Can I save this hood? opinion...

[RevChev]

Hello All,

I have a new/old car and am working on getting it in order (I am a perfectionist at pretty much everything).

The vehicle is a 2002 suburban with the dark red color in the LT model.

Most of the paint is workable. The roof is shot, about 20-30% is missing clear coat and most likely will need to be painted.

The hood has pig tails, spider webs and just about every other kind of funny name you can think of in the paint. Only one very small spot is worn through the clear coat, so I'm thinking it is salvageable.

Question #1
I washed, clayed, polished, and waxed the roof. Is there any other methods of sealing that will give me some more time before I have to paint it. Or is a good wax basically it?

Question #2 attached pics
The hood looks salvageable. The light colored scratched are still left after about 4-5 passes with a DA, orange pad and 105. The scratches were raised to the touch but now are very minimal when I rub them with my finger. What should I do next?


P.S. I love your forum and am pumped to be a part of it now!

[allenk4]

Ouch!

[FUNX650]

:welcome:...to AGO!


From the looks of things...
Now's the time to think about scheduling for a re-spray.
And to use a 'sealing-product' that won't dry white, in the interim.

:(

Bob

[jankerson]

Yes you can it looks like. :xyxthumbs:

I would go back over it again a few times to reduce them even more. Might need to get a MF cutting pad and use M105 again, could also try the Cyan Hydro Tech if you have one of those.

Then Polish it and get some Megs #7 and work that in really good with a polishing pad before waxing it.

Should turn out pretty good. :xyxthumbs:

[DetailedTaco]

Can you feel the scratches(?) with your fingernail?

I would say its at least worth a shot to try and buff it out before respraying.

[Russ57]

Wow. As a newbie....I'm curious....what is the likely cause of this?

[RevChev]

Well before I started to buff out the scratches they felt as if they were raised. Almost filled in with years of dirt and bad fillers of sorts.

After using 105 many times they are very fine and hair like. The finger nail will not snag on the parts that I have gone over already.

I have never seen any paint like this before? Not sure the cause, but I would say the Florida sun and acidic rain had to help along the way.

So most say repaint?
Some say I am almost there?

Is this due to the diagnosis being over the forum and not in real life?

Thanks for the responses!

[ken tuep]

That clearcoat is compromised. It call checking , or crazing, basically its like dirt that has dried out severely. Once the clearcoat does this, no amount of water will save it.

Like Bob said, start saving up for some paint work. A sealant will protect it, but not sure if it will look much better?

When you go to get paint work done, be sure they strip the paint, or sand heavily and spray primer that will seal the checking.

Oh, and welcome!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online

[jankerson]

Well before I started to buff out the scratches they felt as if they were raised. Almost filled in with years of dirt and bad fillers of sorts.

After using 105 many times they are very fine and hair like. The finger nail will not snag on the parts that I have gone over already.

I have never seen any paint like this before? Not sure the cause, but I would say the Florida sun and acidic rain had to help along the way.

So most say repaint?
Some say I am almost there?

Is this due to the diagnosis being over the forum and not in real life?

Thanks for the responses!


Seen worse that that before...

Personally I would have wet sanded it 1st, but that's me.

If you follow what I posted you will be able to reduce them to almost nothing and after the finial steps they would be hardly noticeable if at all.

You aren't using a rotary with a wool pad so it will take longer.

My Jeep was worse than that, looked like somebody went over it with a green scouring pad....

The biggest thing is to take your time, work slow.... One section at a time making sure it right (Good enough) before moving to the next one.

That should hold you over until you can get it repainted.

[jankerson]

Wow. As a newbie....I'm curious....what is the likely cause of this?

Neglect mostly, sitting out in the hot sun and assorted other things will kill a paint job....

Yes, it does need to be repainted in the end, sanded down to pretty much bare metal, primed, painted then clear etc.

Layers will depend on how much one wants to spend as will the quality of the paint (Grade) used.

It can get very expensive in a real hurry to do a high quality paint job.

[RevChev]

Yes you can it looks like. :xyxthumbs:

I would go back over it again a few times to reduce them even more. Might need to get a MF cutting pad and use M105 again, could also try the Cyan Hydro Tech if you have one of those.

Then Polish it and get some Megs #7 and work that in really good with a polishing pad before waxing it.

Should turn out pretty good. :xyxthumbs:


Will the MF cutting pad be better than the orange foam pad I am using? What is MF?

What about wet sanding now?

I used to detail million dollar yachts, and go through about a half gallon of compound a day with a rotary, I just didn't want to start out on cars with a rotary due to the paint being much more complex.

[hernandez.art13]

I'm sorry but I am new to working on this type of work. I got taught by working on cars that got freshly repainted.

(In my head) wet sanding them and buffing it out. Would be a good idea, especially after polishing the paint and it not really having that much correction.

But wait, I am not saying go wet sand and buff it out, because who knows how much paint is left.

Good luck, I'll wait to see what other more experienced members have to say.

[HateSwirls]

If it was mine I'd wet sand the hood, 1200, 1500' 2000 and then 3000 grit.
Then I'd work the hood with 105 and a rotary using a wool pad.

Compounding alone wouldn't do much for this hood IMO.

From the looks of it the CC is about shot and will need to visit a paint booth if you want it perfect, if you do get it painted this now is the time to learn how to wet sand.

Good luck and welcome to the greatest site on the Internet :dblthumb2:

[jankerson]

Will the MF cutting pad be better than the orange foam pad I am using? What is MF?

What about wet sanding now?

I used to detail million dollar yachts, and go through about a half gallon of compound a day with a rotary, I just didn't want to start out on cars with a rotary due to the paint being much more complex.

That MicroFiber cutting discs, yeah they will cut a lot faster than the orange pad.

But if you have a rotary and a wool pad you can use M105 and make really short work of it.

You can wet sand now, I would go 1500, 2000, 3000 then compound with M105 and a rotary or MF to remove the sanding marks.

[Blackthorn One]

I can't understand how you could sand and polish this out and have any significant paint thickness left. It seems like a whole lot of work for very little return, when a repaint is inevitable, anyway. If you are lucky enough to get it nice enough for the owner, you could apply Opti Coat to seal it and have it last for years.

I guess the thing to do is to do a test spot of 12x12 or smaller, and see what you can do, to see if it is worth fixing this without a respray.
I just can't see how the limited long term results of this would justify the time and products involved to polish this out.