What's wrong with the paint?!?!

[IcedTea]

On the old famley car, the paint has been neglected for 12 years. I don't think its ever been washed/waxed/clayed. I'm just now getting into detailing when I got my GTO. I decided to detail the van... it's paint is something wierd. It has these wierd black spots that don't come off with wash, and only some do with clay. I have some pics below.

On the top of door.


Inside the doorhandle, more spots.


Hood after a wash/clay/wax, it wasn't as bad with black spots as the rest as car.


Just to show you I do take care of my baby.... a bad quality picute of my GTO.



If my english is too hard to understand, tell me, I try to reword it.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

Can you feel it with your fingernail or bare finger?

Try wetting the surface, placing your fingers inside a ziploc plastic bag, and run it over the spots to see if you feel them.

Also, does your camera have a MACRO mode? (The buttom usually has a picture of a flower). Macro mode helps for close-up shots.

[IcedTea]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

Yea I took it with my DSLR but I forgot to turn RAW recording off so I had to lower the quality alot on my computer. And the AF dosn't work very well on my wide-angle lens.


I rubbed my hand accross it and it feels somewhat bumpy. Definitly not a smooth as the GTO though.

[Ol' Red]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

I'm not sure about your van, but your English is excellent. Sorry I couldn't help you any though. Good luck with cleaning up the van.

[Murr1525]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

You might want to try letting a bug and tar remover product sit on the spots for a few minutes.

And then a little more claying after that cant hurt to try.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

You might want to try letting a bug and tar remover product sit on the spots for a few minutes.

And then a little more claying after that cant hurt to try.

I agree with Murr. It is hard to tell from the pictures.

Is it possible it is pitting, or does it appear to be above the paint?

Also, which clay are you using? The white consumer clay? Something this old and bonded might need something more aggressive. Letting some Bug and Tar remover will hopefully loosen it up.

[IcedTea]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

It's below the paint and it almost spiders out at the edges.

I tried clay on the bigger spots and I got a white residue on the clay. Any idea what that is?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: What's wrong with the paint?!?!

It's below the paint and it almost spiders out at the edges.

I tried clay on the bigger spots and I got a white residue on the clay. Any idea what that is?

That is what I was afraid of. The paint looked incredibly dry in the pictures from what I could tell- it might have gone too long without any polishing or waxing and the paint may be beginning to fail.

If you could get some more focused close-up shots it would really help, but that is my best guess right now. 12 years is a LONG time to be neglected for automotive paint if the vehicle was outside.