Etched clear coat. Help

[Cvjeticanin]

I had beer spilled on the front end of my car this past weekend and what do you know.....it etched my paint.

I first tried to polish it out with some klasse all-in-one and a orange Lake Country pad with my PC. Helped a little bit.

Then I switched to a White LC compounding pad and Megs M105....this helped a little but this is where I stopped. Here is a video showing the spots. Any advice would be greatly appreciated but I think I might be out of luck?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKaMmsTHqQ&list=UUX0i5KTsNQapdyXKGfwsH3A

video isn't the greatest quality but hopefully you can see what i'm working with.

Thanks in advance guys!

[Cvjeticanin]

i was hoping someone could chime in for some advice....hopefully someone with more experience?

[rlmccarty2000]

I am surprised beer etched your paint. Probably need a pro to do some wet sanding. I don't have the guts to try it on my cars.

[Setec Astronomy]

I think most of us are surprised that beer would etch your paint. Not that I really know because I try to drink mine and keep it off the car.

Is it possible that it's water spot etching that you didn't notice before? What do the spots feel like? Are they smooth or raised?

Did you try any washing of any kind before the polishing? When you say "white LC compounding pad" what do you mean? The white pads AFAIK are polishing pads.

If indeed they are etchings, you can try your M105 on an orange or microfiber pad to get a little more aggressive, or leave them if you think they are too deep to remove.

[psdnuts]

this video don't really show the damage or the type of it.
try to take close up picture with dime or something next to it for focus.
where do you live ? might be able to find someone from the forum in your area to take look at it.

[Cvjeticanin]

I think most of us are surprised that beer would etch your paint. Not that I really know because I try to drink mine and keep it off the car.

Is it possible that it's water spot etching that you didn't notice before? What do the spots feel like? Are they smooth or raised?

Did you try any washing of any kind before the polishing? When you say "white LC compounding pad" what do you mean? The white pads AFAIK are polishing pads.

If indeed they are etchings, you can try your M105 on an orange or microfiber pad to get a little more aggressive, or leave them if you think they are too deep to remove.

Thanks for the great response. Those are definitely not water spots from before. These appeared after the beer dried on the surface of the paint. I can slightly feel them with my fingernail but I was afraid to get more aggressive before asking you guys for advice. Also to clearify in my original post I made a typo. I compounded using M105 with an Orange pad and Polished with a White pad.


this video don't really show the damage or the type of it.
try to take close up picture with dime or something next to it for focus.
where do you live ? might be able to find someone from the forum in your area to take look at it.

Here are some pics of the damage. Is there any way to upload bigger pics? I resized them according to the forum uploading specs 640width x 480height but they seem kind of small in my opinion. Also, if anyone is from the Cleveland, Oh. area and is willing to take a look at this for me please let me know. :xyxthumbs:

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[Setec Astronomy]

Wow, that sucks. As far as the pictures, it works better if you upload them to your gallery and link them from there, use the "insert image" icon (yellow square with mountains).

They almost look like bird poop etches with that crazed kind of surface, if you've already done 105/orange it's likely to take quite a bit to get them out. Let's see if someone from your area chimes in, I know there are some pro's out there in Ohio, not sure if they are in the Cleveland area.

[swanicyouth]

So, I have to ask 2 questions....

1. How did this happen (please feel free to embellish)

2. Which beer was it?

Other than that, beer is somewhat acidic (~pH 3.5) and I'm sure it has minerals in it. Etching may be catalyzed or supported by the little bit of ETOH in beer.

The short answer how to attempt to fix it is:

- aggressive MF compounding pad with an aggressive compound.

- wet sanding cautiously if that doesn't work.

Bottom line is / worse case scenario - you burn the paint trying to fix it. But, you would be looking at a hood repaint anyway if it gets to that point. At least it seems isolated to the hood.

[psdnuts]

take 3000 wet sand paper and make sure its wet. get a spray bottle and small sending pad. maybe a few drops of dish soap. spray away and lightly send down the affected spot. very light . after you stop wipe it dry and see what it looks like….. you will see matt paint where you sanded the spot the affected etching will either be gone to you will see a shiny ring with matt outside and inside… hope you understand what I'm saying.
if its all matt proceed with compound and pad. if not try just a little bit more or stop if you not confident in your work and try to polish it .
thats what i can offer without being there to help you out.

what pads and compounds you have ? can you make a list ?

[Cvjeticanin]

Wow, that sucks. As far as the pictures, it works better if you upload them to your gallery and link them from there, use the "insert image" icon (yellow square with mountains).

They almost look like bird poop etches with that crazed kind of surface, if you've already done 105/orange it's likely to take quite a bit to get them out. Let's see if someone from your area chimes in, I know there are some pro's out there in Ohio, not sure if they are in the Cleveland area.

Thanks for the advice on the pic uploading. I'll see what others say about the damage.

Here's a test pic using your suggested method. Hopefully it comes out better.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=92787&size=1

[Cvjeticanin]

So, I have to ask 2 questions....

1. How did this happen (please feel free to embellish)

My friends decided that they would like to revisit their high school/college party days and try to "Shotgun" a beer. I was lucky that my car was the closest one and got beer sprayed all over the front end. :bash:

2. Which beer was it?

Ironically since they decided to go back in time to their teenage years it was Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Other than that, beer is somewhat acidic (~pH 3.5) and I'm sure it has minerals in it. Etching may be catalyzed or supported by the little bit of ETOH in beer.

The short answer how to attempt to fix it is:

- aggressive MF compounding pad with an aggressive compound.

- wet sanding cautiously if that doesn't work.

Bottom line is / worse case scenario - you burn the paint trying to fix it. But, you would be looking at a hood repaint anyway if it gets to that point. At least it seems isolated to the hood.

Thanks, I was thinking of switching over to my MF pad and give it another try. Worst case scenario looks like I'll be trying my first attempt at wet sanding. Hopefully I don't ruin the clear coat.


take 3000 wet sand paper and make sure its wet. get a spray bottle and small sending pad. maybe a few drops of dish soap. spray away and lightly send down the affected spot. very light . after you stop wipe it dry and see what it looks like….. you will see matt paint where you sanded the spot the affected etching will either be gone to you will see a shiny ring with matt outside and inside… hope you understand what I'm saying.
if its all matt proceed with compound and pad. if not try just a little bit more or stop if you not confident in your work and try to polish it .
thats what i can offer without being there to help you out.

what pads and compounds you have ? can you make a list ?

Wow, thanks for the detailed step by step instructions.

For compounds and polishes I currently have:
Megs D30016DA Microfiber Correction Compound
Megs M105
Megs M205
Pinnacle Advanced Compound PIN-240
Klasse All-In-One Polish

For Pads:
Megs Microfiber 5" and 3" cutting and finishing pads
Lake Country CCS 5" pads 6 different ones.
Harbor Freight 6" generic pads.

I don't have a sanding disc or quality wet-sanding paper since I never tackled a project that involved yet.

[d33p]

You can good wet sandpaper at home depot or lowes. 3000 grit is easy to work with IF you use enough water, dont press hard and check your work every few seconds. Take your time!

[psdnuts]

id say you got everything needed to fix the problem at hand. any auto zone or automotive store will have wet sand paper. get 3000 cause i feel that should be enough to fix it but not overdo it.
microfiber pad with M105 followed by LC white or orange pad with M205 then white pad . that should do the trick.
make sure you put that new sheet of paper in a glass of water to soften it up and soak it.
then proceed wit caution when wet sanding. like it was mentioned , check your work often by wiping it dry and inspecting progress. time and patience is your best friend.
find worse spot with etching and do that one spot only. this will determine what you up against. if it goes away proceed with the rest of them .
good luck and keep us posted.

[tuscarora dave]

I normally can't find finer than 2000 grit at some of the listed retailers. This could be different geographically though. If you can't find 3000 grit at those places, look for an auto body supply business in your area. They'll have it and finer I'm sure. Or of course you could order it from the AutoGeek store.

[parttimer]

Are you guys sure that isn't CC failing?