Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

My 1987 GTA. The paint is not horrible on most of the car. I know I can buff and polish it and get a couple more years of it looking decent before I plunge into a major paint job.


Butt here are a few spots that are making me think it's not worth it. The hatch lid between the wing and glass and the horizontal area above the rear wheel well. It's rough...and I mean that literally. It feels rough. I am not the best at bringing back really bad paint so any expert opinions? Any chance to get these areas to look half way decent?


https://web.mail.comcast.net/service...&max_width=800



https://web.mail.comcast.net/service...&max_width=800


https://web.mail.comcast.net/service...&max_width=800


https://web.mail.comcast.net/service...&max_width=800

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Actually...just stumbled on this. I think this is worth a shot.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

No pictures. If you're going to invest time, do the job correctly. The video above is accurate when he calls it a hack. The grey areas of the paint is burnt clear coat. You can't really lightly sand burnt clear and expect to add new clear and have it look new. He even says that. It may look better, but it won't look new. If your paint is anything like what he has in the video, a repaint is your only option to making it look new again.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Scott,


When we used to have clear coat pealing on new vehicles under warranty at our Chevy dealer, when we could, we'd wet sand off the bad clear (actually scrape or even "duct tape" remove what was loose first). When the sanding water starts coming up body color (black, red, whatever), you stopped sanding. Prep and re-clear. We had good luck with this on 80's vintage cars.


Have you ever seen that tried with one of our cars?

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

New clear coat peeling is different than clear coat that's burned. When the clear is damaged, how long before the underlying paint gets impacted? I can see fairly new clear coat being treated the way you mentioned, and having success, but I can't see it on potentially damaged paint.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

I can see that working much better because you are removing all of the old clear coat.

When my G6 got rock damage they knocked the clear coat off completely on the affected panels to the base coat and re-cleared the panel after spot painting.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

That video isn't for people looking for show jobs.

Just something to make it appear less ugly. I look at it kind of like stopping the damage from spreading with a minor improvement in looks.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Might be worth a shot to clay bar on those areas you were talking about rough paint and see if it smooths out. Low fender panels, doors behind the wheels, rear bumpers and trunk/spoiler areas always feel rough and get the most oxidation. If the paint isn’t that bad the clay could make it baby smooth.. you’d be surprised..

I haven’t seen pics or anything so can’t say for sure but clay should be done before any polishing anyway or you’d just marr the paint with contaminants.

Wetsanding is only good for taking a layer of imperfections out of the clear coat and then compound, polish and finishing polish. If the damage is through the clear coat The wetsanding won’t do much since there won’t be a good layer left to work with. Like some said the base coat will probably have damage from being exposed to the elements.

If you make the car look better on a whole you might get some more enjoyment out of it before repaint and the damaged areas will just be what they are..

Maybe consult a paint correction specialist as well to confirm. You have to see and touch the paint in different angles/light to know for sure..

Would like to see before and after as well!

Good luck!

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

Careful wetsanding and polishing small areas because you can remove orange peel and would look noticeable to some people..

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

You can't clay bar burnt paint!! You'll clog the clay and it's worthless. Again, we have no pictures, but based on his description that it's "rough...and I mean that literally", is leading me to think it's the typical damaged clear coat. Dirt in the paint can be felt, but not to the point where you would say "literally rough". The clear sounds shot and it may need to be repainted in that area.

Re: Wet sand...compound...buff....worth a try?
 

I’ve felt rough paint that was rough like cardboard from oxidation. From my experience detailing some people describe something and you expect a big problem and then it’s very simple and easy. If you don’t wash or wax a car for years the paint will feel very rough but it’s not necessarily burnt or damaged beyond making it baby smooth again fairly simply.. also based on the location he described that area of vehicles tends to get the most contaminants and oxidation and can feel “rough” compared to a front fender or hood.

Yes, you can’t claybar paint that is cracked, peeling or severely damaged.. you are supposed to use a Detail mist as lubricant so the clay shouldn’t get stuck, but it may pull off peeling or chipping pieces of paint which you don’t want. I assume people know some of this stuff already but perhaps I shouldn’t.

Good pics would be helpful to get better advice.