Clearcoat cracks, paint thickness, polishing car today?

[charlestek]

Last year I wrote about some clearcoat cracking/fracturing in my paint: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/30164-fractured-wrinkled-etching-popping-up-all-over.html

I have not polished and rewaxed the car in almost a year because of my job, but am considering doing it today.

A month or so ago, I bought a paint thickness meter and found my paint thickness to be in the 110 to 130 micro meter range which may or may not jive with the clearcoat issues I saw as far as being caused from overpolished thin clearcoat.

Given the clearcoat issues, the safest thing might be to just clay, IPA and wax the car, but I'm questioning taking a risk doing a light polishing with some Merzerna light polish I bought.

Any opinions would be welcome.

[SonOfOC]

I've seen this a few times and can tell you that if you polish the paint, the white snowflake fractures become even more noticable. This is especially true if the car is black in color. The paint below the clearcoat has failed and it will need to be repainted.

Of course you can clay and wax to protect the existing condition.
You can try a small 12" x 12" section if you are still curious, but be prepare to be shocked at how bright the snowflakes show after the polish.

[charlestek]

SonOfOC, it is curious that you are saying it is the paint below the clearcoat, ie the basecoat that is failing vs the clearcoat failing. I initially thought it was the clearcoat that was polished down too deeply by the previous owner, but the paint guage does not seem to be telling me that.

In any case, yeah, this sucks. The snowflakes are mainly on the hood, roof and trunk lid.
The sides of the car seem to be ok.

I hate to put wax on the car over a lot of swirls.

I got laid-off from my job last month so any car repainting money would be out of the question for awhile. The people in the other threads told me to just live with it.
If I get back to work, I guess I would have to evaluate whether paying say $5000 (I think that's what it would cost) to repaint a car with 59k miles would be worth it.

[BobbyG]

I don't know how thick the paint really should be however the thicker the paint the more it costs the auto manufacture, I think you can see where I'm going with this.

Some say that the paint film thickness is about 0.001". Given the fact that the average human hair measures 0.004" the clear and color coat totals 1/2 the thickness of a human hair so that ain't all that much!

Now, I don't have a paint thickness gauge but from what I've read they're only capable of displaying total thickness from the metal to the top of the clear coat, not individual layers.

What you don't want to do is to apply a product that dries white such as a polish or paint cleaner. These will fill those little voids in the paint and will look like hell.

This might be a great opportunity to lay down a nice glaze to fill those voids once the surface is clean.



Wash
Clay
Klean Strip Perp-All Wipe
Glaze
Wax



Glazes


Meguiar's #7 (http://www.autogeek.net/meg7showcarg.html)
Meguiar's #80 (http://www.autogeek.net/mg80.html)


Some sealants and waxes to consider:

Sealants


Menzerna Power Lock (http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-power-lock-sealant.html)
Prima Hydro Sealant (http://www.autogeek.net/prima-hydro-seal.html)
Four Star Sealant (http://www.autogeek.net/four-star-ultimate-paint-protection.html)
Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant (http://www.autogeek.net/blackfire-wet-diamond-sealant.html)
Klasse High Gloss Sealant (http://www.autogeek.net/klashiggloss.html)
Ultima Paint Guard Plus (http://www.autogeek.net/ultima-paint-guard-plus.html)

Wax


Wax (http://www.autogeek.net/carnauba-wax.html)
Wolfgang Fuzion (http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-fuzion-wax-sample.html)
Dodo Juice Supernatural (http://www.autogeek.net/natural-carnauba-wax-200.html)
Pinnacle Souveran (http://www.autogeek.net/pinsouvwax.html)
Blackfire Midnight Sun (http://www.autopia-carcare.com/blackfire-midnight-sun-wax.html)


One of my favorites


Collinite 845 (http://www.autogeek.net/collinite-insulator-wax-845.html)

[rwright]

I'm with BobbyG here, glaze and wax it until you can have the paint repaired. I've messed around with 3 glazes and of the 3 CG GlossWorkz Glaze fills like crazy. That stuff has a very deep, wet shine to it as well.

[charlestek]

Yeah,

I have some meguiars machine glaze, which I did not use last year. Last year I used poli-seal than opti-seal then collinite 476s after polishing with Meguiars 205.

I guess you are saying it is safer to use the meguiars glaze instead of the mezerna (power finish) or meguiars 205. I was thinking about opti-seal then collinite 476s or 845. I'm doing it today, so that is all I have on hand. I suppose klasse would be better than the opti-seal, but I don't have any.

I also remember from asking on the optimum forum that meguiars glaze is not favored as a base for optiseal because of its paint oils, so maybe I should just do glaze then the collinite waxes.

I have Meguiars Machine glaze #3 and #7 on hand, not #80. It is a holiday today, I might be able to get some #80 if the store is open.


Maybe it would be better to pay someone to prep it and put opticoat on??

[BobbyG]

My understanding is that you're trying to improve the finish and are looking for a way to clean up the finish and get rid of those unsightly white marks everywhere.

Cleaning the white residue from the existing cracks is task #1.

A small brush like a tooth brush and some Perp-All should prove very successful at removing this debris and residue. What you don't want to do it so refill these crevices with new residue left over from polishing products like Menzerna Power Finish or Meguiar's M205. Both are great products but will leave behind residue filling those little cracks.

I think this is a safe approach...

Meguiar's #80 has some correction capabilities as it removes minor swirls and oxidation. This might give you exactly what you're looking for.. It's difficult to tell without actually inspecting the finish in person.

Richard mentions a glaze heavy in fillers, this is what your after to help the situation.

Collinite 845 is an all-time-favorite of mine. It does a beautiful job leaving the finish looking wet and provide 5 months of solid protection here in New England.

Before you take it to someone give it a try yourself. It sounds like you already have most of what you need. Spend some quality time working on the hood and see if the situation improves, if it does then continue, if not then off to the shop,,,

[charlestek]

Ok,

I found a store that is open today that has #80 speed glaze. I'm going to be using a porter cable 7424xp machine. So after the speed glaze, I need another glaze on top, can't use meguiars #3, need a filler glaze?

I can't get the filler glaze without ordering it from autogeek and waiting a few days. We have an unusual day of nice weather in Boston today and I'm running out of time and out of daylight here.

I don't have a garage.

[charlestek]

The store had a bottle of #80 that looked 4 years old. I passed. Have to get some from another store that has to order it from the warehouse. Damn, I wanted to get the car done today. I suppose I could have used Meguiars swirl remover than glaze, if the swirl remover is as mild as the swirl remover in #80

Btw, I don't have a super amount of crevices, mostly on the roof, hood and trunk. Rest of car seems relatively ok.

[BobbyG]

Ok,

I found a store that is open today that has #80 speed glaze. I'm going to be using a porter cable 7424xp machine. So after the speed glaze, I need another glaze on top, can't use meguiars #3, need a filler glaze?

I can't get the filler glaze without ordering it from autogeek and waiting a few days. We have an unusual day of nice weather in Boston today and I'm running out of time and out of daylight here.

I don't have a garage.

HA, I work in Boston but live Southwest of the city about 1 1/2 hours away...no traffic!!

I don't think Meguiar's #3 fills much although I've never used it. You really need a filler glaze to gain some ground on the surface condition but to do it today or tomorrow you'll need to work with what's available..

Given the weather and availability of Meguiar's #80 I'd do just one section and see how it comes out. The finish might benefit from two coats but follow the directions on the label and be sure that it's dry before top coating...

[SeaJay's]

If you have a pep boys by you they usually have the Megs #80. I know there is a pep boys in Nashua. I don't know how close to NH you are.

[charlestek]

Actually I'm in Watertown. Given the late time right now and the fact that the sun will set close to 6pm, I don't have time to get this done today. I guess I will do a small section and look at it.

It looks like the Chemical Guys Glosswork Glaze is not widely available. Autogeek does not sell it apparently. But it is available on ebay.

[SeaJay's]

Careful putting links up to other detailing sites...that's against ag rules.

I may have some glaze at my home (Billerica). I'd have to check and can get back to you later tonight if your interested.

[charlestek]

SeaJay, ok, I removed the links. However if the chemical guys is so good, then I may not need the Meguiars. However, it does not seem to be a swirl removing glaze, just a swirl filling glaze. I'm getting a product overload headache....

[charlestek]

OK,

I ordered some Chemical Guys XTREME SHINE EZ~CREME GLAZE w/ACRYLIC SHINE II for the glaze. So I may or may not want to do some light polishing before the glaze.