Paint looks hazy/dull and water marks still present after claying/cleaning.

[Hialeo302]

I just recently began working on my mustang project and decided to detail it while I wait for the motor to arrive. A quick background on it and the problem. I had a buddy paint it about 2 yrs ago. It sat in his paint yard open to the elements as I was overseas. Once I came back I picked up the car and gave it a quick wash only, and it has sat under a covered car porch under a California car cover for the last 6 months. The car was never waxed or detailed. The paint/clear was rough due to being out in the elements for so long before I picked it up. There are some spots that have a very fine amount of over spray, I'm assuming from being out in the yard, and water marks that looked eched into the clear. My goal is the following:
1. remove any over spray
2. make the surface smooth to the touch
3. eliminate the water marks
4. make the paint/clear deep and shiny

I read everything I could and decided to try and follow the advise given on the board. I ordered everything online from Maguiar's and decided to follow the 5 step method. Everything is being done by hand. I first washed and dried the car (gold class wash and drying towel, 2 bucket system). The car was now clean but still rough to the tough. I clay bar 'ed the whole car. The top potions were the roughest as the sides went very quickly. At this point the cars finish looks dull/hazy and the water marks are still present. I then tried SwirlX on a section to test if it would remove the water marks and take some of the dullness away. It did neither (I applied with foam pad and wiped off with MF towel). I decided to try Ult Compound with a new foam pad and MF towel. I still have water marks and the area seems very dull/hazy in the sunlight. I took a few photos (sorry about the quality, Iphone):





At this point I'm not sure what to do next or if this job needs to be done by a professional. I applied some DCPolish to the area photographed to see if it would help at least the hazy/dullness but I don't think it did much. What do you guys think I should do? My last step after the DCP was going to be to wax it with NTX2.0.

Thanks
Roland

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Paint looks hazy/dull and water marks still present after claying/cleaning.

Just to be clear here - the car was painted two years ago and then basically just sat out in the elements for a year and a half, at which time you picked it up, washed it and covered it up for 6 months; correct?

If so, you could have a lot of issues going on here and trying to correct them by hand is going to be difficult at best. We've seen plenty of aftermarket paint jobs that lack gloss, mostly because they were never buffed out sufficiently. If your buddy didn't do any rotary follow up buffing then the clear is likely not quite up to what it should be. To then let it sit out in the elements for 18 months could have really stressed this fresh paint job. The water spots, as you suspect, are likely to be fairly deeply etched into the paint.

It sounds like, at the very least, the car could stand a serious professional rotary buffing session. At worst, a properly done wet sanding and rotary buffing process should really bring the paint back - provided there has been no irreparable damage to it. But this is definitely not something you want to tackle yourself unless you have a lot of experience with it (and it sounds like this is something outside your realm of expertise).

The clay did it's job of removing the bonded contaminants, but not you're seeing the real condition of the paint itself. SwirlX by hand isn't going to get you very much further, nor will UC. The problem isn't the products, per se, but the application process and condition of the paint.

Check with your buddy who painted the car and see what his wet sanding/buffing experience level is, or if he can point you toward someone capable of doing this properly. Do not cheap out on this process - if done ham fisted it will mean a whole new paint job.

[Hialeo302]

Re: Paint looks hazy/dull and water marks still present after claying/cleaning.

Michael thanks for responding. You are correct in the way the car was handled after the paint job. I don't know what kind (if any) rotary/polish job was done right after the paint as I did not get to see it until I picked it up. I though it was just dirty and marked from being outside for so long. The complete paint job isn't the best as he was doing me a favor, the more I tried to detail the car, the more I found flaws/mistakes in it.I have to take the good with the bad as the car is meant as a weekend road race car. I knew I wasn't getting a car show paint job, but I think the overall workmanship could have been much better.

If so, you could have a lot of issues going on here and trying to correct them by hand is going to be difficult at best. We've seen plenty of aftermarket paint jobs that lack gloss, mostly because they were never buffed out sufficiently. If your buddy didn't do any rotary follow up buffing then the clear is likely not quite up to what it should be. To then let it sit out in the elements for 18 months could have really stressed this fresh paint job. The water spots, as you suspect, are likely to be fairly deeply etched into the paint.

This was my fear and also my assessment of the condition of the clear/paint on the car. I figured I would buy the best products and try myself, if not I would have to get a professional to work on it. I agree that a professional should look at the car now and see what we can do. Does this have to be done at a paint shop (since the car is not mobile at the moment) or can a professional detailer do this job as well?

While I'm here if there is anyone in South Florida (Dade/Broward) who does this type I work I would love to hear from you. Michael, let me know if you want me to ship the car to you guys for an "Advanced Class Project"?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Paint looks hazy/dull and water marks still present after claying/cleaning.

Does this have to be done at a paint shop (since the car is not mobile at the moment) or can a professional detailer do this job as well?

In all honesty a paint shop is probably not where you want to take the car. These guys, for the most part, are painters and not detailers. There's a huge difference in mind set. That is not said to knock painters since some of them do excellent final finish work, but that is just not their core skill set. We know plenty of incredible painters, and just as many amazing detailers. But we wouldn't let the painters detail our cars, nor let the detailers paint them. For the most part. And yes, a mobile guy should be able to handle this job for you.

Something to consider, though: since this is a track day car it is going to get hammered in that environment. Track days are really, really rough on the paint so you probably shouldn't have anything more done to the finish than just a good rotary buffing to bring up the gloss and eliminate the worst of the water spot etching.

While I'm here if there is anyone in South Florida (Dade/Broward) who does this type I work I would love to hear from you.

You might want to post something up in the Meguiar's Detailer Wanted section.

Michael, let me know if you want me to ship the car to you guys for an "Advanced Class Project"?

Gee, wouldn't it be cheaper to fly me to Florida for a few days instead???




Kidding, kidding..... it's a joke.