Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 07:06 pm, by: Daniel Riley
anish, honestly i would do it myself it may take an afternoon but the results will be worth it, save your money on a professional and purchase a good quality cut and polish (make sure its clear coat safe) followed by a good quality hard wax and spend an afternoon cleaning it yourself.
A trick i picked up from a show car bloke was to wash your car in johnson and johnson baby shampoo, because it is neutral PH, which does not remove all your polish and wax on your next wash, give it a good buff every now and then and it will look a million dollars, promise.
Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 07:23 pm, by: Jeff Harper
There is no such thing as a polish (cut) that is clear coat safe.
If it's polishing it's removing something, simple.
A professional such as myself uses a buffing machine, not because it's fast but because it applies heat. Without heat you will scratch not polish.
It sounds to me as if the paint is getting terminal, is it a bit whiteish in these dull areas? If so, your clear is gone and the paint is oxidizing.
All good car shampoos are excellent for cars. J&J is excellent for babies, not road going, normally dirty cars. It will not remove oxidants, pollutants and tar. And if you dont remove that and start polishing you will grind it all into your paint.
Manny and Neil saw me transform my '32, or at least start it.
Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 07:52 pm, by: Jason Parsloe
is there a way of just cutting back the clear coat whilst saving paintjob in order to rejuvenate with new clear coat only. I have a few acidic type spots on the bonnet which are deep white cracked type spots.., i think it's just the top coat clear affected. Also previous cut and polish looks a bit dodgy as looks more like a sand job than a heated buff style as you mention above Jeff.
Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 08:28 pm, by: Sam Schreck
Get some 'Auto Glym' super resin polish and 'Mothers FX Synwax'. Not cheap, but brilliant results. I've never heard of any clear coat you can apply yourself. I think auto painters have to do it. Could be wrong though.
Monday, August 08, 2005 - 08:52 pm, by: Anish Varsani
The dull areas don't look white. When looking straight at it from above, it looks nice ans shiny. When looking from an angle, it looks a bit dull and "powdery".
If I cut and polish then wax, will the wax seal the paint the same way as the clear coat?
Monday, August 08, 2005 - 09:10 pm, by: Sam Schreck
Will help for sure. I used 2 coats of polish then 2 coats of wax. Two full days of Mr Miaggi's "wax on, wax off." Did it over 2 weekends. Looked brand new. One day later, someone egged my driver side door so hard it cut through to white....my cars black.
Monday, August 08, 2005 - 09:16 pm, by: David Podnar
Anish, if the paint is milky when you look at it from any angle, it is the paint under the clear coat. If you take a close look at it you can kinda tell if it is under the clear coat! My soarer has a small hazey milky patch on the front wheel arch, i got it cut and polished and it is the same. It was under the clear. If you are going to give it a go yourself i suggest you try meguiars fine cut followed by there tech wax. I payed a profesional 120 bucks. A wax is just a hard glaze, it will protect the paint work for up to 3 months if it is constantly out in the weather. I hope that helped a bit!!
Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 05:14 pm, by: Jeff Wilkins
David, not entirely correct. Yes basecoat can and does go 'milky' and there aint nothing you can do to fix that apart from re-painting.
However clearcoat can also become a little milky. It can oxidise to a degree. Its certainly worth giving the area a LIGHT polish and checking the results.
Though if you dont know what your doing, cut n polish at your own risk!!!! There aint no going back once you've buffed through the clear.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 09:02 pm, by: Daniel Riley
Jeff, i was just wondering what car wash you would recommend, or are they (the better quality ones) all simular?
The reason i started to use johnson and johnson baby hair shampoo, was due to its netural PH balance, and its ability to remove dirt, but leave on the thin coat of wax/ polish. I was told that a normal car wash while removing oxidents, also stripped back the thin layer of wax, and polish.
This explanation made some sense to me, hence me following his advice. Saying this i am always open to suggestions etc.
There is an interesting article on the boostcrusing web site, posted by a professional detailer and includes his suggested products and techniques.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - 10:16 pm, by: Jeff Wilkins
Well what compounds to use is really personal opinion. There is no Hard Data that I have found pointing to any particular brand. Having said that I use Meguirs and/or 3M.
Wax is wonderful stuff, it makes paint look beautiful. We dont however want old wax on there forever. Resign yourself to waxing your car every 3 months. Shampoo while being very 'friendly' to paint it doesnt remove oxidants. Oxidant build up causes paint to lose its lustre. Then you have to attack it with a buff to regain that lost lustre THEN re-wax it. Use Meguirs High-Tech wash (or equivalent). Its gets the crap off that needs to be gone. It WONT remove all of your wax in one go. Takes many washes to do that. You can physically feel the difference between waxed paint and non.
Sunday, September 18, 2005 - 08:21 am, by: Shane McInnes(Soarin_tt)
My Soarer paint job is the worst ive ever seen...it has fine cracks through out the whole car, ive been told it could have been resprayed in japan sometime and they butchered the clear coat application.
what do you guys think that could cause fine cracks in the paint or clear coat?
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I've never heard of any clear coat you can apply yourself. I think auto painters have to do it. Could be wrong though.
