Seeking advice on how to clean small front end chips of polish

mhackney

mhackney

New member
I posted my introduction post in the other forum with a description of my car, a 1983 Porsche 911 SC Cabriolet in Moss Green Metallic. Long story short, I`ve had the car for 8 years and other than washing I`ve not done anything to the paint (having too much fun driving). The car came with a repaint (clear coat) that was so-so but passable, especially for a frequent driver. It`s kept garaged and never driven on salty roads, although I`ve been known to drive top down on snow February days if the roads are clear.

So, after 8 years I finally decided to do some detailing to address some large paint chips on the front hood and door edges and a few other spots. I used the carefully prepare, touch an ever so small amount of paint into the chip - several coats - and then seal with many coats (8-12) of clear to bring the surface up slightly proud of the paint. I then used a Meguiar`s sanding block to knock them down and finally polish with my Porter Cable. The chips I repaired turned out quite well I think and certainly improved her appearance significantly. I finished all of this work and a final nose to butt (Porsche term) polish and now have a little problem. The front hood on these cars take a beating and mine certainly has its fair share of really small little chips - now each filled with a dab of white polish! I`ve tried to remove the polish but so far not had any success. I don`t want to apply sealant until I have these cleaned out. I`ve read a few posts here but they all seemed to focus on old wax and not fresh polish. Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated! I plan to seal with Meguiar`s Ultimate Liquid Wax.
 
Try cleaning with apc and a brush. then do not polish that area or wax it. Only seal it with something like blcakfire crystal seal or similar, or the same will keep happening.
 
As I mentioned in my intro post, I`m planning to use Maguiar`s Ultimate Liquid Wax. Can I use that instead of Backfire Crystal Seal? I`m not familiar with that product but I`ll google it. Thanks.
 
I`ll use this opportunity to support our host and take advantage of a 15% discount code they sent when I registered! I`ve not used app in the past but it looks like something I should! So no finishing tomorrow but I need a break to go fishing.
 
mhackney- I`d touchup those (hood) chips too after you go to the hassle of cleaning the polish residue out of them (for which I`d use a Paint-Prep Solvent, the same kind I`d use when prepping for any touchup).

OK, I understand if you`re not gonna fix those chips (at least not right now)...but I`d still consider using a solvent instead of an All Purpose Cleaner. And I too would be sure to use a Last Step Product ("LSP", i.e., wax/sealant/coating/etc.) that doesn`t leave a white residue behind when it dries. It`s *possible* to use LSPs that do (potentially) leave such residues without it happening, but it can be tricky and !YMMV! definitely applies. If you decide to try it, buff the product off *BEFORE* it flashes/dries and don`t use excess product (most people use *MANY* times too much LSP. and yes I mean literally "several hundred percent" of what`s needed).

Oh, and Welcome to Autopia! That`s a great color for your 911 and I`m glad you`ve been driving the wheels off it.
 
Thanks Accumulator. The thing with these little chips is that they are really small, about 1/64" or so, and there are a "few" of them. I estimate about 25 on the hood. I didn`t even know they were there until I polished and the residue highlighted them.

I spent some time with a very soft toothbrush and some simple green. The chips are smaller than the diameter of a bristle. I think this is going to be a pain!

I`ll take your advice on using the LSP sparingly.

Cheers,
Michael

Thanks, I really like the color too and it looks 10 times better now after polishing. A friend was over and he commented that he hadn`t noticed that the paint had a bit of blue tint to it, sort of like a deep spruce green. It does! I hadn`t noticed that before either.
 
Repair them with Dr. Colorchip. They have a road rash kit that works great on exactly what you are describing. Check out Autopias sister site for step by step application of the Dr. Colorchip kit. You can fill all of the chips in 30 minutes to an hour (after you remove the old polish).
 
Unfortunately, their Moss Green Metallic is very very far off. I`ve ordered/replaced it twice and it looks horrible. The Paint Scratch touchup I got is spot on and what I used. I`ve used DrCC on other cars with success.
 
mhachney- Be careful with that toothbrush, only the extra-soft, natural-bristle ones (which do soften up considerably if soaked in liquid) were soft enough to not mar autopaint; all the plastic-bristle ones caused marring.

Touching up all those *would* be a hassle....I might lean towards just having the panel repainted sometime.

I myself wouldn`t be using Simple Green, but that`s just me (not hating on it, just never use it around the vehicles as IMO there are better choices).
 
These are special toothbrushes with ultrasoft bristles. I don`t know that they ever made it to market. I have tested them by scrubbing as hard a s possible on an old panel and there were no ill effects.

In actuality, these are so small - much smaller that a fly spec - that most people wouldn`t notice them. I`m probably being too persnickety but after all the work I`ve already done I didn`t want to seal over them.

Simple Green is what I had available to try this weekend. I`m going to try to source some paint prep solvent today. Can small quantities (qt or so) be found at a FLAPS?
 
Here`s a quick question - when I`m working on these areas and I find areas that need more buffing or a chip or whatever I`d like to work on, it would be great to have a way to mark them in some way - like draw a circle around them. Is there anything that is recommended for paintwork? Obviously a permanent marker is no-go but what about one of the erasable whiteboard markers?
 
mhackney- This might not be a good idea for your situation (given all the chips), but I just use a dab of Polish, usually a Finishing Polish rather than something aggressive since it`s gonna dry on there (note that polishes and compounds are generally *NOT* allowed to dry completely but are rather buffed off while still a little wet).
 
JBM- Hey, that`s a great idea (assuming there aren`t too many chips and that it`s good "clean removal" tape). Better approach than tearing off irregular-shape bits as I`ve sometimes done.
 
I may have heard about that tip on Larry Kosillas video, not sure, but I didnt "create" it. Nonetheless, its a handy one!
 
Now that ive thought about it, I believe Larry was using the cut out to do the chip repair, not in reverse like i mentioned.
 
Both are good ideas. And gave me an idea for my situation. I have some 2" wide blue painters tape (the good stuff). I`ll cut a 2" long section and then fold over the long age about 1/4" and cut into 1/4" wide strips. Then I can use these like flags. The folded over end makes it easy to grip to remove. It`s working great.
 
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