Bonnet paint problem

[Dooley]

i've had this car for a couple of months now, for the most part the paint is in good condition, except the bonnet.
the car has not been badly treated nor well looked after, just sort of average care.
the bonnet has a muted sort of shine, it's hard to see with the naked eye but the camera shows clearly what the problem is, looks like someone took a sheet glasspaper to it.
the clearcoat is non existent, at the moment i can't really afford to get the bonnet resprayed as i have to get new tyres.
i would however like to make it look a bit better than it does and protect it but i'm a bit nervous of using any compounds as the paint looks a bit thin.
the car is a bit grubby as this is the 1st day for a week that we've had no rain.
all suggestions and ideas welcome.

P.S. i'll be working by hand.

[irf@n]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

Are you sure that the clear coat has gone?

Maybe you follow the classic pathway first: Wash + clay + paint cleaner + wax...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

Besides washing and claying, the next thing to do once the surface is clean is to do a little test spot with either a paint cleaner, a cleaner/polish or even a cleaner/wax to see if you can clean the paint and restore some clarity to the clear coat.

If while your testing and you turn your applicator pad over and you see red paint coming off then the clear coat is gone.

What do you have product-wise to do some testing with? That is do you have any paint cleaners or compounds, etc.?

[Dooley]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

product wise i have :- scratchx, DC paint cleaner, DC polish, NXT tech wax 2.
the clear coat is definately gone, i tried scratchx on a small area last week.
i'll get some clay sometime this week, rest of the car could probably do with it anyway.

i suppose the cleaner i can get the bonnet, the better i can get it to look.
i don't expect to get the scratching out. i just enlarged that pic of the scratches and it looks like it was polished with a house brick.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

the clear coat is definitely gone, i tried scratchx on a small area last week.

Are you're sure it was clear coated to start with?

When a clear coat fails, it usually doesn't leave the car with a uniform appearance but something that looks like this,

The below is taken from here --> The Clearcoat Failure Photo Archive



And the only way to fix it is to repaint the car.


A single stage on the other hand will oxidize more or less evenly and can usually be fixed if it's not past the point of no return.

What kind of car are you working on?
What year was it built?

You're proof-positive it came with a factory applied clear coat finish?

[Dooley]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

i'm not sure about the clearcoat but if it did have one, it's been removed. doesn't look like any pics i've seen on here.
it's a 1999 Volvo S40.
i'll try another section of the bonnet, where the paint looks a bit healthier, in the morning as it's a bit dark now.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

Read through this and test in a few different areas, some lower side panels that have not been exposed to the sun would be good as well as roof, deck-lid and bonnet.

From the How To Articles forum

How To Test for a Clearcoat or Single Stage Paint Finish

[Dooley]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

i took a light out and tried each panel with scratchx, the only place i got paint on the pad was the bonnet.

it's under a yellow streetlight at the moment and you can see the bonnet is sort of misty. funny it shows like that under a yellow light.
it's just started raining again but i got a couple of pics without flash.

[Dooley]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

finally got in a few hours work on it in between the wind and rain.
best make the most of it as we're expecting snow in the next couple of days.

looks like i got some color and shine back at least.
i used unigrit 3,000 in a couple of spots then 3 passes with scratchx (with a fair bit of sweat), DC1 cleaner, DC1 polish and finally, a coat of NXT 2.0
i think i may need an electric polisher of some sort but that's a subject for another thread.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

Your bonnet does look better. From the pics under the streetlight it looks like at some point of time, The hood has been repainted. There should not be that much variation in the color.

[Dooley]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

you could be right, shame they didn't practice on another car 1st. you can't see that much difference in daylight.

if you look at the bottom of the pic in the 1st post you will see a load of scratches, the whole hood is covered in them, i was thinking maybe the misty look could be white residue of some sort that's dried in the scratches.

[shane1610]

Re: Bonnet paint problem

hi dooley the finish you have looks to me like the bonnet and wherever else the problem is has been painted in a solid colour (red). if the rest of the car produces no colour on the cloth then it will be clear over base (base coat with lacquer). if colour comes on the cloth when doing the car then that will be solid colour. manufacturers in the uk now use a solid colour basecoat that is lacquered that to will not produce colour on the cloth. solid colour is also still used when repainting.

so my friend the problem you have will be, the colour would have matched in the bodyshop and not under a certain light, also the advice you were given seems the right way to go and maybe even a machine polish.



hope that helped you