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Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

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  • Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

    Hi all,

    I'm new to detailing and paint care, so apologies if my questions/problems are obvious. Just give me some keywords to search for if so and I'll do some digging on my own. At this point, I'm not sure where to start.

    I recently bought an '04 VW Golf that lived in New Mexico and Nevada. It's in great shape, but there are some paint imperfections on the hood and roof that I'd like to fix if possible (and if it can be done without spending an arm and a leg). I suspect they're due to sun damage, but I really don't know much about this stuff. The side panels are very clean and have no such blemishes. There also doesn't appear to be fading anywhere (if there is, it'd have to be quite uniform because the paint looks quite good otherwise). Perhaps I'm mistaken and these are just due to bird droppings or some other sort of staining?

    Here are some pictures of what I'm talking about:

    Hood (notice the two blotches on the right to either side of the vertical crease):


    Hood zoomed in on the spots from the driver's side (there are a bunch of nicks, too, but I'm less worried about how to fix those):


    Another blemish on the hood. Looks like the paint has dried and cracked underneath the clear coat:


    Roof:


    Zoomed in roof sample:


    Another roof sample:


    So my question is: what, if anything, can be done to fix or reduce the appearance of these without repainting? The hood can probably just be replaced if it would otherwise need new paint to fix, but unfortunately I can't just unbolt the roof! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

    Many thanks in advance!

  • #2
    Re: Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

    some of that looks like bird dropping and it was left on the paint to long.you need in the future when birds mess on your car get it off as soon as you can. I no some prof chemical that you can get but you have to be a detailer. you can try that megiuars paint cleaner its at walmart for about 8.00 d or a rubbing compand.

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    • #3
      Re: Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

      For those cracks in the paint, you may have to repaint it. However, you can do a test spot especially If it's not that visible, you can just conceal it or do a temporary fix maybe try using a ultimate compound then follow up with ultimate polish, or regularly applying a pure abrasive/cleaner free polish (M07 or Deep Crystal Polish come into mind) to even out the shade of the paint. You may be pleasantly surprised, especially if those issues aren't that deep.

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      • #4
        Re: Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

        I think you could certainly inprove, if not eliminate most of those.

        You would probably need a DA polisher though and (as stated) some UC followed by UP, followed by a wax such as Ultimate Wax.

        btw, don't forget to wash and clay first!
        Originally posted by Blueline
        I own a silver vehicle and a black vehicle owns me. The black one demands attention, washing, detailing, waxing and an occasional dinner out at a nice restaurant. The silver one demands nothing and it looks just fine. I think the black vehicle is taking advantage of me, and the silver car is more my style. We can go out for a drive without her makeup and she looks fine. If I want to take the black one out, it is three or four hours in the "bathroom" to get ready.

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        • #5
          Re: Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

          Yeah, I'm not sure any of those are really fixable, and probably dont want to work on those too hard either, and may the paint flake or anything. May just be improvable a bit.

          You might want to search for the 'clear coat fialure archive" for other pics.

          Can pick up some Ult. Compound and Ult. Polish, and work them overthe surface a bit with a smooth foam applicator.... see what improvement you get.
          2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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          • #6
            definitely bird bomb eching.
            Sand, buff, wax. I would use machine but you can do spot fixing by hand .

            3000 by hand.
            ultimate compound by hand to remove sanding marks.
            Ultimate polish to remove UC marks
            then a wax off your choice.
            it won't be perfect but at least it will be less noticeable in protected.

            DetailingByM.com

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            • #7
              Re: Sun damage? Any alternative to repainting?

              Thanks a lot for all of your input! I'll look into these methods and products and give it a go.

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