Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

[jakub_a]

Hello,

This is my first post here. After a few hours reading about all products, what they do and how to use them i still can't find an answer to my situation. I hope someone can clarify things for me

I have a 1998 Volvo V70 2.5TDI (yeah Diesel - but I'm in Poland, Europe), which I bought used just 2 months ago. It has dark green/turquoise metallic paint (there is clear coat of course).
The paint is original and during those 11 years a lot of very small paint chips, scratches (tiny and deeper that only repainting will remove), bird poop marks on the roof etc. have appeared. Overall the paint is in great condition despite all those little defects.

What I did so far: After buying the car, I polished the whole thing with NuFinish Once a Year Car Polish. For deeper scratches I used 3M PerfectIt Rubbing Compound, then NuFinish Car polish on it to remove swirls.
Effect: the car has a nicer shine BUT in all those dinky chips and other paint defects Nu Finish left its white residue (it dries white). Now the car is not only more shiny but more spotty - all paint chips became very visible - and this is why I'm not happy. And plastic things have white streaks too

Tackling the problem: i started researching alternatives to my NuFinish and I came across Meguiar's products. I read some reviews, and decided to try it out. No I haven't bought anything yet but I'm going to - where I need help is what product(s) I should buy to remove/cover up those nasty white marks on all little paintchips (especially the hood and the roof!). I was going to buy the NXT wax but I have no idea whether it will leave same white dots all over the place after drying and buffing.

What process and what products (knowing all the above) do you recommend to nicely wash the car, prep it and polish it and finally give it this nice wet look which I've seen on the forum's pictures! I can upload pictures if this will help.

I'm going to the US next week and would like to buy all the products I need including microfiber clothes, applicators etc.

I'd appreciate any help on that

With best regards,

/Jakub

[CieraSL]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Well, you can try polishing with Swirl X or Ultimate Compound. Neither of those products are "let-dry products", meaning you just work the product in on small sections of the paint and then immediately wipe off. There is no drying product to worry about. Any of the Meguiar's waxes will work good. They don't dust, and there shouldn't be any problems with residue being left in little chips and such.

Hope you have fun in the States!

to MOL!

[Murr1525]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Any product from any company that gets left in a paint chip will end up drying white.

Thats where your problem lies, getting the product out of the chips. And I cant say there is a great answer for how to do that. A towel with longer fibers might help pull product out.

Where are you visiting?

[Eddie6th]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Hi,are the touch up's that covered the stone chips,below the surface of the clearcoat or are they like a tiny bubble above?

You also mentioned the ABS plastics being white.Vegetable oil will take them off before you add a plastic trim detailer.

[jakub_a]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Any product from any company that gets left in a paint chip will end up drying white.

Thats where your problem lies, getting the product out of the chips. And I cant say there is a great answer for how to do that. A towel with longer fibers might help pull product out.

Where are you visiting?

Hey,

True - best choice then would be to use a product that doesn't dry white. Does NXT fit into that category? Any other products? Maybe from Professional line?

I'm going to Racine, WI first, then to Minneapolis, MN - 3 weeks alltogether! I'm super exctited!

Thanks for your input!

[jakub_a]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Hi,are the touch up's that covered the stone chips,below the surface of the clearcoat or are they like a tiny bubble above?

You also mentioned the ABS plastics being white.Vegetable oil will take them off before you add a plastic trim detailer.

Hi,

I didn't touch up any chips before applying NuFinish. After that (when they all came out I got 100ml of single stage paint for touch-ups and did all bigger ones. There are just so many of them - I didn't have patience to do them all. None of the chips penetrated to the metal.
I'll try to post some pictures later - if I have enough time

[Murr1525]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

No, they will all dry white as far as I know, and I've tried most. Nxt and #21 certainly will.

Nxt 2.0 applies pretty thin, and applying the product in thin cots may help, at least as far as the towel easily wiping chips out.

As far as your trip.... at least its not winter....

[jakub_a]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

No, they will all dry white as far as I know, and I've tried most. Nxt and #21 certainly will.

Nxt 2.0 applies pretty thin, and applying the product in thin cots may help, at least as far as the towel easily wiping chips out.

As far as your trip.... at least its not winter....

I'm not scared of MN winters I used to live there for 2 years, without a car, biking to work EVERY day, including crazy winters. It was extreme sometimes but I and my bike survived. But true, summers are SO much nicer and I'm hoping to experience a little bit of a heat wave )

Back to the topic though - I've also contacted someone at Meguiar's with similar question - if I learn something, I will post it here.

Another idea that just popped into my head is to use a high pressure water cleaner to remove the white freckles then apply something that won't dry white. The only thing I found is this:

Show Car Glaze outshines all other hand applied polishes, glazes, waxes and sealants. Restores a dazzling, deep, wet shine. Show Car Glaze does not dry white and is safe and effective on all paint finishes.

But from what I read it doesn't remove any swirls, holograms and fine scratches or even doesn't seal the paint - it just applies oils to nourish the paint.

/Jakub

[Murr1525]

Re: Cleaning and sealing paint with many little paint chips

Yeah, Show Car Glaze is just polishing oils, no cleaning or protecting properties.

If this was your first time with any wax, you might try re-washing the car this week. It might get rid of the spots.