Cloudy paint - won`t go away

[imported_jaobrien6]

Last weekend I ran into a problem on a friend`s car. It has some of the worst swirls I`ve ever seen, and I finally got a chance to see what I could do with just a PC on really horrible swirls (I just do my own cars, and had never worked on a car this bad before).



I started working on the hood and was able to restore some of the gloss and remove some of the swirls. However, there`s a cloudiness in parts of the hood that I don`t know what to do with. When I polish it, most of the cloudiness goes away (not completely), but then returns after about 15 minutes or so. It`s definitely not oxidation, because it doesn`t feel or look like it`s on the surface... it actually looks like it`s in the color layer (this has a clear coat, it`s a `94 Infiniti G20, dark green), but if that was true, why would polishing have any effect on it at all? Thoughts?



BTW, I tried a variety of polish and pad combinations, just to see if anything worked differently... 1Z UP, SFX1, DACP, PI-III MG, AIO, and others... The more aggressive polishes obviously did more for the swirls, but nothing seemed to affect the cloudiness any differently.



Also, I won`t be able to try again until next time I see the vehicle (he lives out of town), so I won`t be able to test out any theories right away. I was more interested in just hearing if anyone`s run into a situation like this, or what people think it might be. Thoughts as to what I could try next time I see the car.



Thanks!

[Mad iX]

What kind of car and color was it?

Maybe try some VM and leave that on for a few hours.

[imported_CkretAjint]

Are you sure it isn`t the begining of clearcoat failure??

[Guy]

Maybe a paint cleaner?

[imported_Dave KG]

Are you sure it isn`t the begining of clearcoat failure??



This may well be the cause... Are you pulling pigment?? That is, is your pad going the green colour of the colour coat. Clearcoat failure will lead to a cloudiness in the paint that wont go away.. Have a look at the Strike Through Demonsration: Here (http://www.autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77526) : This shows what happens when the clearcoat has been breached (either previously, or by recent polishing).

[imported_jaobrien6]

Maybe a paint cleaner?



I tried AIO as a first step, in case it was oxidation, no effect on it at all.

[imported_jaobrien6]

This may well be the cause... Are you pulling pigment?? That is, is your pad going the green colour of the colour coat. Clearcoat failure will lead to a cloudiness in the paint that wont go away.. Have a look at the Strike Through Demonsration: Here (http://www.autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77526) : This shows what happens when the clearcoat has been breached (either previously, or by recent polishing).





I`ve never seen the beginnings of clear coat failure, only what it looks like when it starts to get bad, so this could very well be the problem. I wasn`t getting any pigment, though, so there is definitely still some clear there.



I took a look at yoru Strike Through thread (GREAT post by the way, that`s very informative), and what you showed looked a little similar, but the cloudiness in the car I was working on was much more pronounced, yet I wasn`t getting any pigment on the pad.



This could be clear-coat that`s failing, but hasn`t failed yet and I didn`t strike through it, maybe.

[Big Kahuna]

jaobrien6, i had a very similar problem. I used my PC with SSR2.5 & SSR1 to remove the cloudiness and it returned after 4 days. Later, a pro detailer said there was almost no clear and he would not try to correct the defects, only cover it up. Returned in 2 days.



It was a friends car, so she decided to repaint the hood based on the pro`s recommendation. I told her to give me one more chance. Another friend took his rotory with PO106FF. We used a QD with some alcohol to remove any oils/fillers to verify that the problem was removed and not covered up. It appeared to have been removed. Finished up with PO85RD and the finish could not look any better. The cloudiness did not return.



I`m a noob still learning and I don`t know if we have the same issue. Good luck.

[imported_jaobrien6]

Thanks for the info, I wish I had gotten some pics of it to see if it looks like the same situation.



It`s nice that you got a chance to try to correct it knowing that she was going to repaint if it didn`t go well. I`m not in that situation, so I`m hesitant to polish too much in case the clear is about to go. Too bad I don`t have a paint thickness meter, or access to one.