint and aluminum particles.
So wash, clay, clean until the paint is smooth and the seal with you're favorite wax or paint sealant.
This is one reason, (not the only reason), that in the early 1980's car manufactures started spraying a clear coat over all silver cars. I believe paint companies also switched to mylar or something like it for the flake instead of aluminum particles but I'd have to research that to make sure and there's no time for that right now.
Any of our products that use SMAT should do a good job of cleaning the surface and preparing it for sealing.
Originally posted by ezrre
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Since this is not clear coated, the aluminum metallic flakes themselves have oxidized and the color you're seeing is oxidized aluminum. It's the same color you would see if you were to apply an aluminum polish to an oxidized aluminum wheel.
There's no way to polish all the aluminum flakes individually inside the paint so the oxidation you're getting will always be a problem and the only permanent fix is repaint the car with a basecoat/clearcoat type paint job.
Again, if in fact this paint is using a true aluminum metal particle for the flake then about the most you can hope for is to make the surface clean, smooth and shiny and then keep it sealed with a quality wax or paint sealant.
You can't hope to keep cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the paint with some kind of paint cleaner and getting better and better and better results as all you do is uncover and expose more paint and aluminum particles.
So wash, clay, clean until the paint is smooth and the seal with you're favorite wax or paint sealant.
This is one reason, (not the only reason), that in the early 1980's car manufactures started spraying a clear coat over all silver cars. I believe paint companies also switched to mylar or something like it for the flake instead of aluminum particles but I'd have to research that to make sure and there's no time for that right now.
Any of our products that use SMAT should do a good job of cleaning the surface and preparing it for sealing.
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