As many of you have reported in the past, hard water spots can be deadly. Well it happened to me! My wife parked the MINI at her work outside and during the AM the work sprinklers must of gone off. The car baked in the hot sun for 8+ hours before she brought the car home to me.

You could feel the raised drops etched over the entire car. I did the vinegar bath and soak, then tried using progressively more aggressive abrasives and pads with my Porter Cable Random Orbital. That didn't even phase it.

Finally I had pull out all the stops.....I worked up to a 3M Fine Cut Rubbing Compound with a Medium Pad and used my Makita Rotary buffer. I spent several hours just on the roof.

After these pics I applied a couple coats of Zaino Z2-Pro and Z8.

The first picture is a finished shot- half reflection of the dark tinted drivers window and half of the roof. The second shot is of the roof, obviously.

 

Awesome polishing job!

p.s. you are absolutely NUTS!

I'm doing good if I wash my MINI every few weeks with the gallon jug of car wash detergent I bought a Big Lots 3 years ago!

Of course, you probably think I am absolutely nuts too!

 

wow that is one shiny top..
make sure not to blind the SUV drivers near you since they sit higher on the road..
BTW I miss St. Louis.. live there for five year.

 

Wow! That first shot looks like a mirror!

(For all that work you did, your wife should at least mend that hole in your shirt! )

 

There goes my shot at the "Best Dressed Detailer Award"! Dang!

 

I feel for you Dude I have BANNED the water sprinkler from going anywhere near the MINI at my house

 

Nice pants...

 

I really do like the pants, reminds me of some kind of vintage/golfer/free-spirit pants. Oh yeah and that is a compliment:smile: . Parking next to sprinklers=story of my life. I somehow always manage to do it right after I wash her too.

 

I've got a friend at my office w/ an Indy blue 2004 MINI. The landscapers decided to do a sprinkler test, spraying his car with water on a Texas summer day (95-100 degrees) for a few minutes. Before the car was dried, they came by with a weed-eater and covered the car with dirt and grass.

 

Don't be dissin' my grungy shorts, man. They are comfy! I should have worn my shop apron but then you would be calling me Martha Stewart.

 

wouldn't claying followed by Z6 have done the job?....I've removed some dried up drops from a sprinkler nearby this way that wouldn't come off with simply washing and Z6'ing after,...the claying removed them....but maybe the water here isn't as hard as where you are...

 

Martha Stewart? No way man... She's done hard time... way more butch than a man in checked shorts wearing an apron...

 

Claying will remove residue but not actual etching, which is deeper paint damage. Claying was one of my first little experiments after the vinegar and it was useless because after the residue was removed there was more damage underneath.

 

This is one I'm not gonna win!

 

This thread is a good pre-Cardinals-game read!

Against water spots, all the good karma in the world contends in vain!

Thanks for raising the bar yet again, BradB. I have fluorescent lights in my garage too (I think I see a reflection of one in your pic), and they can be downright depressing, showing flaws so clearly. Wait that's the point .

Brad 1, Sprinklers 0,
Tatt