Hello. Newb Here need your opinion

4

4ank

New member
Hi Everyone.



First off, this forum is great. Tons of helpful information. I am surprised I haven't found this sooner. It's funny, I've been driving for 10+ years now and only just realized I've doing more wrong than right.



So my story: My car recently hit 100k and since I plan on keeping it, I really wanted to take the time to make it look as good as possible. I browsed acurazine and found Todd C (Esoteric detailing) and PM'd him. He was super helpful and got me started. Shortly later, I had a small arsenal of materials and a PC 7424xp (courtesey of my gf).



I've been browsing this site and trying to experiment when I can. I am finding that I've been fairly brutal on my car. It's a 2003 and I've owned it since 2005 and 39k.



So thanks for having me and thanks in advance for putting up with my newb questions. On to the pics. Here is my trunk lid -- there looks to be clearcoat damage from either bird poo or other items. Thing is, they are all over.



My question for you guys (and ladies) is if it looks as though these are repairable with my tools. And what techniques are best. I've seen some videos of people removing bird poo, but want some thoughts before I do anything too abrasive.



Here is what I've tried so far:

Optimum Polish II w/ white pad

Optimum Polish II w/ orange pad

Optimum Compound II w/ orange pad



I've been spreading with the PC at speed 3 and then applying pressure at speed 6. I got most of the surface scratches out, but I'm not sure if I can get these out. Wanted to see what you thought.



Thanks!



This is the worst one, about the size of a dime:

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about the size of a pea:

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and an action shot:

picture.php
 
The picture of the bigger one looks like it may have started to put tiny cracks in your clear coat...I can't tell for sure because its just a picture but if that is the case there isn't that much you can do. If they aren't deep and the PC isn't cutting it you could try lightly wetsanding to see if you get any better results...My dads car has a few of those, some came out with wetsanding and some didn't
 
That first one looks like cracks in the clear coat to me as well. If you wet sand - keep it saturated with water the whole time, and be very aware of how much paint you are taking off. If left on too long, the bird poo might have etched too deep to get out without compromising the clear coat. As far as process is concerned - make sure you work with each compound and polish for long enough to break it down. You will get better results that way.
 
Not sure I'm ready for wetsanding, but based on your feedback, it doesn't look that good for me. I guess I will just work with what I have.



Open to other comments. Thanks.
 
4ank- Welcome to Autopia!



I've dealt with clearcoat failure on a number of my beater cars, some less serious than yours, some a lot worse, and based on what's worked for me, I would *NOT* wetsand the spots you're dealing with (yeah, I do it on some such problems, but only for very specific reasons that don't appear to apply here). IMO heavy abrasion like that would make your issues worse instead of better.



Don't try to make them better; IMO you've already done all that's appropriate. Concentrate on keeping them from getting worse by protecting the paint with a good wax/sealant. Keep an eye on them and see how long you can go before you finally have to (or merely decide to) have the panels in question repainted.



FWIW, I've lived with such problems for many years without them ever getting all that much worse. Just gotta pamper them, and that does *not* include aggressive measures.
 
Accumulator said:
4ank- Welcome to Autopia!



I've dealt with clearcoat failure on a number of my beater cars, some less serious than yours, some a lot worse, and based on what's worked for me, I would *NOT* wetsand the spots you're dealing with (yeah, I do it on some such problems, but only for very specific reasons that don't appear to apply here). IMO heavy abrasion like that would make your issues worse instead of better.



Don't try to make them better; IMO you've already done all that's appropriate. Concentrate on keeping them from getting worse by protecting the paint with a good wax/sealant. Keep an eye on them and see how long you can go before you finally have to (or merely decide to) have the panels in question repainted.



FWIW, I've lived with such problems for many years without them ever getting all that much worse. Just gotta pamper them, and that does *not* include aggressive measures.
Click to expand...



Yeah -- I think that is good advice. I'm a little disappointed in myself since I always considered myself to take good 'care' of my car...apparently not. Like you said, I will eventually need to repaint a few of the panels. In addition to the trunk lid, the front bumper needs to be repaired/replaced because of a crack and the hood has a ton of rock chips. I guess the good thing is this is a good practice car to prep me for my next/newer one.



I'm sure I will be posting progress soon. Thanks.
 
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