Tech_Greek

Alright,

When I first got the car, there were no spots on it what so ever, I did find a LOT of dried up wax in weird places but that's besides the point...moving on.

I pick up the car, apparently someone gets jealous and keys it almost a month after having bought it...I move on.

So now, my car looks beautiful from a distance...



alright, as you're probbaly noticing, what the hell is he smoking? It looks fine...

But let's get a little closer shall we...



Yes, the damn spots are there, especially look at the spots...not only that the car looks smudgey all over the place, almost like a bad wax job.

So, what can I do to remove this crap and start 'fresh' if you will? I've heard dont use dawn soap because even though you're removing the wax you're removing some of the paint as well...

I've been looking at Meguiars Claybar system and what not...paint feels smooth as glass unless it's dirty.

89gtufc3s

it looks like waterspots to me, you need to dry off the car with a squigy(sp?) and no let the sun dry up the water...actually, is it possible to wax in waterspots? cause that could be it...

Rx Seven

iTrader: (12)

Use one of those absobant cloths to dry your car or a squeegee & try to wash you sar in the shade and dont let the water dry. If you have to wash the car in sections.

Red Suns

It's kinda hard to see but if I were to guess, it looks like some clearcoat oxidization. You could go get some Maguires clearcoat cleaner, polish, wax and some elbow grease. That's the cheapest and easiest way to go about doing it IMO.

Or you can go the pimp route, buy a polisher with a variable speed control (this allows you to use the polisher at a slower speed until you're comfortable with the machine and buffing technique), wool cutting and foam polishing pads, 3M Perfect it II / 3M Finesse rubbing compound and Maguires Machine Glaze. Then you can go to town on it like a pro just make sure you don't burn your clearcoat by staying in one place too long. And of course wax your car.

There's quite a few Web sites on buffing procedues and techniques out there.

Tech_Greek

I wash the car in sections and I do dry it off, no matter how shady it is, those spots are always reappearing...I've even tryed using bottled water.

I think it has to do with whats under the wax, like Red Suns says maybe oxidation so I'm going to strip all the wax off and clean the crap out of the car, polish it, and wax it...hopefully that'll rid it.

- Tech

SayNoToPistons

i only have one thing to say. www.autopia.org
lol. shut up 7_rocket....LOL

rajeevx7

iTrader: (11)

They are hard water spots that have stuck to the clearcoat, I think.
Ever heard of clay bars? They take all that crap off the paint and strip it to clear.
1. Use dish soap to wash car. This strips most of old wax off.
2. Use clearcoat cleaner
3. Use clay bar according to directions
4. Wax
5. Seal/Polish

SayNoToPistons

1. Use dish soap to wash car. This strips most of old wax off.
2. Use clearcoat cleaner
3. Use clay bar according to directions
4. Wax
5. Seal/Polish


1. the only dish wash soap you can use is DAWN. otehr will melt your clearcoat/paint away like butter
2. using a good clay bar (go to your local auto parts store) like the mother clay bar kit will do. it already cleans the paint.
3. ^ look above... you can use dawn diluted in a spray bottle as lube for the clay. but make sure you dont let the soap dry on the paint, frequntly hose the car down afater claying each panel (2x2 ft)...when ur done, wash the car again and dry with a micro fiber towel.
4. you POLISH at step number 4...polishing after wax will just simply take away the wax...i would invest in a PC 7427 kit from topoftheline.com and get some poorboys ssr 3.0 and 2.5 as polishing compound (please dont use RUBBING compound from turtle wax or any other off the counter compounds)
5. you now will clean the apint and level everything out with a paint cleaner. try Klasse all-in-one
6. now you protect and seal your paint. for you i would try meguiars NXT tech wax from any autoparts store. its a great noobie wax. layer for best protection and shine. and make sure you buff only with micro fiber towels.

ill post more later im busy now lol.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

there is no need to strip any wax, just do whatever process you choose, either by hand or by machine, no need to strip anything, it isnt a tile floor.

and dish detergents other then dawn wont melt clearcoat, where did you get that from?
his car probably doesnt even have clearcoat on it, it should be single stage red.

user 9348703

petro deposits= oxidation. It might be able to save, good options above for it.. POLYMIDE works for it too if you guys have that in the states.

Tech_Greek

It's the stock rx7 blazing red I think...looks OEM.

SayNoToPistons

it wont MELT away paint BUT..after a few times you will start to notice the paint getting thinner. every other dish detergents otehr then dawn ahve extremely harsh chemicals that will eat away the paint. sure you might not notice it when wahsing it with other dish detergents for the first few times. but take a paint thickness meter and start measuring the thickness of your paint.

polishing or claying alone WILL strip ALL your protection on your paint. so what do you mean by "theres no need to strip wax"?

what you should try first is claying. you WILL see some red-ness on the clay from dead paint. its OK if you have single stage paint (no clearcoat). if that still doesnt work try polishing with a PC 7424 with Lake Country cutting pads and poorboys ssr 2.5 polish. if you dont feel like spending some money on something that can save you lots of time (and make you car look great), then you shoudl try Meguiars Scratch x which should be avaible in most auto parts stores, put some on a pad and start buffing until it starts to haze then wipe off. buy i do reccomend buying a PC 7424 polisher, pads (cutting, polishing, finishing), and some polishing compound, youll wont regret it.

edit : just to let you know. you should never leave your car wet after a wash. use micro fiber towels to dry (youll LOVE THEM!), they pick up HUGE amounts of water and holds them in until you wring them. washing - you should use sheep skin wash mitts for washing, for buckets you should use 5 gallon (well you can use 2-3 gallons lol) buckets. try to use the 2 bucket forumula. one bucket for CLEAN soapy water and one for rinsing the mitt after washing each panel with soapy water. also, you'll absolutely LOVE meguiars #26 carnuaba wax topped over NXT wax (no the spray wax..its not a very good BOOSTER wax).

for other questions you can go ask www.autopia.org there a lot of detailing pros (scottwax *bows* he just did he 12000th more or less car a few weeks ago) there. once you go to autopia, its like a sickness.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

Of course when you compound or clay your stripping wax, thats just the abrasive action, to say to do it to strip the old wax off, like the old wax is doing some harm.

and there are lots of people who wash thier cars with dish detergent who still have paint, there is nothing in detergent to strip wax. They may have no wax, but they have paint.

I gave up detailing, too little money even for the shop owner.

Tech_Greek

I'm starting to think I'm just going to pay someone to do it, all the different brands that I've never heard of are starting to confuse me.

I always dry off my car btw.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

a detailer will probably charge you less then $100 to do the exterior, then you can keep it looking freshly detailed with a hand waxing every month or so depending on if the car is left outside or not.

I stopped counting how many cars I cleaned a looooooooong time ago

Tech_Greek

Should I ask a body shop? I used to manage a car wash locally and honestly they sucked at detailing (but were the highest price in the world).

- Tech

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

if you know the body shop then ask, most body shops cant be bothered with details unless they did work on the car, alot of times they still have someone else detail the car

open the yellow pages, make some calls, ask some people you know, maybe someone in your area is on here who can recomend one

Tech_Greek

Alright, thanks guys.

rajeevx7

iTrader: (11)

^He is right.
4. Polish. Lightly scratches the paint to rub off stuck marks
5. Wax. Not cleaner wax, pure wax over the polish

SayNoToPistons

but becareful with bodyshops, ive seen a lot that had used polishing machiens with high torque and it remove a huge layer of paint (you can see with a paint thickness meter). sure it has removed the marks but your left with heavy marring (swirls) on the paint. but yeah try a body shop if youdont want to do all the things i typed thought i highly suggest you do so.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

you can remove the markings and still have a high polish without swirl marks, how do these fancy detail guys remove scratches from paint without compounding with a machine? That one I would like to see. That is unless you only clean new cars, thats like wash and wax rather then reconditioning- seems like less and less people know how to recondition paint.

I use a compound that just the compound itself leaves NO swirl marks, so any product applied after is just a bonus, the trick is to not get the swirls in the first place, rather then trying every product out there to remove them.

SayNoToPistons

if you want to do it by hand try Meguiars Scratch X with an applicator. but your going to be buffing for 1-2 hours, your arms are gona fall off.

slomo85

iTrader: (8)

omg, that site is awsome. and here i have been washing my cr w/dawn every time i wash it, tisk tisk. it's not like i don't need a new paint jab anyways though...

Tech_Greek

Just got the meguiars 3 step system (2 out of the three steps I bought plus NXT Wax for the third step).

I started off at about 4 PM and didnt even get to the second step (polish) until 6 PM when it got dark, so I get to wax it tomorrow and take pics d'oh!