Fixing faded paint
09-20-2005, 05:27 PM
#1
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Fixing faded paint
I just picked up a little EF hatch to beat around town in and to eventually turn into a full on road racing car. The paint on the roof has this white faded oxidation type thing going on and its easy to see because the car is red. My friend was saying I should wax it but wouldn
09-20-2005, 05:30 PM
#2
pics??
are you sure its not paint damage?
clay might help, but probably also need a good polishing-
wax would be the last step after preping the paint with clay and polish.
(with pics we can give you an idea of which polishes to use)
are you sure its not paint damage?
clay might help, but probably also need a good polishing-
wax would be the last step after preping the paint with clay and polish.
(with pics we can give you an idea of which polishes to use)
09-20-2005, 06:15 PM
#3
What he said (wanabe) 
It could be oxidized paint (chalky-looking and lighter, but otherwise the same tone as the original color of the car), in which case your clay would be wasted in no time and a heavy polish is going to be best to remove the oxidized paint.
If it's NOT oxidized paint and looks more like the top layer of the paint is sort of flaking up, it may be clearcoat failure, in which case there's little you can do to fix the problem, though you may (MAY) be able to polish it up to at least look better. The only way to really fix it would be to have it sanded down and repainted.
Either way, if you intend to polish something like this out, if it's pretty bad, even a PC random orbital buffer may not cut it... you might actually have more luck by hand than by PC - at least for the first step of removing the oxidized paint or some layer of clear coat. It's really a job ideally suited for a rotary buffer and a nice wool cutting pad along with something heavy-duty like Meguiar's Diamond Cut or Menzerna PowerGloss.
If the problem's not THAT bad, a PC, orange or yellow cutting pad and something like PowerGloss may just handle it fine. If it IS oxidized paint, a wool pad or one of LC's Durastrand pads would be helpful, as they can pick up and hold a lot of polish and paint.
Some photos would be great in helping us to determine what the problem is.
It could be oxidized paint (chalky-looking and lighter, but otherwise the same tone as the original color of the car), in which case your clay would be wasted in no time and a heavy polish is going to be best to remove the oxidized paint.
If it's NOT oxidized paint and looks more like the top layer of the paint is sort of flaking up, it may be clearcoat failure, in which case there's little you can do to fix the problem, though you may (MAY) be able to polish it up to at least look better. The only way to really fix it would be to have it sanded down and repainted.
Either way, if you intend to polish something like this out, if it's pretty bad, even a PC random orbital buffer may not cut it... you might actually have more luck by hand than by PC - at least for the first step of removing the oxidized paint or some layer of clear coat. It's really a job ideally suited for a rotary buffer and a nice wool cutting pad along with something heavy-duty like Meguiar's Diamond Cut or Menzerna PowerGloss.
If the problem's not THAT bad, a PC, orange or yellow cutting pad and something like PowerGloss may just handle it fine. If it IS oxidized paint, a wool pad or one of LC's Durastrand pads would be helpful, as they can pick up and hold a lot of polish and paint.
Some photos would be great in helping us to determine what the problem is.
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