cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

[chris328]

Hey guys I have some clouding issues on my rear bumper, they become visibly obvious when I look at my reflection first in the bumper, then at my reflection the in rear quarter panel immediately above the bumper, the reflection in the paint on the bumper is cloudy whilst the rear quarter panel is nice and clear (for example, I can see tiny bumps on my face whereas in the bumper's refleciton I cannot).

This is the strange thing - I've only clayed the rear quarter panel and applied 2 coats of NXT, while on the bumper I first clayed followed with colorX - that didn't work, so I reclayed and tried using DC1 paint cleaner and m81 hand polish, followed by 2 coats of NXT.

Shouldn't the bumper look better than the rear quarter panel since I've used DC1 and m81 on it?? The cloudiness was there before I used the DC1, I was hoping the DC1 would get rid of it.

[BarryK]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

hard to answer you definitely without seeing pictures but on paint or clearcoat that turns cloudy (except on freshly sprayed areas which is a different story) it's usualy either simply oxidation or the clearcoat is starting to fail.
If it's just oxidation that a more aggressive polish or compound than ColorX should remove it. You may want to pick up and try ScratchX and Ultimate Compound and see if they work.
If the cloudiness is actual clearcoat failure than all that can be done is to have a paintshop sand down the failing area and respray new clearcoat and blend it into the the surrounding areas.

[chris328]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

Thanks, any reason the deep crystal paint cleaner wouldn't do anything though? I thought that had similar chemical cleaners to scratchX / scratchX 2.0 / swirl X. There's no swirls or light scratches really here, just the cloudiness/oxidation. Would I risk introducing micromarring by using scratchx or swirlx? I'll try and get pics

thanks again man

[G_S_DB]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

Was the bumber cloudy first then you did all the polishing, or was did it become cloudy after you polished? What kind of applicators did you use for the ColorX, DC1, and M81?

The reason I ask is because when I first used DC1 with a microfiber applicator I had hazy looking paint -- what some call micro-marring. I switched to the foam pads and that cleared it right up. So, that is something you can try. Good luck!

[chris328]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

the cloudiness was there beforehand, although I did use a microfiber pad to apply it, I'll have to go and pick up some foam pads and try again I guess. in the meantime...



the difference is most noticeable on the left, where the other car's door handle is reflected first on the uppper quarter panel then lower on the bumper... omg... any ideas??

[Michael Stoops]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

Thanks, any reason the deep crystal paint cleaner wouldn't do anything though? I thought that had similar chemical cleaners to scratchX / scratchX 2.0 / swirl X. There's no swirls or light scratches really here, just the cloudiness/oxidation. Would I risk introducing micromarring by using scratchx or swirlx? I'll try and get pics

thanks again man

Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner was sort of hybrid of chemical and abrasive cleaners while the original ScratchX was a diminishing abrasive cleaner. ScratchX 2.0, SwirlX and Ultimate Compound all use SMAT abrasives derived from/related to M105 so they are much more advanced technology.

As G_S_DB points out, your applicator can play a huge roll in the process. While an aggressive applicator such as terry cloth can help give a bit more cut, it can also haze the paint. We've seen microfiber haze paint too, especially when applying a paint cleaner with a bit of elbow grease. Of course, the sensitivity of the paint will play a role here too - some paints are just fine with an aggressive microfiber application but others will haze badly.

But looking at your picture, are you saying that whole light colored are is haze??? Or is that just a reflection of something with stronger light on it?

[chris328]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

thanks for the info on the abrasives, but no that is just outside, the bar across the middle is the dividing line between the rear right quarter panel and the rear right side of the bumper. seriously it looks like i applied a photoshop distortion filter to the bottom half of the photo... any hints on how to get rid of that without access to a rotary or DA?

[G_S_DB]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

thanks for the info on the abrasives, but no that is just outside, the bar across the middle is the dividing line between the rear right quarter panel and the rear right side of the bumper. seriously it looks like i applied a photoshop distortion filter to the bottom half of the photo... any hints on how to get rid of that without access to a rotary or DA?

Could you take another shot that has some part of the car in focus to use as a reference point? It is just a little hard to tell what we're looking at.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

My opinion...take it for what it's worth...

Looks like your bumper has a heck of a lot of orange peel, and your rear quarter doesn't have as much. That will make reflections more difficult to see.

[chris328]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

strange though cause neither parts were ever repainted, i don't think it's normal for some panels to have more orange peel than others unless some of the parts have been repaired, repainted or replaced which is not the case here, or is that a possibility even if it is straight from the factory.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: cloudiness on paint unable to remove please help

It's not terribly uncommon for the bumper covers to be painted separate from the steel body panels. Factory paint jobs are done prior to final assembly and the panels are then baked at pretty high temp in a large oven. The bumper covers may or not be part of this painting process, depending on the make and model - usually they are separate though. While the paint used is basically the same, a flex agent is added to paint used on these flexible panels, hence the need to paint them independent of the rest of the car. Whether any additional, or less, orange peel is a function of that flex agent or just the way it's sprayed on the covers is something we can't answer at this time.