Common "cloudiness" problem with silver metallic clearcoat paint?

[mooch91]

All,

I've been detailing for years and have noticed a phenomenon on some clear-coated paints, silver metallic in particular, that I've never understood. Maybe someone can help me identify the cause. I've never been too concerned about what I've seen because I never observed it on one of my cars, but I recently picked up a used vehicle that has it.

On the driver's rear quarter panel of this car, I notice a "cloudiness" in the paint, almost like a little off-color haze under the clear-coat. The top coat feels perfectly smooth. I know that this side of the car had undergone some repair, to have the door repainted, and probably included blending in to the fenders and quarter panel. I can only catch the cloudiness in just the right light, so it's barely noticeable. It's probably not even noticeable enough to capture in a picture.

Again, not the first time I've seen it. Most often with lighter metallic colors. It doesn't look like a color mis-match or thin paint at all, it looks more like some sort of light reflection effect trapped under the clear.

Anyone else observe the same and have an idea of its cause? Only thing I could find in doing a search was potentially some sort of improper prep (sanding?) that got cleared in; being a metallic silver where the direction of the flake is important, it became much more noticeable.

Not expecting to correct it, especially if it's been cleared in, just hoping to understand.

Todd

[CieraSL]

Re: Common "cloudiness" problem with silver metallic clearcoat paint?

Have you noticed it on any particular makes or models? The reason I ask is because the hood on my parents' silver 2000 Honda Accord DX has that same cloudy look to it. Again, you can't really tell unless you're in the right light, and you probably wouldn't notice it unless you knew it was there. But I'm curious as well to know where it comes from.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Common "cloudiness" problem with silver metallic clearcoat paint?

Silver paint can be very difficult to match because of the metallic particles and the lightness of the background color. The metallic particles are pretty close in color to the paint color itself, and if a repaint isn't laid down in a fashion very similar to the original paint, visual differences can occur due to the different orientation of the metallic particles. This orientation variance can cause an overall apparent color shift. But even with a factory paint job, if the coverage isn't completely uniform you can sometimes notice a slight blotchiness (if that's even a word) in some areas. For as effective as silver is at hiding swirls and other light defects, it's not a very forgiving color when it comes to laying it down in the first place.

[chris328]

Re: Common "cloudiness" problem with silver metallic clearcoat paint?

I have this on my car and it seems to have developed since when I first got it (July 08) and through the winter, claying didn't do much, next I'll try the paint cleaner and polish on a small portion, maybe the back bumper, and see how it goes I guess. My car also has really bad orangepeel but apparently that can't be corrected without wet sanding, it was like that from the factory :/

[silvertiger]

Re: Common "cloudiness" problem with silver metallic clearcoat paint?

I just noticed this hazing on my front bumper. My car is 14 months old, silver metallic, Kia Optima SX 2011. There are two horizontal diffuse areas on both sides of my front bumper, well below the midline of the car, in the same region on both sides. The car has not been repainted to my knowledge (I owned it since new), so it must be something that happened at the factory during the painting process. They look lighter, are diffuse, visible in sunlight (but not so much under overcast skies). It is almost like somebody touched the car with sunscreed on their hands. The car has been garaged, rarely sits outside. I did not splash anything on the paint, and I keep the car clean.

I took it to two bodyshops, one of the the local Kia dealer's shop. Both shops think that it is something under the clear coat, not in it. One said that it looks like the bumper was clear coated in a humid environment and that clouded the clear coat. The other shop was a collision repair shop associated with a Nissan dealer. That shop said that they see this issue on new Altimas that were painted in a humid environment. He suggested to heat the area with a hair dryer (this supposedly solved the issue with the affected Altimas). I tried that on three occasions, but again did not result in any change.
I have also tried rubbing the spots with Turtle Wax rubbing compound, but with no apparent result.

What would you suggest to try to fix this (well, other than repainting)? I saw a post that recommended to use Meguiar's Deep Crystal paint cleaner, followed by waxing. i somehow don't think that it will do anything, if the rubbing compound did not help... Admittedly, I did not rub for a long time, because there is an edge involved in those spots and I did not want to rub through the clear.

i have also posted this on the optimaforums. Here is the URL if you want to check out the pictures taken of the left side of the bumper :http://www.optimaforums.com/forum/5-...my-bumper.html

Thank you in advance for any advice you may provide.