Finish on my hood is splotchy.

Now this has been troubling me for quite a while now. My 07 Newport Blue finish just always seems cloudy or splotchy. The clearcoat is shiny, and smooth, but when you take a step back in the sunlight when the car is clean, you can see the finish has become very "splotchy" throughout the hood. Now, this is only on the hood. It's never been repainted, and always sealed and waxed.

 

Last time I tried to resolve this with a real thorough claybar, followed up with Meguiars Mirror Glaze M21 synthetic sealant, and Meguiars M26 HiTech Wax.

 

I did this in the fall, and the finish still looks real splotchy. I read up on this, and it looks like this is due to an uneven coat of wax. But, I've removed all the wax, done this process twice and have had the same results. Not to mention, it's ONLY on the hood. Rest of the car is fine.

 

Any input here?

pics?

It doesnt show up well with my camera.

I will see if I can find someone with a hi res camera so it will show up better.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/brandon12284/DSCF31322.jpg

 

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/brandon12284/DSCF3130.jpg

 

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/brandon12284/DSCF31302.jpg

Interesting.... Are these new spots, or spots that have been there forever? That doesn't have anything to do with waxing, so wherever you got that information from, you should probably not go there again. lol Wax is clear and never makes imperfections in the paint. You can't ever see it even if it is uneven. That sounds like the kind of thing someone would say who knows nothing about wax but doesn't want anyone to know it. lol

 

There are a couple possibilities I see... One is that it was just shitty Subaru painting and the color coat wasn't applied evenly over the primer. Likeliness of that is sadly pretty high. The other possibility, based on the shapes I see in those pictures, is that you've got hard water etching on the clear which will have to be polished, and possibly wetsanded, away. Sometimes the calcium in the water will just etch a nice little pattern into the paint that no amount of claying or waxing is going to remove. It is going to need some abrasive rub to get it gone. This is not something you can do by hand. It will require a machine. And I'm not talking about the $50 Craftsman Orbital Buffer type of machine people think will solve all their paint problems. The Porter Cable 7424 is the entry level machine for paint correction and you can go up from there.

 

I would take the car to a detail shop and have them give you their thoughts on it. If you take it to a paint shop then they will tell you it needs to be repainted. They aren't detailers and they only look for damage they can repaint. Detailers, on the other hand, will tell you when it is a problem polishing won't fix. Don't take it to a mechanic, body shop, or dealership. Find a detail shop and just ask them to take a look to see if it is clear coat etching or shoddy paint work from the factory. That will give you the best idea of where to go from there.

Thanks for the tips. Its a good possibility they are hard water stains.

Back when I first purchased the car, Id wash it at my parents' house and their water is horrible.

They don't come from washing with hard water. They come with letting hard water sit on the surface in the sun. So unless you haven't been in the habit of drying your car, then I don't think you can necessarily blame your parent's water. It could be acid rain stains as well. It just depends on where the rain comes from in your area. If there are a lot of factories, then the rain is not something I would want sitting on my paint. My family lives in New Haven and I know how the weather is up there. One minute it is raining buckets and then suddenly the sun is out and the sidewalks are steaming.

I'd try some DIY before bringing it to a shop. Try this first.... I think a tube is $8 over at Target. Read the directions and have a go at it..

 

http://image.camaroperformers.com/f/parts-bin/camp-1005-camaro-parts-and-accesories-may-2010/33220374+pinline_medium/camp_1005_13_o+touch_screen_xtreme+meguiars_scratch_x.jpg

 

Unless you have one of these that is.....

 

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/images/prod/5/Porter-Cable-7424XP-rw-76929-21380.JPG

^^^ Good advice, but just be careful. That stuff is really abrasive, and while it may get to the root of the problem and remove the etching, it will also leave a haze behind which will require a lighter polish to remove. If you are familiar with wetsanding then this is a similar process. You have to graduate down in abrasiveness in order to achieve the perfect finish. It really is a job for a machine.

Thanks guys. I actually have the ScratchX, never thought of using it for this particular application.

 

Probably not something I will take on myself, however this may also be a good learning experience. I'll weigh my options.

^^^ Good advice, but just be careful. That stuff is really abrasive, and while it may get to the root of the problem and remove the etching, it will also leave a haze behind which will require a lighter polish to remove. If you are familiar with wetsanding then this is a similar process. You have to graduate down in abrasiveness in order to achieve the perfect finish. It really is a job for a machine.

Yup, I love my PC. Greatest machine I've ever bought.

I bought the PC with the Meguiars kit option from auto geek. I don't see why I can't do this myself.

Nope. No reason at all. Just be aware that ScratchX is pretty abrasive. You won't want to spend too much time on one spot with it or you will start to remove paint.

The Meguiars kit I got comes with the buffing pads and backing plates along with a cutting compound and a finishing polish. Reading up on the compound, it should take care of the stains without being too aggressively abrasive.

 

I can't wait to try this thing out, it's killing me.

If it was a kit that included #105 and #205 then you should be good. 105 is a great polish.

The Meguiars kit I got comes with the buffing pads and backing plates along with a cutting compound and a finishing polish. Reading up on the compound, it should take care of the stains without being too aggressively abrasive.

 

I can't wait to try this thing out, it's killing me.

Be sure to take your time. It's also about form and technique in conjunction with the right products.

So, it was a nice day out over the weekend and I decided to take the PC for a spin. The car came out great, the hard water spots came out and the finish is flawless now.

One small quip, is the #205 compound is a total bitch to buff off! It had to have taken me over 2 hours to do the car all together doing just this one step. I was taking my time at first, so I can't really say it was all the compounds fault.

But, I found wetting the cloth helped a little although it was still pretty difficult to buff out completely.

Yeah, that's 205 for ya. Most good cutting compounds are tough to get off. However, that could also be a sign that you aren't working the product quite long enough and are leaving too much of it on the surface. Try working it for another minute or so and spread it out further and see if it will come off easier.

 

Another method I've found that works well is to not break my back trying to buff it off by hand. I just use something like the Wolfgang Pre-Wax Polish to get it off. It is meant to remove polish, fillers, and oils from the surface anyway, so this is exactly what it is made for. Just start with a cleaned out pad and it works great. Clean the pad afterwards too since it will be full of polish now. But at least now it is properly prepped and ready for your wax or sealant. There are a few products like that you can use, so you don't necessarily have to use the Wolfgang. Klasse AIO works well for this too. Any chemical cleaner or pre-wax polish will do the trick. It saves you a lot of pain and time, that's for sure.

 

And no, this isn't a short cut. Maybe it is close to being one, but if you do a quick once over with a towel to get most of the polish off and then hit it with a paint cleaner which is meant to get left over stuff, then it definitely isn't a short cut. There is a fine line between 'efficient' and 'cutting corners', but this is definitely on the site of efficiency since there are no ill effects or results from the method.