Possible paint burn through?

[MartyK]

Hi Mike

Thought I would ask your expert advice here.

In total in the last 7 months I would say the car hood has been compounded and polished around 7 times. This was to keep removing scratches that were put in from incorrect washing procedures.

I am starting to notice waves of different colour in the paint.

Really worried this may have been done due to compounding too much.

Today I have gone over it again which has kind of faded it a bit but its still quite clearly visible.

Are you familiar with anything like what you see in the attached photo?

[Rsurfer]

Looks like clear coat thinning. Never seen waves like that.

[MartyK]

Damn! Its strange? I suppose it could be going down to the very first paint job exposing the spray gun lines possibly?

The car has had a lot of compounding and I am fearing now it is burning through. If that is the case then can I add a new clear coat myself or does it have to have a complete repaint?

[vobro]

It looks more like a crappy respray, was the hood ever painted?

[MartyK]

No it wasnt actually and I bought the car brand new. I see what you mean though and it does look like a bad paint job.

I guess a test would be to polish it and see if any grey paint ends up on the foam pad. That way I will know if its gone past the clear. Bit of a mystery as to why its ended up looking like that. Can iron remover being left on there by accident cause it do you know?

[WillSports3]

7 times is way too much. You need to re-think how you do your washes. Specially as a Hyundai, you got super thin clearcoat. I'll only polish once every two years, roughly and even then it's a finishing polish, not compounding.

[Mike Phillips]

Just to add my 2 cents....


IF the car is a clearcoated car, then it's pretty hard to get that kind of pattern if you have NOT buffed through the clearcoat.

I would be possible to see patterns like that or shadow patterns if you're using crap for abrasive technology as the micro-marring could cause a pattern-effect in the clearcoat.


If you buff on the hood and pull pigment this would mean you have buffed through the clearcoat. If you don't see any pigment on your buffing pad then the clearcoat is still intact.

Also - see this article,

Tiger Stripes

[Mike Phillips]

And for all those that will read this into the future, both forum members and lurkers...

If you haven't already - read this article. LOOK at the pictures. Find a Post-it Note and hold it between your thumb and index finger and let it all sink in....


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips

[MartyK]

Hi Mike

Really useful, thanks.

So does that mean these marks have been masked for all these years and because of the amount of compounding I have done they have now been exposed?

They were never visible before up until yesterday after compounding the car.

Do you think that with the amount of compounding I have done it has now gone to the stage where its exposed the defective paint job?

I guess another way of testing would be a paint thickness gauge right?

[Rsurfer]

Hi Mike

Really useful, thanks.

So does that mean these marks have been masked for all these years and because of the amount of compounding I have done they have now been exposed?

They were never visible before up until yesterday after compounding the car.

Do you think that with the amount of compounding I have done it has now gone to the stage where its exposed the defective paint job?

I guess another way of testing would be a paint thickness gauge right?

A PG would help, but isn't clear coat clear? My point being, what's under the clear is what it is.