Dull Paint

**mr. roboto** · 04-10-2012, 08:41 AM

I have a 1998 Cherokee as my second vehicle. I have owned it for 3 years and have never detailed it, but I would now like to freshen it up a bit. Overall it's in pretty good shape for a 14 year old vehicle with 215K miles, but the only problem is the paint on it is very dull. I tried a test spot on the hood with the products I have and it did not seem to improve the dull paint. I washed, clayed, then used the FLEX orbital buffer with the 3 step menzerna polishes, then topped it off with the pinnacle sig series II wax. The test spot really did not show a whole lot of improvement as the paint still looked pretty dull. I am thinkging maybe I need to use some type of paint cleaner before I start buffing/waxing, but I don't know what I should be looking for to purchase. Any reccomendations? I am at work so I only have this one picture, but I can provide a few more when I get home if needed.

Thanks in advance for the help!

**monito** · 04-10-2012, 08:50 AM

What products do you have? That would make a huge difference...

**mr. roboto** · 04-10-2012, 09:25 AM

Sorry, I listed them in the original post, but will list them out here for more clarity.

Wash with foam gun and DP Xtreme
clay
3 step menzerna (super intensive polish, super finish and final polish I believe, can't remember the exact names, can double check when I get home)
Then I am waxing with pinnacle signature series II wax.

Mike Phillips · 04-10-2012, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by mr. roboto

Overall it's in pretty good shape for a 14 year old vehicle with 215K miles, but the only problem is the paint on it is very dull.

I tried a test spot on the hood with the products I have and it did not seem to improve the dull paint. I washed, clayed, then used the FLEX orbital buffer with the 3 step menzerna polishes, then topped it off with the pinnacle sig series II wax.

The test spot really did not show a whole lot of improvement as the paint still looked pretty dull.

The two portions I bolded above lead me to think you have clear coat failure or beginning clear coat failure.

Depends upon how aggressive you were with pads and products but even if you were not aggressive, after machine applying even some medium cut and fine cut polishes you should have seen clarity and gloss restored and if you didn't then that's not a good sign.

Was this test spot to a horizontal surface?

How do the vertical panels look and have you tried doing a test spot to a vertical panel.

Point being that the horizontal surfaces take the brunt of the damage caused by exposure and sun and it is these surfaces that fail first.

See the picture in this article,

Beginning Clearcoat Failure

Then maybe take a look at these,

The Clearcoat Failure Photo Gallery Archive

If you are dealing with clear coat failure there's nothing you can do to undo the damage.

Mike Phillips · 04-10-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by mr. roboto

Sorry, I listed them in the original post, but will list them out here for more clarity.

Wash with foam gun and DP Xtreme
clay
3 step menzerna (super intensive polish, super finish and final polish I believe, can't remember the exact names, can double check when I get home)
Then I am waxing with pinnacle signature series II wax.

Super Intensive Polish is a Medium Cut Polish and can tackle quite a range of paint defects.

See my post above...

Where you located?

**mr. roboto** · 04-10-2012, 10:28 AM

Thanks for the reply, Mike. I am fairly certain the clear coat is not failing, as it looks nowhere near as bad as the pictures you linked to. The pictures of the oxidation, however, are exactly what the paint looks like currently. I Believe I was using the super intensive polish on an orange pad at a fairly high speed. I have a yellow pad I could step up to and see if that helps at all. What do you recommend for a polish/pad compound to help with oxidized paint?

I live near Boston, why do you ask?

Mike Phillips · 04-10-2012, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by mr. roboto

I have a yellow pad I could step up to and see if that helps at all. What do you recommend for a polish/pad compound to help with oxidized paint?

If TSR isn't working then get a true compound, Megs is pretty good, get either M105 or Ultimate Compound. The Mercedes-Benz on the lable of the Megs UC is one of the project cars we buffed out at Meguiar's while I was still working for them.

Originally Posted by mr. roboto

I live near Boston, why do you ask?

If you lived closer I would suggest this,

Sign-up for Saturday Detailing Clinic - April 21st, 2012

Polished-out at Autogeek!

Autogeek's Saturday Detailing Clinics
On Saturday, April 21st from 9:00am to 2:00pm you can bring your car to Autogeek to learn tips and techniques for detailing your car. We open the garage up to registered forum members and let you test out different tools, compounds, polishes and waxes to dial in a system to make your car look like a show car.

**mr. roboto** · 04-10-2012, 11:43 AM

What is TSR, total swirl remover? Is that the same thing as the super intensive polish I have now, or is it more aggressive?

Thanks again!

**BobbyG** · 04-10-2012, 12:19 PM

Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO83Q (SI-1500) is about as an aggressive polish in the Menzerna lineup without stepping down to their Power Gloss Compound POS34A (PG-1000).

Using an Orange properly primed foam pad you should have provided some improvement.

Meguiar's Ultimate Compound is a quality over the counter product that does a great job correcting surface defects including the removal of heavy oxidation.

Some questions that come to mind

Was the foam pad properly primed?
Were you using enough product?
How large of a section were you trying to work?
What speed setting were you using?
Were you buffing in a criss-cross pattern?

Working with a dual action polisher

Mike Phillips · 04-10-2012, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by mr. roboto

What is TSR, total swirl remover? Is that the same thing as the super intensive polish I have now, or is it more aggressive?

Thanks again!

It's similar, I was thinking of another thread when I was speed-replying and mistook your arsenal for another forum members.

Point being is SIP is a great medium cut polish and it should handle removing the swirls with your Flex and a cutting pad no problem...

Check out the trouble shooting guide that Bobby posted, see if you're making any of the normal mistakes and if you are read the remedy.