17 year update....

[wannafbody]

Some may remember and some may not care but I used to post here frequently, back in the days when a single swirl was cause to bust out the Porter Cable and polishing compound. I quit when I discovered that I could see that the clearcoat was being polished smooth in places. About 10 years ago, I tried to remove some scratches on my hood by wetsanding with 2500 sandpaper and compounding. I was careful not to be too aggressive. A bit later I added a hood strip kit which was on the car for approximately a year. After removal I noticed something odd. The paint under the stripes was a little darker. I knew the paint was fading slightly. Now, some 10 years later, on a portion where the stripe wasn`t, I have some severe fading occurring and some clearcoat failure. Sure the car is 17 years old and these cars tend to have paint issues as they age but MY WARNING is that wetsanding factory clear is like playing a long term game of Russian Roulette. It isn`t worth the risk.

[Accumulator]

wannafbody- I`ll repeat what I just posted on another thread: Great to see you posting here!

Yeah, I too am now all about preservation...still pretty nutty about the marring, but all-in-all I prioritize not having to have more paintwork done. It`s so easy to correct (and thus THIN) paint these days...anybody can do it what with all the great products on the market, but then they have to live with the consequences. Eh, I figure that most people don`t keep their vehicles long enough for it to be an issue...but you and I are in a different boat.

[ca.detailchick]

Yep I am very careful about preserving my paint also because I want to keep my van for many many years ahead. Esp since i just paid it off . We are in the minority here

[Dan]

Hey wannafbody, welcome back! I think that your point can even be extended beyond wet sanding to aggressive polishing. Perfect paint is great for show cars. But there are too many people pushing perfection on daily drivers. Fine if you understand what you are doing to your paint, but the reality is you only have so many times you can polish out a car before you start seeing clearcoat failure. And paint keeps getting thinner and thinner. I`m continually amused by people buying special lights so they can see swirls. And then products that fill are completely shunned.

I won`t even start on some of the cars I`ve seen that have paint polished to perfection, but the rest of the car looks like crap. Dirty wheel wells, trashed trim, greasy windows, etc.

[jatleson]

I started to notice some thin spots on my daily, so no more polishing (unless I get the front end resprayed). For the few customer cars I do, a light polish and top with wax sealant makes a world of difference, combined with clean and coated tires/wheels and a perfect interior.

[Accumulator]

... I`m continually amused by people buying special lights so they can see swirls..

Well, I won`t knock good lighting...Flaws that are easily seen under normal conditions simply don`t happen to my vehicles very often. I hardly ever need to do correction, but when I do, being able to see exactly what I`m working with helps me do the job not only better, but with less *unnecessary* clearcoat removal. And light (?micro?)marring, which 1) doesn`t require much removal to correct, and 2) is about all I ever do, is tough for me to see unless the conditions are just right.

And then products that fill are completely shunned.

Yeah, what`s up with THAT?!? Seems that somebody oughta be able to come up with something that does decent filling while providing the other attributes we all appreciate in an AIO or LSP.

I just don`t want fillers in my Correction Liquids because they make it hard to gauge my progress (or lack of same). But once I`ve done/skipped the correction, well....?!?What`s Wrong With Fillers?!?

I won`t even start on some of the cars I`ve seen that have paint polished to perfection, but the rest of the car looks like crap. Dirty wheel wells, trashed trim, greasy windows, etc.

Heh heh, yeah...just get *me* going on that one Noting that I hardly *ever* see anything remotely marring-free (not even cars that oughta be at least close, like...concours winners)...I`m basically considered a weirdo among my IRL Car-Pals because I care about such areas as wells/undercarriage/etc. Of course those are the same people who have vehicles rust out and who have to be told when something`s obviously wrong by a mechanic who *does* pay attention to such areas.