Leaf impressions on black VW paint :(

[bshertzer]

for the next few weeks or so, i have possession of my brothers BMP R32. i need to get some work done to it for him, and also clean it if i have the chance. it's one of those colors, that if done right, the metallic absolutely POPS

one of the big things that i noticed, was from sitting outside before i got it, there were leaves and pine needles all over it, in all the nooks and crannies and all that good stuff. i havent had the chance to wash it yet - rain every day, and there are marks all over the horizontal surfaces, where the leaf impressions are.

there is some swirling in the paint as well as these marks. i dont want to attack it too hard and make matters worse.... black always freaks me out

any thoughts? if i get the chance, i'm most likely going to clay it first... then go from there. I have heard that it may be irreversable, and that only possibly wetsanding or worst case a respray will take care of it.

the car only has 36k on it, i dont know the history of it prior to him buying it in september and me picking it up last weekend. i do know that for most of the past 2 months it has sat outside, but that's about it.

currently in my aresnal:
cyclo with various cutting/polishing pads
megs 80 & 83
nxt wax
samples of einszett "extra paint cleaner" and "glanz wax"

here's a pic of it right after he bought it.... black on black with tinted windows




PICS IN QUESTION:
here is a closeup of one spot... you can see the mark around it all, it reminds me of an oilspot on blacktop... it has that shimmery / rainbow type look to it - not to mention the "fallout" that is on the paint... brown pimplly spots



overall shot of the hood



minor swirling (what i consider minor anyways)

[Coupe]

I wouldnt worry, you have all the products you need to fix all that. Dont forget claybar.

[BigJimZ28]

for me the leaf thing go away after a good wash
is this really a problem for some people?

[Coupe]

It is for me, i have 5 maples, 1 huge birch, 1 HUGE HUGE HUGE pine tree (not sure what kind) and 1 HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE oak. The leaves have never etched my paint, ussually washes right off.

[BigJimZ28]

Originally Posted by Coupe

It is for me, i have 5 maples, 1 huge birch, 1 HUGE HUGE HUGE pine tree (not sure what kind) and 1 HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE oak. The leaves have never etched my paint, ussually washes right off.

I don't think if it washes off it is a problem!
read his first post he's talking about wetsanding & or repaint... that the kind of problem I was talking about!

I don't see anything in those pictures that I could not remove with a pc

[violentveedub]

What's up man, It's LostSheepSquadron from VWvortex.

Guys I'm the one that suggested this might be a tough problem. I've personaly had leaves that sat wet on my paint and left an etch mark that was really hard to remove. In fact one of them on my previous car never did fully come out.

It could be as simple as washing it off though

:beer: here's to that...

[bshertzer]

thanks guys...

yea, in talking with some other locals, they thought the same as violentveedub (aka lostsheepsquadron) i'm actually going to work at it this weekend before my toys for tots drive on sunday... a buddy of mine is a detailer by profession (i'm one only by hobby) and have him give it a whirl.

i actually searched, and didnt see your other screenname over here

i will be sure to post up the results... and what we did to correct/attempt to correct this. when you get down and look real close (i cant get the pic to focus that low), it almost looks like the clear is messed up

we'll see what happens

[tguil]

I had the same problem on the hood of a black Ford Expedition. I thought that I had it all off using a PC and Meguiars DACP. It came back the next day. My insurance company told me to take it to my body shop. They wetsanded and buffed it. Thought it was OK. Came back the next day. Ended up stripping to bare metal -- new primer, basecoat and clear coat.

Tom

[Accumulator]

bshertzer- If I were doing that care I'd use the 1Z Extra Polish on a light cutting pad and follow up with the #80 on a green polishing pad. See how it looks after that, use the NXT as opposed to the (longer lasting but less forgiving of flaws) Glanz.

Some VWs have hard clear and the Extra has a fair bit of cut. You'll probably need that. I didn't recommend the #83 simply because I'm not a big fan of it, but the Extra will be more aggressive IMO.

[bshertzer]

well here's the verdict....

I went to wash the car today at the local diy bay.... bucket / meguiars gold class / and a scotchbrite pad



ok, maybe not the scotchbrite pad... but a lambswool mitt they definately did NOT wash off, if anything, now that the car was clean, they were more noticible. I took it over to a friends house (who details cars and himself owns a cleeeeean black mk4 getta) he looked it over... and brought out the rotary with some speedglaze. after a few passes, they were lightened up. after a few more passes they seem to have dissapeared.


i'm thinking i may have overracted slightly, but the pics didnt really do it justice. when you got right up close and looked at it, it literally looked like the clear was bubbling.


so thats the deal... problem resolved - now if it comes back again, then we'll see what happens. I was just too leary of my own skills to risk messing up my brothers car. but chances are, i would have been fine with it... oh well

[violentveedub]

Good to hear it came off.

I allways rush to get those leaves off ASAP.