Fightintxag
New member
I splashed some mud on the hood, fender, and driver's door of my black '85 Chevy pickup when I was digging some post holes for a new fence. I wasn't too worried about it - it wasn't like it was bird crap. Well between the fence project and moving into a new house, it was good 6-8 weeks before I got around to washing the truck. When I did, there were VERY noticeable dull spots under each splatter of mud. I still don't understand how this happened.
At first I tried the Meguiar's consumer 3 step by hand. When that didn't phase the dull spots, I tried some Turtle Wax rubbing compound by hand. That resulted in horribly scratched areas that looked as bad as the dull spots.
So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap rotary and a bevy of Meguiar's products and bonnets from Pep Boys. Using the cheap Turtle Wax foam bonnets that they sell at Pep Boys, and with the rotary set at Min speed, I used Meguiar's #1 Med-Cut Cleaner. (I tried the fine-cut, but it didn't seem aggressive enough.) That seemed to take out all but the deepest of scratches left by the Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound. I stupidly used it on the whole truck. I started using the rotary with a microfiber bonnet to remove the residue, but I quickly realized this wasn't going to work anywhere except the flattest panels. So I removed it all by hand with microfiber towels.
Anyway, I could see I had caused significant swirling all over the truck. So I followed up with Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 with the rotary set at II. That didn't seem to do much of anything to the swirling.
By now it was getting late, and I was out of the Turtle Wax foam bonnets. So I sealed by hand using 3M Performance Finish. I guess I'm holding out hope that things will look better tomorrow without me holding a fluorescent light inches from the surface.
Assuming that it looks as bad (or worse) tomorrow in the sun, is there any advice that anyone would like to impart? I'll try to snap some pictures tomorrow. Like I said, it's a black '85 Chevy p/u. Previous owner claimed it had been repainted with a base/clear, but an uncle who used to paint cars thought it looked like a single-stage lacquer paint job.
At first I tried the Meguiar's consumer 3 step by hand. When that didn't phase the dull spots, I tried some Turtle Wax rubbing compound by hand. That resulted in horribly scratched areas that looked as bad as the dull spots.
So I went to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap rotary and a bevy of Meguiar's products and bonnets from Pep Boys. Using the cheap Turtle Wax foam bonnets that they sell at Pep Boys, and with the rotary set at Min speed, I used Meguiar's #1 Med-Cut Cleaner. (I tried the fine-cut, but it didn't seem aggressive enough.) That seemed to take out all but the deepest of scratches left by the Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound. I stupidly used it on the whole truck. I started using the rotary with a microfiber bonnet to remove the residue, but I quickly realized this wasn't going to work anywhere except the flattest panels. So I removed it all by hand with microfiber towels.
Anyway, I could see I had caused significant swirling all over the truck. So I followed up with Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover 2.0 with the rotary set at II. That didn't seem to do much of anything to the swirling.
By now it was getting late, and I was out of the Turtle Wax foam bonnets. So I sealed by hand using 3M Performance Finish. I guess I'm holding out hope that things will look better tomorrow without me holding a fluorescent light inches from the surface.
Assuming that it looks as bad (or worse) tomorrow in the sun, is there any advice that anyone would like to impart? I'll try to snap some pictures tomorrow. Like I said, it's a black '85 Chevy p/u. Previous owner claimed it had been repainted with a base/clear, but an uncle who used to paint cars thought it looked like a single-stage lacquer paint job.