Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

[kator]

Hi

I have bought a 2003 Ford Falcon with something that looks like sun damage. I can’t justify a $2k-5k respray on a $2k vehicle, but since I really like the car I want to improve the paintwork a little bit if it is possible.


Also, I got some issues with cleaning it. I live in a hardwater+ iron and sandy area. Everything sticks to it. Pressure washer doesn’t really work just elbow grease. After reading through threads in other forums I bought a FinishKare 1000P Hi-Temp Sealant to help me with this issue. I can only hope that it won’t look ridiculous with the shiny thing on an old sun damaged car.

I am totally new in detailing. I also like experimenting, so this experience could be helpful later with another car.


I know that I will have to claybar the car before I apply the wax/ sealant. It is going to be a lengthly process so I was thinking that this would be a good opportunity to try a cut-polish compund or just a mild polish to try to improve the damaged paintwork.



Please check my picture. I don’t exactly know what is the issue with the paint. Disappears when wet. Only the top sections affected (bonnet, roof) no issue with the side panels so I assume it is sun damage/ clear coat failing?


However it is not peeling. Full of swirl marks, holograms like somebody tried to polish it out? It just strange that the polish marks are 1 metre long.



Can I improve this somehow??


Can I try Ultimate Compound or at least Scratch X 2.0 ?? Or something else?

I read that if it is clear coat failing It could look nice temporary but end up with a much worse scenario a year later.


I need to highlight that the car still looks good, so I really don’t want to accelerate the issue. I dont want to make it worse long term.
My question is would a mild polish ok to use?? I will try a test spot first but I have a feeling that I will be able to remove the majority of the faded swirl marked paint, but afraid that It will come back even worst next year.

Kate

Pictures:



http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2473/medium/bonnet3.jpg
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2473/medium/painfalcon.jpg
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2473/medium/20160516_121045.jpg

[Blueline]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

After you have clayed, try a test spot with Ultimate Compound, preferable by a DA machine (to save your elbow) UC is pretty mild. IF you do get a little hazing, then go over it with Ultimate Polish. As long as the clear coat is not blistering and peeling, you might have good results.

[kator]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Update:

I did a test spot on the roof two weeks ago to try Ultimate Compound. It worked great.






So last weekend I had 3 days to do all the sun damaged parts. (Note: According to a spray painter guy, it was just neglected paint).


I used UC on an orange foam pad. This was the first time I did this type of work so I did not have any machine to work with.


It took me 3 days 3x8 hours eventually. Two days of UC (1.5 bottle). On the third day I used Ultimate Polish on the whole car to remove the water spots and some UC residue before waxing. The polishing stage took half day for me.


The waxing was easy and applied 2 layers of 1000p Finish Kare on the car.




My experiences as a first time hobby detailer:

• UC is very effective, but bloody hard to remove. No it was not dry. I also tried different amounts on the pad.
• UP was also great. And it helped me to get rid of any residue from UC. I was so tired after hours of work by hand, I actually made 2-3 small holograms with UC. I had a hand grip so I think I pressed it too hard? But after I used the Polish I could not see any..
  

I needed 1.5 bottle of UC, 0.6 bottle of UP, 6 orange foam pads, and altogether 15 small microfiber cloths. (pads and clothes were washed each day).


Kate

[Selectchoice]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Nice results!

[The Guz]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Came out great. Impressive that it was all done by hand. If you ever get a machine you will appreciate how less labor intensive it is than doing it by hand.

UC should not have been that hard to remove. But it sounds like too much product was used. Next time clean your foam pad as you work to remove some of the excess product out. Good job on cycling the foam pads. Humidity could also cause it to dry quicker.

Nice job.

[kator]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

It think the issue was the UC build up on my pad and towel. I did a huge area in one day. I changed towels several times but was not enough.

This was my first and maybe my last work, so I did not want to spend on a machine. It was just an experiment / challenge for me.

[The Guz]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

This was my first and maybe my last work

Why? You got the hard part out of the way. The easy part is the maintenance part. Unless you are planning to let it get bad again.

[kator]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

I meant restoring a full car.

Even though I prefer to buy 8 -10 years old cars, I always choose nice looking ones. I am a female. This time I bought my friends` car with extras for a bargain. Could not resist. I knew the mechanical history of the car. Great.Now it looks nice as well.

[The Guz]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Got it. Well you got it looking great. Has your friend seen it? If your friend did see it what was their reaction?

[Blueline]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

NICE work. Car looks great and all by hand! Wow. Last time it did that much by hand, my arms were making circular motions in my sleep.

[Top Gear]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Awesome. Looks like one of those before/after commercials

BTW, when you get those patches of compound that won't wipe off, give your pad a spray of QD or QW or water, or even as is, and then a quick spin on the spot will usually loosen it so the area will wipe clean.

[BillE]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

is the understatement!

My body aches just thinking of doing all that my hand.

Great job!

Bill

[Nick Winn]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Wow!! Great Job! It never gets old seeing transformations like this.

In regards to Ultimate Compound being difficult to remove, we would also suggest in addition to amount of product being used, to remember to work in a small area at a time, typically a 1 or 2 square foot. Ultimate Compound will be most easily able to remove from the panel when it is a thin, sort of translucent film of residue. This occurs when the product is worked into the painted panel, it will start out as a thick white consistency, and after working in, breaks down to a light wet film. This is the point where a clean high quality microfiber towel is recommended to wipe off the remaining residue. If it is not breaking down to a thin film, we would suggest using less product. Hope this helps.

[kator]

Re: Sun damage?? Something else? How to improve the paint?

Thank you! Yeah as I mentioned, I got too much UC on my smallish towels (like hand wipes) so that was the main issue. They were not clean enough. I did not want to use 100 towels... I worked on small spots only, but doing the bonnet, roof, back, and some small sections on the sides means 200 small spots!

Now I will keep reading the forum for maintenance tips.