I am going to try wet sanding this (PIC)

[96Lude]

Greetings,

I am going to attempt wet sanding the hood in order to remove these defects which appear to be clear coat failure:



To those of who that have wet sanded before, do you think that it can at least make it less visible, or is a repaint required?

Thanks for looking.

[sneek]

that doesn't really look like a clear coat failure, but if it is then your only choice is to repaint

[Mike Phillips]

Those defects appear to be cracks in your clear coat and the problem with trying to wet-sand them out is that they are not defects --> on<-- the paint, but instead they are defects --> in <-- the paint, or throughout the paint.

The point being is it's highly unlikely you can sand them out as the more you sand, the more of the crack you'll reveal.

Also, in a case like this you would never sand the hood down...

you would sand a small section of an effected area down and then buff it out to see if you could fix it. If you found you fix one small area then you could duplicate this success over the entire finish. If you found you could not fix the problem in one small are then you would be thankful you only worked in one small area.

Make sense?

[96Lude]

I am really hoping that it isn't clear coat failure, however I don't know how to tell the difference.

[jchetty]

i def agree with mike ....those marks that look like a tripod's base appear to be cracks in the clear coat, my guess is that its is highly visible on the hood, roof, and trunk and that the trunk has the worst..if it is you wouldnt be able to repair it, in that case work on minimizing the swirls and throw on some glaze and a wax to preserver the remaining clear coat

[96Lude]

Actually the hood is the worst. The roof also has some, however the trunk does not have any. I think I may try wet sanding one small area with some 3000 grit and then buff out the sanding marks. If this doesn't work then I will just hit it with some #83 which people love so hopefully I get some good results with it.

[OctaneGuy]

those are definitely cracks. I had a customer ask me if I could fix his dads van. Overall the paint was ok, except when I looked at the front end, and sure enough, it looked exactly like this. It was too far gone, and I told him very frankly, he needed a painter, not a detailer.

[Pete-FWA]

Originally posted by 96Lude
I am really hoping that it isn't clear coat failure, however I don't know how to tell the difference.

Experience

Being around a paint shop and/or polishing for a living makes this defect seem all too commonplace.

Yes, learning the hard way. As Mike suggested, sanding such marks will generally do little for the appearance, often worsening the cracks.

Another clue that it's the paint breaking down: you said the hood is the worst, with the roof having some problems as well. Hoods have the most heat damage since they get it from the sun shining down and the engine rising up.

[96Lude]

I guess sometimes the hardest part is facing reality. The car is actually my dad's car and he told me not to worry if those cracks don't come out. I will however get some #83 DACP and improve the finish as much as possible without wet sanding it.

Thanks for all your replies and helpful information.

[plainredtruck]

It looks like my father-in-law's Mercury Marquis - even close to his color (Ford Wedgewood Blue Metallic).

He just had the hood and valance on the driver's side painted due to a b-ball goal falling on it. Roof looks like that and so does the hood.

I told him he should've had the entire horizontal surface of the car repainted while he was at it.

I think you're on track to polish it the best you can.

prt

[TH0001]

I have them in my GMC Jimmy, it is clearcoat faluire... Sorry..