Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

[Selectchoice]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

I'd take your car to a body shop for advice. From what you've described here and from the pics posted it looks like a repaint is in order.

[KDubb]

DA with microfiber correction

You should try the DA polisher with the microfiber correction kit sold by Meguiars...short of a rotary buffer, its the most aggressive product out there for the DA...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

The clear coat is indeed still there, but it's breaking apart and failing. This explains both why you are not seeing color transfer onto your applicator and why the hazing is coming back so quickly. Modern paints are very different from a chemistry standpoint than old school single stage lacquers, not simply the fact that you've got a clear layer of paint over the colored layer of paint. Whereas those old lacquers would oxidize and fade back but could then be buffed back to a high gloss by simply abrading away the dead or oxidized upper layers, a modern clear coat oxidizes differently.

Think of it this way: aluminum and steel oxidize differently. Aluminum turns dull and cloudy, with an almost whitish discoloration. But you can buff aluminum back to a high shine with a proper abrasive polish. You'll remove all the surface oxidation - that dull, cloudy whitish looking stuff. Sounds just like single stage lacquer, doesn't it? But steel oxidizes differently - it rusts. It breaks apart and sort of crumbles. Sort of like a modern, catalyzed clear coat. If it's a very thin sheet of steel (like the very thin coat of paint on your car) then that crumbling rust goes all the way through. You can't just buff that out - it's dead and gone. So when you get rust on a body panel of a car the only way to fix it is to cut it out and weld in a patch piece. And the only way to fix a crumbling clear coat is to cut it out (sand it off) and repaint the panel.

Using any compound, paint cleaner, polish or wax on this surface may well improve the appearance, but as you're finding out that improvement is fleeting at best. Sort of like just painting over rust on a sheet of steel. It'll look good for a while, but that rust is not going to stop advancing and in fairly short order the panel will look terrible again.

As for the Ultimate Compound you were using, it's actually quite a potent compound and not a fine finishing polish. It's derived from our most aggressive compound in our Pro line, M105 Ultra Cut Compound. That's why it can make the improvement you're seeing when using it, but the dead clear coat is conspiring against you and making this a losing battle.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

Hello everyone. This is my first post and also my first experience with oxidation. I have a Black 2001 Nissan Frointier and it has a beautiful shine but due to the hot Texas sun and my neglect at times, it has a white haze on the hood. I tried to take pics but the haze wouldn't show up. It was really bad and looked worse than these pics here but not to the point of peeling etc. Yesterday I used for the first time the Clay Bar, then Ultimate Compound, polish then wax. Neither were Meguiar's as I just used what I had which was Nu-Finish Polish and Turtle Wax. I intend to do it again with Meguiar's. I also did it by hand. I have an orbital polisher that I am going to use next time. I used the UC, Polish and Wax twice and it really helped but still is not totally removed. I would say I got about a quarter of it totally removed and the rest is probably about half as bad now. I wish I could post pics but these pics on this thread look a lot like my truck. The truck is so shiny that the haze wouldn't show up in the pics. I am not an expert by any means, that's why I am asking for ya'll's advice, but I just feel as though this is just bad oxidation and not clear coat failure. My question is, do you think I just need to put more elbow grease into it and use the UC again a time or two and of course use Meguiar's Polish and wax? Any advice will be most appreciated.

[Murr1525]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

When you were applying products, did your pads turn extremely black all over the truck?

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

No, no black at all came off.

[Murr1525]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

Well, if it looks a lot like these pics, and is definitely clear coated... then it looks a lot like CC failure.

The NuFinish is actually more of a cleaner/wax, not polishing oils like a Meguiars polish would be.

You could try again with a product that has more oils in it, like Ult. Polish then wax. See if more moisturizing does anything.

But you may also want to just see if the paint goes back to its previous state quickly. Usually failing paint can look good for a couple days, then go back again quickly.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

I thought I might get some Meguiar's Polish and Wax and give it another go of Ulitmate Compound, Polish and Wax and then wait and see what happens. I was really encouraged when some of it totally disappeared and the rest got lighter. Before, it was really noticable and now, you have to get in the right light to see it. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to see if I can take care of the problem without repainting but if not, then I will repaint. There is no oxidation anywhere else on the truck other than the hood thank goodness. It doesn't look exactly like these pics but close. It's not spotted or flaky. It just looks faded is the best way I can describe it. I'll try again to get some pics. Thanks for your response.

[Murr1525]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

The hood / roof / trunk are the common spots.. esp the hood from the engine heat as well.

You dont want to be super aggressive with your applicator/pressure... dont want to cause it to flake or anything and then need repainted even sooner.. It may stay like this for a long time with some maintaining.

[Murr1525]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

The hood / roof / trunk are the common spots.. esp the hood from the engine heat as well.

You dont want to be super aggressive with your applicator/pressure... dont want to cause it to flake or anything and then need repainted even sooner.. It may stay like this for a long time with some maintaining.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

Yeah, I put moderate pressure by hand yesterday. Am going to do about the same or less with the oribital. It still looks really good today. After I go through the steps one more time I'll just maintain it with regular wash and wax and see what happens.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

This may be a stupid question, but how do you post a pic to the thread?

[Murr1525]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

You would want to upload the picture to you gallery here, then insert the link to the picture.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

Ok, here's a couple of pics. Not sure how well you can see the areas I'm talking about.

[casper7]

Re: Haze on black paint. Is it too late?

Can anyone tell anything from these pics? The white haze that I got off hasn't come back. The areas where I lightened it has not gotten any worse. I'm not sure what to do at this point.