dull finish on clearcoat

[urg8rb8]

I am trying to figure out what I could do to remove the dull look on my clearcoat on a non-garaged, daily driver, '04 Yellow Corvette. I don't really have any paint scratches but it just seems like there are many different sized overlapping circles (that look stained) on the paint making the finish look dull. I really don't know how to explain it.

A couple of months ago I tried the Deep Crystal Paint Clay/Cleaner/Polisher/Wax. After I was done using the product I thought the problem was fixed because the dull look was no longer there. But as the wax wore off, it was evident that the problem was still there and the product only masked it.

Any ideas what else could I try? I am considering trying the Ultimate Compound.

[Murr1525]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

Any chance of pics?

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

Here are a couple of pics I took with the roof off and in indoors. The angle and intensity of the light has to be right to get the best view of the issue. This is the best I could do at the moment:

[Murr1525]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

[QUOTE=urg8rb8]For some reason the forum won't let me post a message with pics.

Here are two pictures that I just took. I took the roof off and brought it indoors to take these. Light intensity and angle has to be right to get a look at the problem outdoors.

[Murr1525]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

And they extend a lot further, not just where the light is hitting?

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

And they extend a lot further, not just where the light is hitting?

Yes. Pretty much uniformly distributed. There are sections on the hatch that seem a bit worse. I really hope the clearcoat isn't failing on me.

[Murr1525]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

I have never seen it before, but hopefully someone has.

It certainly doesnt look like any normal failing.

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

I have never seen it before, but hopefully someone has.

It certainly doesnt look like any normal failing.

Could normal failing be "hidden" with an application of wax?

[Murr1525]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

If it was very mild, maybe.

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

I just looked at it again in the sun and it looks like there are patches that look kinda whitish. Its very hard to get it to show up on a camera. Clearcoat messing up?

[Poki]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

I just dealt with the exact same looking cloudyness on the trunk and spoiler of my 02 dark red Saturn. Tried ScratchX, no help. Tried UC and yellow pad on G110, some improvement but not much. Lastly..used M105 with a maroon cutting pad and WOW! Finished to a diamond like gloss and all cloudyness was gone. I was afraid I was seeing the start of clearcoat failure but nope. That M105/cutting pad combo is magic.

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

I just dealt with the exact same looking cloudyness on the trunk and spoiler of my 02 dark red Saturn. Tried ScratchX, no help. Tried UC and yellow pad on G110, some improvement but not much. Lastly..used M105 with a maroon cutting pad and WOW! Finished to a diamond like gloss and all cloudyness was gone. I was afraid I was seeing the start of clearcoat failure but nope. That M105/cutting pad combo is magic.

Did the cloudiness have a faint, white looking haze to it?

[Poki]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

Did the cloudiness have a faint, white looking haze to it?

Yes, it looked exactly like your photos.

[Ravi_1992]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

My grandpas truck had this on one corner of its hood, it was a smaller spot than your but I got it out with UC. I did it by hand and elbow grease.

[urg8rb8]

Re: dull finish on clearcoat

OK, so I got some UC to initially try with to see if there is any improvement. I did this buy hand and worked on a small section on the hatch after I washed and clayed it. Below are two pictures I took at night using a flashlight. The first picture shows the reflection on a section that I didn't touch where the second picture is the section I worked on.

I used a cloth to apply and rub in circles. I used about a pea-sized amount of the UC and worked it in. It seems like the compound either got absorbed into the cloth or it dried up very quick. Either way, I used another towel and just whipped it off after rubbing in circles for a bit.