Sooo....what's wrong with my clear coat?

**HAMBO** · 05-21-2020, 07:45 PM

Hi AG,

SO, I bought my 1967 Camaro already restored. From what I can tell it was somewhat of a budget restoration and not a full frameoff / no expense spared restoration.

Regarding the paint: I think the paint itself looks quite good. Color is nice, deep, and very shiny. It was swirl-city when I got it, but I have since had it corrected, polished and coated. Pic of the car below.

Problem I am having, is the clear coat seems to be incredibly soft (I sneeze and swirl marks show up...), and for whatever reason doesn't play well with waterless washes or quick detailers. Often when I use a WW or QD, after buffing it off I see trails of the product remaining on the clear coat (tried to take a picture below). Kind of like streaking or staining.

Now, admittedly I know swirls don't just show up out of nowhere, so I'm obviously causing them, but I'm generally pretty careful with maintenance, and only drive the car 2x or so times a month, so am just surprised at the pace at which swirls seems to be coming back post correction. I do keep it under a cover indoors, so I suspect taking the cover on / off might be part of the problem.

Any ideas on whether it might be a very soft / sensitive or poor quality clear coat? Any suggestion on ways to mask some of the swirls without removing the coating (will try Essence Plus since I have that already).

Thanks!

HAMBO

**Dr Oldz** · 05-21-2020, 08:03 PM

Some repainted clears are just super soft and sensitive. I have 2 of them. One is black and one is candy apple red. I swear the moonlight even causes swirls. Just have to be careful touching, don’t use a car cover, use great quality towels and avoid rinseless and waterless washes if possible. Nothing beats the bucket method with lots of free flowing water.

Washing one of mine is what sparked me to post this:

Oldie but goodie: Pinnacle Souveran spray wax

**Sizzle Chest** · 05-22-2020, 08:22 AM

From the pic it looks like streaking from your waterless wash. Could be from using too much product or poor quality towels being used for removal.

Hope this helps!

Mike Phillips · 05-22-2020, 08:30 AM

Like Scott said, what the pictures shows are streaks of product.

What are you using for towels?

What are you using for a coating?

What do you use for your spray-on product?

Mike Phillips · 05-22-2020, 08:33 AM

Just to note,

Soft paint is a paint in the butt. A good coating should help reduce the potential for marring when wiping.

Some coatings are rubbery and this shows up when you try to wipe the paint with a towel, the towel will feel like it's trying to "stick" to the paint instead of glide over it.

This is one reason I like the PBL Paint Coating and the PBL Surface Coating - both make the paint feel slippery and towels glide over the paint instead of stick to it.

Another way to maintain a soft finish is with a good cleaner/wax. When the "wax" or "sealant" portion dries, (after application), it acts as a lubricant for wiping off the residue. Kind of a dry lubricant. So instead of trying to maintain a coated car, re-polish the entire Camaro with a quality one-step that you like and after fully letting it dry, wipe it off.

Then down the road, if you see "anything" on the finish, just buzz over it with a super soft foam finishing pad and you one-step, let it dry and then wipe-off.

This is "one way" to maintain a show car finish. It does mean buzzing around the car before a car show to re-perfect the paint but once you get the finish to where you have it now this is fast and easy. And nothing looks as good as a just waxed car.

**TNMIKE46** · 05-22-2020, 10:37 AM

And by the way, Awesome car. Looks like a SS-396. Am I right?

**HAMBO** · 05-22-2020, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Sizzle Chest

From the pic it looks like streaking from your waterless wash. Could be from using too much product or poor quality towels being used for removal.

Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by Mike Phillips

Like Scott said, what the pictures shows are streaks of product.

What are you using for towels?

What are you using for a coating?

What do you use for your spray-on product?

Thanks. I've tried a variety of towels (RagCo Eagles, Cobras, Griot's PFM) and waterless washes (Ultima, McKee's, really trying those with fewer gloss enhancers) and keep getting them same result.

My latest suspicion is that it might be a combination of the clear coat characteristics, and also the panel heat. Given I'm in SoCal and how quickly the panels on these older cars get hot, maybe I'm just spraying the paint while it's too hot and need to let the car sit inside and cool down more. I don't have my own garage, so park at a garage nearby where I went rent a spot and typically wipe down the car before leaving. Maybe it's just too hot to do so?

**HAMBO** · 05-22-2020, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Dr Oldz

Some repainted clears are just super soft and sensitive. I have 2 of them. One is black and one is candy apple red. I swear the moonlight even causes swirls. Just have to be careful touching, don’t use a car cover, use great quality towels and avoid rinseless and waterless washes if possible. Nothing beats the bucket method with lots of free flowing water.

Washing one of mine is what sparked me to post this:

Oldie but goodie: Pinnacle Souveran spray wax

Thanks, sounds like you feel the same pain!

I had been using exclusively waterless (and the occasional rinseless) washes after reading Mike's article about best practices in taking care of older cars. Have you had any issues using lots of water on an older car?

Thanks!

**LSNAutoDetailing** · 05-22-2020, 01:36 PM

In addition to Mike and Scott, are you applying ww / QD in sunlight? Also what water did you use for your dilution?

Looks like streaking as product dries on the paint. Shade is best, dilution with distilled water is best, using two towel method is best, one for waterless wash with a thick nap and the other a shorter nap.

Beautiful car. I think at best, keep it clean and pretty, drive it, take it to shows and enjoy it. These days especially, life’s to short to chase swirls and scratches.

What you see on your car is on mine too when I do a WW. Here in AZ the air temp is so hot it just dries before it can be fully wiped.

Paul G.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**HAMBO** · 05-22-2020, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Mike Phillips

Just to note,

Another way to maintain a soft finish is with a good cleaner/wax. When the "wax" or "sealant" portion dries, (after application), it acts as a lubricant for wiping off the residue. Kind of a dry lubricant. So instead of trying to maintain a coated car, re-polish the entire Camaro with a quality one-step that you like and after fully letting it dry, wipe it off.

Then down the road, if you see "anything" on the finish, just buzz over it with a super soft foam finishing pad and you one-step, let it dry and then wipe-off.

This is "one way" to maintain a show car finish. It does mean buzzing around the car before a car show to re-perfect the paint but once you get the finish to where you have it now this is fast and easy. And nothing looks as good as a just waxed car.

Sigh...I think you might be right Mike. I had coated it with the hope that the coating would have improved the scratch resistance and charge the surface characteristics enough so as avoid some of the marring and streaking. Appears not to have done the trick. For now I may just keep it as is since the coating is only about a year old and seems to be holding up well in terms of gloss, slickness and water resistance, but next time around, using something easier to apply and reapply, with the occasional light polishing in between, may be the route to go.

Thanks!