Brink of Paint Failure.

[FIREdawg]

So a friend's 1994 Lincoln Towncar is on the brink of paint failure. The roof of the vehicle is already showing signs (2 softball size metal grey spots on a white car, quite noticeable) of it which I can do nothing about. Apparently some years ago a neighborhood kid was trying to make some scratch (pun intended) and attempted to detail it. The results of that EPIC FAILURE are quite apparent. Looks like he took steel wool to it. Fast forward a decade to which an attempt to correct were never taken; life seems to always get in the way doesn't it? Medium to no upkeep with washes and waxes few and far between, maybe once a year wax, and every other month a wash from the local automatic car wash.



So I set out to see if I could help, not to mention totally bored on my two days off from work. I always like a challenge.

My armaments:

GC wash
Meg's Clay Kit
G110v2
6" Polish pad (x2)
6" Finishing pad
Ultimate Compound
Ultimate Polish
Ultimate Wax (Liquid and Paste)
M66
M16
M86
Collinite 476S

I am SUPER afraid that I will buff the paint right off; and stated that many times to him. I know to steer clear of the paint failure areas while on the DA; but HOW ON EARTH DO I TREAT IT? It will keep inching bigger and bigger if nothing is done. It is out of my range of expertise and I again made sure he knew it. So I haven't touched the roof cause, I have no clue how to handle it. Any suggestions?

I gave the hood a shot with this line up: Wash, Dry, Clay, UC x 2 passes, #66 x 2 coats, UW paste x 2 coats, topped with Collinite 476S. The results 8 hours later? The deep scratches are still there, much much much less noticeable with greatly improved sheen. Oddly not much came off the Clay, however, there was a white powder that came off the UC passes, gritty like sand. What was that, clear coat coming off?? I was terrified it was so went to waxing. Swirls and cobwebs are still present, I was thinking a cutting pad would work better but didnt want to chance ripping off paint.









And yes 8 hours on the hood alone! Phew! I'll get Pic's of the roof and truck, when I work on it again. Terrified that I'll rip paint off, I hate to send the car back with everything looking great with the roof looking like poop. Its not a clear coat failure, its chipping away as if the primer is letting go of the metal. Coming off almost like a boiled egg shell. Any suggestions?

FD

[Bjkearns]

Re: Brink of Paint Failure.

the hood looks great but remember detailing doesnt "fix" or apply more paint
this sounds like it is time for a respray on the effected areas

[FIREdawg]

Yeah I know I can't fix it with what I have available. I would like to suggest some courses of action. Again, mainly to have it repainted, but something to keep it from getting worse until he is able to.

However, it is nice to have free range over a vehicle to test different processes and not worry about the outcome. Deep down I think he wants me to rip the paint off then the wife would make a concession about a new paint job. LOL

[04blkpearlcoupe]

Re: Brink of Paint Failure.

Wax will keep the CC failure from spreading. I had two big spots of CC failure on my black 2003 accord's roof after not washing or waxing for a year (nice surprise, eh), and I was able to keep it from spreading by keeping it waxed. I live in southern california where the sun is a scorcher and the CC did not get any worse. Its been over a year now and it still has not spread. I actually repainted the areas just this past weekend so now the CC failure is gone, but wax definitely kept it from spreading and I used some old wax that I had laying on a shelf for years (old NXT version 1.0). I waxed the CC failure areas after EVERY wash which was every 1-2 weeks. The car got waxed about once a month.