Took me a little longer to post this than I intended.
This Trailblazer was in a small garage fire. I'm not sure if the fire caused the paint to look this way, if it was pure neglect that caused it. I'm inclined to think it was mostly neglect. My father-in-law bough a year and half ago and it looked that way then, but he got a great buy on it.
How/what would you recommend tackling this with?
Obviously, a test spot with using the least aggressive product is the place to start. I'm inclined to think it will take something aggressive, but none-the-less we'll start with the least aggressive and a test spot.
I have some otc Meg's UC and UP (don't have anything stronger) I'm going to try with a few Meg's 6.5" foam pads and Dynabrade attachment on my rotory. I'm not at all afraid to do some of the work with the rotory itself.
At the time these pictures (by phone...sorry it's all I have) were taken, the SUV had been washed, clayed, and was not dirty again. I did manage to use a little Meguire's Cleaner Wax by hand on the top of the front fenders and the hood as you'll see in the 2nd photo.
Looks can be deceiving! Doesn't look to bad out of direct light. Look under the mirror. Meg's UP by hand and some brief elbow grease.
It's amazing what good direct sunlight can show you. That spot under the mirror sticks out like a sore thumb. You're looking at zero reflection. You can also tell (barely)that some cleaner wax has been used on the front fenders and hood.
At first I used the Meg's UP without a tape line. You can see evidence of this just under the left side of the mirror. Then, on under the right side I had gotten out some masking tape and used Meg's UC by hand...briefly working until it was almost dry.
Tape line is evident in the photo below...along with a sea of swirls and oxidation.
One thing I've learned from Mike Phillips is to use a tape line...and I need a good camera.
This was something we picked up on the road somewhere. It was stringy like bubble gum, but I'm not really sure what it was. I think there are some scratches there as well. Again, a freshly washed vehicle would show things better. I will be sure and have a new camera and thoroughly wash this thing before I start the correction process.
This picture could have had better light, but I think you get the point.
No squirrels in this photo, but there's definatley some swirls and RIDS. Again, just bit of bad lighting. I make no claim to being a photographer.
Look at this scratch.
Nice reflection huh? Notice the trees in the glass...and the swirls below.
Faded trim and belt buckle marks where someone stood up on the running boards to wash the top. Stupid huh?
Look at those belt buckle or pants button marks now. Yuck!
I wish this photo had the light coming from the correct angle because you would see an ocean of swirls and RIDS.
Notice that you can see the reflection of my hair in the glass, but not in the paint. This part of the SUV got the most heat from the fire evidently as you can see that caulking used to fasten a piece of trim. Yuck!
Rock chips in paint. I should have placed my finger on the hood to allow the phone camera to focus a little better.
A different view of underneath the mirror.
Swirls galore!!! See the tape line?
How about that reflection eh? What reflection!!! Just check out the oxidation on this puppy.
Last picture, and this one really shows how badly oxidized this SUV is. This will be changing soon.
Hope you enjoyed my pictures of this wacked out SUV. Looking forward to your thoughts and comments. (Didn't take time to edit so please excuse any errors in spellin' and gramer ha ha.)
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