Advise on serious water spot damage

[chevy nick]

I have a '99 Corvette in black that I have owned about 2.5 years. I live in El Paso, TX where the water has serious mineral content, it's very hot, and very sunny. Before I knew what I was doing, some water spots found their way onto my paint job. I am in the military, and had to leave my car for a year. I got back 2 months ago, and I am trying to make these 'perm-water spots' (they've been on the car atleast 18 months) go away. I bought this kit: Wolfgang Porter Cable 7424 Swirl-Free Kit (http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-porter-cable-swirl-remover.html) and used it as instructed in the video. It did not get "deep" enough to take out the water spots. I want to go up another notch or two to get rid of these spots, I was thinking about this kit:XMT Intermediate swirl remover kit (http://www.autogeek.net/pixmtinswrek.html)

Here are my questions: Should I try a medium cutting pad instead of a light cutting pad? Is there a kind of soap I should use to take off the existing paint sealant to make things easier to correct the paint? What do you recommend? I appreciate everyone's advise, I am knew to this, but I can read and follow instructions.

Thank you

[Smokin]

DANASE WATER SPOT REMOVER stuff works awesome.

[Pyrocite]

I would try more-cut pad, but maybe you can also find someone near you( and AG member :D ) that details cars. Nothing like a pro showing you some tricks. Although seeing a pro in action wont make you a pro it will show you the proper way of working on your car.

Just my $.02 :)

[Jimmie]

:welcome: chevy nick. There are polishes developed for the exceedingly hard clear coats like your Vette. Menzerna SIP & 106FF consistently show good results on here. Those would be my recommendation to solve your water spots and future swirls. Menzerna polishes work well with lighter cut pads so that's where I would start and move stonger if necessary.

[TLMitchell]

I have a '99 Corvette in black that I have owned about 2.5 years. I live in El Paso, TX where the water has serious mineral content, it's very hot, and very sunny. Before I knew what I was doing, some water spots found their way onto my paint job. I am in the military, and had to leave my car for a year. I got back 2 months ago, and I am trying to make these 'perm-water spots' (they've been on the car atleast 18 months) go away. I bought this kit: Wolfgang Porter Cable 7424 Swirl-Free Kit (http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-porter-cable-swirl-remover.html) and used it as instructed in the video. It did not get "deep" enough to take out the water spots. I want to go up another notch or two to get rid of these spots, I was thinking about this kit:XMT Intermediate swirl remover kit (http://www.autogeek.net/pixmtinswrek.html)

Here are my questions: Should I try a medium cutting pad instead of a light cutting pad? Is there a kind of soap I should use to take off the existing paint sealant to make things easier to correct the paint? What do you recommend? I appreciate everyone's advise, I am knew to this, but I can read and follow instructions.

Thank you

Greetin's Nick,

I had some nasty water spots on a friend's black Hyundai. Dunno if the clear is anywhere near as hard as on a Corvette but I had a tough time getting rid of 'em. First tried diluted vinegar, alcohol and chemical waterspot removers... didn't put a dent in 'em. Tried Megs #83, Menz 106FF and other polishes with a PC and went up in pad aggressiveness to LC yellow. They started to fade a bit but not satisfactorily. I ended up getting rid of 'em using a 4" PFW pad and Menz Power Gloss and multiple passes followed by a lighter pad/polish combo to restore gloss. The PG wasn't especially user-friendly IMO creating a lot of dusting.

After dealing with waterspots on other vehicles I've concluded a PC isn't especially effective at removing etched spotting. I've since used PFW and a Flex with Megs 105 followed by M205... better, but still multiple passes and a lot of work. It can be done but in my experience you're going to need something stouter than a "swirl remover" and a meduim cut pad.

Those types of water spots are probably easier to abrade using wool and a rotary, not a chore for the inexperienced. There's a lot of "swirl removers" out there, you're probably going to need a compound. Search for threads re: Meguiar's 105... one of the nicest compounds I've used and it finishes up *almost* nice enough to go right to an LSP. You'll still want to polish once the spots are gone to improve gloss though, IMO.

4" PFW pads work pretty well with M105 and don't seem to clog up badly. Work in small areas and use multiple light sources to check your work after each pass. Sure is a pain in the neck to think you've got 'em all and get the car done and move out in the sun to discover you're not done yet. Don't ask how I know... :(

TL

[GMC83]

I would try the new Meguiars Ultimate Compound or scratch X 2.0

[D]

You need a rotary and some higher quality products. Id bring it to a professional. Corvette clear is very hard to work with, a PC isnt going to cut it.

[ScottB]

waterspots commonly etch the clearcoat based upon the minerals in the water if left over time. Polishing sometimes works, but often some wetsanding is needed. As offered above a professional might be the best choice in this case.

[highline1164]

waterspots commonly etch the clearcoat based upon the minerals in the water if left over time. Polishing sometimes works, but often some wetsanding is needed. As offered above a professional might be the best choice in this case.
I agree, sometimes a light sanding, maybe with 3M's 3000 grit, will take enough off clear to remove the damage and will polish out nicely with SIP and 106FA. Save you time and aggrevation.

[Matt S.]

If you're looking to step it up a bit, pick up a few yellow 4" pads, 3.5" backing plate and Meguiar's #105 compound. Very effective on the C5/C6 clearcoats.

After using this, you can go straight to the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 with a finishing pad.