I've started using the Prima products (Amigo, Epic, Hydro & Slick) on our Mini with fantastic results

Now I'm considering taking on a nasty project with Cut, Swirl, Finish...

This is on a '95 Toyota T-100. The roof is heavily oxidized and it looks like there's only a couple of small spots of clear coat left. Any opinions as to whether or not it's worth the effort?

The attached photo shows the roof. I had just wiped the morning dew and the dark edges are where the moisture hadn't quite dried out. There's a small shiny spot where some clear coat is still left.

Thoghts...recommendations appreciated

 

I believe once the clear coat is gone that's it. IMO you won't be polishing that out. I'm sure someone with more knowledge than I will help you out.

 

It's hard to tell without actually seeing the surface, but if the clear is actually gone, you are gonna have some trouble with it.

I'd think it would be worth it to give it a shot. Pick a test spot and see what happens. What's the worst you will do? Ruin the beautiful paint job? :D

 

I would grind the crap out of that, removing the rest of the crappy clearcoat. What to do after that? I dont know. but you couldnt make it worse with a hammer or an axe so all is good for that car.

I suggest an M-80. not the polishing compound, a real m-80 firework.

 

i would ask octaneguy for those q's.

 

He is about the only one that has a clue in this area on forums.

 

OctaneGuy posted on this topic a couple of days ago - IIRC, he's had some cases where the clearcoat looked like that - but the oxidation polished right out and there was still "good" clearcoat left... even though sometimes it looks like clearcoat failure, it may not be...

I'd start with swirl - just to see how fast it comes out - if it's not making an impact, move up to cut and the yellow pad...

 

Appreciate the feedback

I'll give it a go...like you say..really can't do much to make it worse

This little truck has about 230,000 miles on it....daughter drives it now and isn't into any kind of up-keep

 

First off, are you polishing by hand or machine (PC)?

Second of all--thanks Blimey--if the clearcoat is truly gone, then a clean towel with some polish rubbed into the "damaged" area should result in basecoat transferring to the towel. Afterall, if there is no clearcoat to protect that paint--then what's preventing the color from transferring to the towel.

You don't always have to use Cut with a yellow pad. Cut can be used with the orange or white pad, depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

Cut with the yellow pad is the most aggressive combo, but I often use Cut and the White pad for removing sanding marks or Cut and the Orange for removing bird poo etchings or scratches (yes I'm talking about the PC here..not the rotary)

Today I polished out a Black G35 show car--exterior mods to Skyline. In the past I had nothing but trouble with that paint and using M80. The paint was so scratch sensitive that it was easy to mar while removing the polish.

A year passed since I polished out the car, and this time I used the PC--White Pad and Swirl, Blue Pad (I had this on hand--basically same as Black Pad with Amigo, then Black Pad with Epic. With the white pad and Swirl it polished out great--though appeared slightly hazy. But after the Amigo treatment--it was crisp and clear and gorgeous. The customer was super pleased, and I was happy because I had only 5 hours to polish it out--what normally took me 10+ hours. He said it was a night and day difference from when he dropped it off this morning.

Richard

 

OG- was that a black pad you use on the Amigo?

 

It was actually a blue pad that I had on hand. It's from Sonus I believe--a sample I had laying around. This particular paint mars very easily, so I decided to use something a little more aggressive than black but less than white.

 

^ thanks for the info... for a novice, would black be recommended?

 

Well there isn't a blue pad within the Prima system. So that means you would be left to choose between the white pad or the black pad.

The black pad is so soft that it's really best for applying Epic. In my case, if I had to choose the white pad or the black pad--I probably would have used the black and checked the finish and see if it got out what I was trying to remove--if it didn't, I would try polishing longer--and if it still didn't I might try going to a fresh white pad and see if it solves it--but once again for my particular case, ultra soft black paint--I wanted to go for the finest polishing method that would get the job done right--and I was in a time crunch and didn't have the luxury to repolish anything twice. Now granted, I've never used the blue pad before so maybe it's softer than black! Maybe I've got it all wrong--but it was what I had on hand. LOL.

 

My goodness. So much to learn. Is there a cheat sheet I could have tatooed to my thumbnail. If I decide to remove the cheat sheet then, I start with the yellow pad . . . skip the non-existant blue . . . wait, is this detailing 101 or a Goddard film?

 

thanks OG!

 

Just stick around here in Detailing 101 and practice on your own PC.

Once you start using the pads, the colors and aggressiveness levels should make sense.

From most aggressive to least aggressive.
Yellow
Orange
White
Black

As for polishes
Cut
Swirl
Finish
Amigo

I mostly use Swirl and the Orange pad on MINI paint, although sometimes you only need Swirl and the White pad.

Cut is for serious defects and very occasional use. Finish isn't always necessary either--its on the other end of the scale as a fine polish. Amigo is also an optional step--great for soft paints and dark colors--great prep step before Epic, but again optional.

Hope that makes sense.

It's all about pairing the right chemical with the right pad to solve the problem at hand. I find that I'm mostly using the orange pad and Swirl on the majority of paints I buff.

Richard

 

Thanks OctaneGuy

I do not have a Portercable, but do have a cheap thing called Waxmaster I picked up a few years ago. It's got about a 10" bonnet, but I don't think it's random orbital.

For the Mini, I'll be keeping it up by hand always, as I won't ever let the little beauty go un-protected.

For the old Toyota, I'll work a little section by hand using the Cut product and a soft applicator pad to figure out what kind of surface I really have.

Regards, Paul

 

This is what is possible using an orange pad and Cut -


There are more pictures of the transformation of my friend's Ford here: Flickr
Of course you need to proceed cautiously since every paint is different; this Ford paint was very hard but it had not been touched in six years of outdoor parking in full sun.
Start light and move up if needed. Try Swirl first and if need be go to Cut. Cut is more difficult to work with because it can get gummy and it will sling really bad, but if you need it, you need it.

 

Wow that looks clean.

 

and it had clear coat problems that were beyond anthing a PC could do, so it depends on what's really going on.

If the clear is gone, you're pretty hosed, as the paint systems don't get glossy until the clear is on, so even if it's cleaned and polished, it will look dull (maybe tons of some product would reduce this, but I'm not sure).

Richard is much better at all this stuff than I am, so if I've said something stupid, I'm sure he'll correct it.

Matt

 

No Matt, I think you're off the hook this time.