White compound residue in finish cracks, black paint

6

60cyclehum

New member
Been buffing/polishing with the PC, and my car has got quite a few finish cracks here and there. Too many to avoid buffing over them, as the paint has never been buffed and really needs it. However, the compound is collecting in the cracks, making them stand out very bad- looks even worse as the rest of the BLACK paint is starting to look great. I'm planning on topping the buff job with AIO, and Klasse SG. Anybody know how to cover this stuff up or remove it? Just tried a cotton swab with alcohol over one- did nothing. Tried to see if hand rubbing AIO would do it- nope. Is there a very dark polishing compound that would be OK to use before Klasse? Can I put something over the Klasse eventually to cover them?

This sucks!
 
I don't really know what a finish crack is.





I don't know if this is the proper way, but i would just pressure wash it. That how i get wax residue out around emblems and what not.
 
Finish cracks are also called checking and crazing. It happens when paint is put on too thick, or the paint dries out and shrinks too much causing a crack. Lacquer paint does this, and for some reason all of my British cars I've had, also have :-( That's what I'm working on now. Most of the time they are very small/thin width cracks, as if you had put a cut in the paint with a razor blade. They usually are deep, however, and cannot be buffed out. I'm going to have to wash it anyway before I put on the SG, and it's pretty cold here (KY), so I'd planned on pressure washing it, hope it comes out.
 
Sorry, what's a "TFR"? Not down with all the abbreviations yet.



Jim- yes, it is "clearcoat failure", however my checking is not like the photo with the tiny cracks all over. My car has more single long cracks, from 1" -3", just here and there. Lots of my paint is fine, so I'm cleaning up the rest of it, and smoothing out the checked areas. Luckily, the hood, roof and boot lid, have almost no cracks in them.The checking will continue, but I'm trying to keep it as slow as possible, not really ready to drop $3500 on new paint. This happens with lots of Jags, and if you keep an eye on it,and keep your paint protected, you can keep it from spreading very quickly.

The buffing is really going well, but I've got to get this residue out of the cracks. I got it in there, so it's gotta come out also. I'm going to try pressure washing, if that doesn't work maybe some dark scratch wax over the Klasse SG will work?
 
Have you ever actually broken a piece of plastic?



The 'sides' of the crack will be quite rough, unlike the smooth surface.



That's what you have here.



There are occasions where we have been able to polish the edges of the CC/Scratch enough to eliminate the 'whiteness', but , the lack of paint still exists...



Good Luck!



Jim
 
Turned out KILLER! Pressure washing got most of it out, the rest is so little, it's really not noticable, unless you're three feet away shining a halogen light on there! To others- if you have some finish cracks , checking or "clearcoat failure"- DON'T be afraid of cleaning it up- HEAVILY cracked- is one thing, but my car had plenty, and it was a car with finish cracks and sh*tty swirled, pitted, dust/grit under the clear, dull paint- now it still has finish cracks- but much less noticable, and VERY shiny and smooth- 1000% better! Plus- what have you got to lose? You'll get experience, and results. Yes, it will probably continue to crack- but it will be slower and will look it's best while doing it. Spent 30 hrs and $200 including PC buffer- not bad considering $3000+ for a quality paint job.



My car did not have much "orange peel"- some, certainly- but after a little wet sanding (not all the car, just the hood, boot lid and roof)- it looks like all the old killer (original factory finishes-probably many have never seen them-in the old days, "orange peel" wasn't allowed from the better car factories) 60's and earlier finishes- FLAT LIKE GLASS.I'm sure you can still get a new car somewhere with correct DEAD FLAT paint, but I sure don't see them very often. Car factories have gotten too lazy.....IMO



BTW- the Klasse SG looks GREAT on a black car- applying and removal was a breeze-used a damp MF towel, a nickel sized drop per panel, buffed (wiped easily is more like it) off in an hour and a half (MUCH thanks to all for the EXCELLENT info on this searchable forum! I applied what seemed to be too little, but it apparently, was perfect). The Klasse AIO was much more difficult than the SG, and it wasn't bad at all.
 
After the compound has dried just brush it off, if you use a soft bristle paint style brush and do it gentley you'll be good as new.
 
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