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Well, I think the waterspotting on the Corvette is there for good.
I tried out a spot with a polishing pad and #83 on about 1500rpm. That didnt' do anything, so I kicked it up to #84 and about 1600 rpm. Still didn't remove them.
So I picked a new spot and made two passes with a cutting pad and #84 at 1600-1650rpm. The spots were still clearly there. In fact, if I run my finger over them, you can slightly feel the edges of the spots.
So that's about as aggressive as I think I want to get on 15 year old paint.
So I did the hood with a polishing pad and #84, followed by a polishing pad and #83 followed by #80 via Cyclo. The water spots are slightly harder to see, but at the right angle they are quite clear.
A few more things I learned, don't tape off emblems, tape around them a bit. I taped right at the edge, and now it's a little hazed around the hood emblem because it's too close to it to work, even by hand. It would have been better to tape off about 1/4" around the emblem.
And thankfully I taped off areas that seem pretty flush but really aren't, like the headlights. I suspect they would have gotten very hazed or damaged otherwise. Basically anywhere there are adjoining panels, I taped over with the 2" wide tape.
Lastly, wow does the Corvette retain heat. This time I definitely put heat in the paint, but never so much that it was uncomfortably hot to touch or rest my hand on. But what was interesting is how long it would stay hot. I could do an area, and evey a minute or more later it was still almost as hot as when I first felt it. Definitely something to be aware of for multiple passes.
I tried out a spot with a polishing pad and #83 on about 1500rpm. That didnt' do anything, so I kicked it up to #84 and about 1600 rpm. Still didn't remove them.
So I picked a new spot and made two passes with a cutting pad and #84 at 1600-1650rpm. The spots were still clearly there. In fact, if I run my finger over them, you can slightly feel the edges of the spots.
So that's about as aggressive as I think I want to get on 15 year old paint.
So I did the hood with a polishing pad and #84, followed by a polishing pad and #83 followed by #80 via Cyclo. The water spots are slightly harder to see, but at the right angle they are quite clear.
A few more things I learned, don't tape off emblems, tape around them a bit. I taped right at the edge, and now it's a little hazed around the hood emblem because it's too close to it to work, even by hand. It would have been better to tape off about 1/4" around the emblem.
And thankfully I taped off areas that seem pretty flush but really aren't, like the headlights. I suspect they would have gotten very hazed or damaged otherwise. Basically anywhere there are adjoining panels, I taped over with the 2" wide tape.
Lastly, wow does the Corvette retain heat. This time I definitely put heat in the paint, but never so much that it was uncomfortably hot to touch or rest my hand on. But what was interesting is how long it would stay hot. I could do an area, and evey a minute or more later it was still almost as hot as when I first felt it. Definitely something to be aware of for multiple passes.
Better imperfect original paint than a repaint.
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