Help with Water Etching?

M

markp95

New member
Hi All,

First time poster and detailer! Great Forum. Now to the problem. I believe I have water etching all over my car, 05 Acura RL Black. I attached a picture from this morning. The surface is smooth, but it looks very bad up close. I purchased the stuff below and need some help in what I should do.



ZFXâ„¢ Flash Cure Accelerator Additive

Z-2 PROâ„¢ Show Car Polish for Clear Coated Car Finishes

Z-5 PROâ„¢ Show Car Polish for Swirl Marks and Fine Scratches

Z-6â„¢ Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray

Z-7â„¢ Show Car Wash

Z-18â„¢ ClayBar



Porter Cable 7424

2 Low Profile 5.5 Inch Orange Pads

2 Low Profile 5.5 Inch White Pads

1 DA 5 inch Backing Plate



My plan is to wash with Dawn and use the clay bar to see if it removes the etching. I don't want to do any waxing until I remove the etching. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

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Andrew,

Thanks. That is what I'm not sure about. I spent a few days reading the Forum and I'm not sure what I should do first. I bought the Z-5 PRO for Swirl Marks and Fine Scratches and the clay. Just not sure what to start with?

The Z-5 PRO isn't abrasive enough?
 
phamkl,

You are right! Dang. I goofed and got it confused with their Fusion product. I wanted to work it today and tomorrow. I guess I will try and find something local. Not easy to do in Louisiana!
 
VaSuperShine,

Car is 2 years old. I bought it down south and moved to upstate NY. I moved away a year later, but I think the salt and weather had already done the damage. The entire car looks like that photo. I tried really hard to keep it clean and protected, but not much luck!
 
youll definitely need some hardcore abrasives and good pads... my suggestion is if you are looking localy try finding some 3m fine cut or turtlewax rubbing compound.... thats all i could ever find locally and it worked ok
 
Yeah you need some sort of polish/compound. I've had decent results with optimum hyper compound and polish. you might want to get something strong like HTEC, hi temp extreme cut leveler. you use that with the PC and polish the pain till the water marks are gone. Zaino doesnt really remove or fix anything on the paint, it just makes it look shiny and protects it after you have already fixed it.
 
wannafbody,

Thats what I am worried about. I am definately a newb, but I don't have much choice. I want to fix the finish, but there aren't any professionals near where I live so I figure I am going to have to do it myself with some help from you guys.



That last comment by JBM about the optimum having bonding issues is exactly what I need. Thanks JBM.



Should I buy the Zaino Z-PC Fusion? Optimum? Or something else? I think I need to try something that is less abrasive and put lots of time into it. I am worried about getting something too harsh and over my head.....
 
wannafbody said:
for deep etching you'll probably need HTEC and a wool pad with a rotary. Definitly not for a newb.
Click to expand...



Agree ... that is gonna probably take a wool pad and rotary ... and even then some of the deeper stuff might be better left. Hard to tell from a photo, I could be way off.
 
mark theres no way to really tell how deep that is till someone experienced get's into it. there are cases where you will not be able to safely remove 100% of it but definitely don't buy tw rubbing compound. just the other day i had little success removing years of etching with a very abbrasive leveler @2200 rpm's even wetsanding didn't remove them. just use what you feel comfortable with or hire a pro in your area, im sure there are a few on here that could help.
 
VaSuperShine,

Good point. I need to manage my expectations. I think I'll buy an abrasive polish and see how things turn out.

As always thanks for the advice.

I bought the following:



Optimum Polish OPT-400

Menzerna Intensive Polish MEN-PO91EQ



Anyone have any tips about using either?
 
Wannafbody - boy were you right needing a rotary and heavy duty stuff.



I got the polishes in Thursday and started work. First I used the Optimim Polish with Blue pad - then Green pad -then White and then finally Orange. Very little progress. Changed speeds on the PC up and down. No luck, so I moved to the Menzerna Intensive polish. I started the same pad/speed series again. I am finally having a little success with the Orange pad, but it really takes time and repeated polishing. I'm not trying to remove all the etching any more :(



I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
 
Are you really putting a lot of pressure on the machine at speed 6? You really have to press on it and work it looong and slow, like a loong slow pass then back overlapping 50% then back, over and over again, especially with optimum products. They take a long time to break down and dry out a bit. Keep trying, you should be able to get them out. You definatly want to use an orange pad at hte very least. With my BMW, a yellow pad+ OHC doesnt really even cut that deep. I've tried a foamed wool pad and that does a little better, but I am not scared at all with cutting into the clear too much.



Just get a little braver and tune your technique.



Though, if everything on the paint is gone, no swirls scratches nothing, perfect, except fot the water etchings, then you might be right...
 
that etching looks beyond newbie and PC capabilities. Do the best that you can and accept the improvement, or get it professionally detailed.
 
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