Clean, Clayed, used Optimum and....

[Howareb]

Hi all,

This is my first thread with Autogeek, but I have been detailing for about 3 years.

A customer of mine came to me with their 2001 Charcoal Blue Navigator and I noticed that the hood had medium/heavy oxidation. They told me to do the best I can with it when I pointed it out.

I hit the oxidized area with Optimum Compound and an LC Orange CCS, UDM running on 3. It removed some of the oxidation, moved to the LC Yellow ccs, UDM on 3. Removed about 60%, then moved to Optimum Hyper on LC Orange, UDM on 3, in which I got rid of about 80%. After I completed the last pass, I noticed that the shine was back but some of the oxidized areas were lighter in color than the color of the car. Needless to say the oxidation may have gotten too bad. But, I am posting here looking for a glimmer of hope. The customer will understand, but I want to try all avenues before I give up.


Should I continue working on this area or leave it be? Can the paint have been thined out so much that it is lighter in color (If so it does not make sense to me) or has the paint been damaged by the oxidation and the sun, upon which there is nothing that can be done. I have worked with lightly\medium oxidized cars before, but this one has me stumped.


I will post a pic tomorrow AM. Oh yes before I forget, the Optimum Polishes are some great products. Any advice would be appreciated.

[budman3]

It is always a good idea to use a paint cleaner on oxidation rather than a compund or swirl remover. The paint cleaner will actually remove the oxidation leaving you a clean surface to polish after. Right now you are using compunds with abrasives which'll cut through the oxidation but it won't clean it... so try using a paint cleaner, if you have it... like Klasse AIO, Pooroby's Pro Polish, Pinnacle Paint cleanser, etc.

[Howareb]

I did use Z-AIO, but it did not seem to do much. I will repeat the process tomorrow morning with a LC White polishing pad.

[Tragu]

You could also step up the UDM up to speed 5 or 6 I think that is what is recomended for polishing not 3 that is for applying wax and such. I think that a polish will clean up oxidation but not sure. I think it is the speed of your machine that is the biggest problem. good luck

[Howareb]

The pics are attached. This is after the work that was performed. I do not have any before pics, unfortunately.

Hood1 - Is showing the whole hood. The problem area is in the top right area.
Hood2 - Is a close-up showing the problem area.
Fender-Hood- Is a side view of the fender and hood.


Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think.

[Bert31]

Originally Posted by Tragu

You could also step up the UDM up to speed 5 or 6 I think that is what is recomended for polishing not 3 that is for applying wax and such. I think that a polish will clean up oxidation but not sure. I think it is the speed of your machine that is the biggest problem. good luck

I agree. For Optimum Compound or Hyper Compound to do their job, you need to set you UDM on 5 or 6. I use 6 because my Eclipse's white paint in rock hard.

[wytstang]

I don't think anything short of a repaint is going to help that. What sucks (and many don't know this) but paint actually has a 5 year warranty against defect (maybe even longer). SO if the customer is still with in the 5 years warranty (from date of purchase through dealership new) I'd tell them to go. If not the dealership may even offer to pay half or even 80% of the bill to make the customer happy.

[Anthony Orosco]

That's not oxidation as clears don't really oxidize like single stage paints. Claying does nothing against oxidation so that won't help either.....what you seem to have there is paint failure and not amount of product or buffing will fix it.

UV absorbers are added to paint as it's being applied to the vehicle at the factory. Those UV absorbers have a half life of 5 years. At 10 years about 25% of the absorbers are left which is why most paint is warrantied for only a few years.

No offense here but what should have been done is for you not to touch the car and have the customer take it to the dealer or the local rep for that car maker and have them look at it. What they may now say is...."Hey you had some guy go at it with a buffer and they ruined it now you want us to fix it?"


This is why it's important to look over the paint first and be able to spot these problem areas.

[Anthony Orosco]

Also, don't expect to see any paint transfer to your pads or towels. In a nutshell the clear has separated but it's still covering the pigmented paint. It's possible that this is a repainted piece but either way the clear has failed.

Anthony

[Howareb]

Thank you for your observation, and what you say makes perfect sense.

I did explain my stance with the customer beforehand,and he was OK with it. The car was not brought from the dealer new, plus the car is over 5 years old. In a nutshell he felt he had nothing to lose.

I respect this trade very much and I am aware of the hack practices that do go on. In light of that I do take my time to insepect each vehicle before I start, just for this reason (I wish I took some before pics to show how bad it was). I like to have return business and a happy customer in the end.

Your advice is some of the best that I have gotten thus far. Thank you for that. I now have a great answer for my customer thanks.