Clear Coat Failure?

[RedDaemon]

I posted this in the PC section and has not gotten a lot of attention. I probably should have posted here in the first place.

I ask all of you with experience to please look at these pictures and tell me if this IS really CC Failure or if its just a bunch of bird crap that can be taken out with relative ease

Rear Quarter-panel (What you see is underneath the CC, there is no texture to it if you pass your finger over it) I fear this is the worst part of the car:


Everything below is on the surface of the CC

Roof:


Another of the Roof (Diff place, notice weird indentations in surrounding CC [WTF?]):


Overall Shot of car, swirls present:


Overall Shot Zoomed in on Fender:


Hood Zoomed in (Multiple areas looking like this):


Overall Hood Swirls:


Thanks for any help/advice you can give


Obviously, the feedback I get will determine what kit I buy, if at all.

[Rsurfer]

It appears to be crows feet or cc failure.

[ss-truck]

Looks like clear coat failure to me . Is this factory paint or aftermarket ? For awhile Ford had a problem with CC failure and was paying for it to be corrected .

[RedDaemon]

Originally Posted by ss-truck

Looks like clear coat failure to me . Is this factory paint or aftermarket ? For awhile Ford had a problem with CC failure and was paying for it to be corrected .

its a 1999. To my knowledge its factory paint. I am not the original owner. I doubt they would repair it now if my car was ever covered, no?

[dannythekid]

Yea those cars (as with many Fords) are known to have that issue.

[RedDaemon]

can we agree that this is something that I cannot repair myself. or at least, not something that can be fixed with any detailing products?

[budman3]

All that can repair that is a repaint ...

[RedDaemon]

Originally Posted by budman3

All that can repair that is a repaint ...

this is the answer i was looking for. thank you i appreciate it.


since this is believed to be CC failure, if it possible to hide, diminish the looks of if through using detailing products? I was thinking of still going through with an order if i can make it look better, eventhough I realize nothing will stop it from getting worse/spreading

would using sealants slow it down at all? again im not looking for a cure, just something to slow it down (if possible)

[budman3]

I am not a paint expert but I would guess keeping the vehicle protected (wax or sealant) would reduce the spread of the failure. I have the same CC failure that is seen on your roof, on the hood of my Jeep and it looks like junk close up but the paint will still last if you don't want to repaint right away. The checking on your roof are actually cracks in clear coat, so nothing will be able to fill them in to make them look better.

However, all is not lost ... since the paint is due for a repaint at some point, you might as well shine it up until then, you've got nothing to loose. A medium polish, a D/A, and LC orange pad will remove the swirls and follow up with finer polishes and from 10 feet away you'll have a show car finish. Just be sure to keep it as protected as possible before the repaint to reduce the possible spreading of the CC failure.

However, now that I think about it, spreading may be inevitable ... traditional CC failure is due to UV rays from the paint being unprotected in the sun. From the looks of the pictures, this CC failure is due to a crappy prep job or painting process, probably from the factory. So it still may spread even when protected... but it definitely wouldn't hurt to use a wax or sealant (or both).

[titoconga]

Repaint