#80 or #83

[DSGMach]

Will 80 remove below surface defects like 83? I have what looks like water spots on my car and the quick clay won't remove them. The car is an 04 Mustang Mach 1 so the paint is new. The spots were on there when I bought the car, I just didn't notice them until the first wash. I used NXT Wash, Quick Clay, and the Deep Cyrstal paint cleaner, polish, and wax. It did a hell of a job, now they're hidden pretty well, but you can still see them if the light hits it just right. I'm guessing that they're below surface defects. So again my question is will 80 remove this or should I use 83? And is 83 to harsh for new paint like mine? Oh yeah, I also have a PC that I will be using. Sorry so long. Thanks

[RDVT4ME]

#80 might get the job done. Then moving up the aggressive scale to #83 is a good next step and will not harm your paint. Meguiars moto is to start with the least aggressive and then move up the aggressive scale by changing the pad or product or both. You can go from a finishing pad (tan) to a polishing pad (yellow) to the cutting pad (most aggressive foam pad).

If you have some meguiars MPPC available, that would be worth a try also.

I assume you are using a PC. If the 83 doesn't get the job done, you may need to step up to a rotary. If you are not comfortable with a rotary, then you should find a pro to do it for you.

[Tom Weed]

I had water spots on my wife Grand Am that was neglected for a long time. I tried a PC on 6 with 83 and a polishing pad several times, no luck removing them. Then I used a cutting pad (I know, this is taboo) and still not much better. That's when I decided to get a rotary and had to use a cutting pad with the machine on 1800 rpms, using 83 then 84 to remove them. I followed that up with 83 and a polishing pad and it looks new again.

I had no idea the water spots were so hard to remove on that car, but I think with not removing them earlier they were etched in the clear coat.

Just my experience.

Tom

[Mike Phillips]

On the topic of water spots and removing them, if they are Type II water spots, then this mean removing paint and leveling the surface. In situation like this, how difficult it will be to remove the spots, or technically, etchings, will be determined by how hard the paint is, how deep the etchings are and the tools you choose to use.

Here's something I wrote on the subject.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are two kinds of water spots,

1) Above Surface Mineral Deposits
2) Below Surface Water Spot Etchings


Type I Water Spots

Type I Water Spots are what Meguiar's refers to as Above Surface Bonded Contaminants. A Type I water spot is some type of deposit, often times a mineral deposit that was in the water source, sitting on top of the surface.

If you have Type I water spots, you can use either a clay bar or a paint cleaner like ScratchX by hand. Clay bars are for removing above surface defects and will typically do a good job of remove Type I water spots/deposits from off the surface. Sometimes you may have to follow the claying process with a paint cleaner like ScratchX to completely remove all traces of where the mineral deposits attached to the finish.

Type I Water Spots






Type II Water Spots - Deposits on the surface
Type II Water Spots are what Meguiar's refers to as Below Surface Defects. A Type II Water Spot is actually an etching in the surface where whatever was in the water was strong enough in it's chemical composition to actually eat or dissolve the paint and thus etch into the paint.

If you Type II Water Spots, you can use a paint cleaner by hand such as ScratchX, or a machine applied product such as a compound, paint cleaner, or cleaner/polish to machine clean the finish, removing a small amount of paint in an effort to level, or smooth out the finish. The goal is to remove just enough paint to level the surface with the lowest depths of the defect.

Just to be clear, removing Type II Water Spots means removing paint. As such, you are limited as to how much paint you can remove. In some cases you may want to check with a seasoned professional for their advise before attempting to remove below surface defects like Type II Water Spots.


Type II Water Spots - Etchings below the surface


Close-up of same photo above


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