Car oxidizes so fast! Solutions?

[sharingonegduf]

Hey all,

So I have a 98 Civic coupe and when I got my hands on it the black paint was heavily oxidized. So to fix that I:
-washed
-claybar
-compounded (tried meguiar's UC and also Chemical guys)
-then waxed
It looked great when finished but did not last very long. The paint oxidized very quickly and I'm back to square one.

Is my clear coat so thin that the paint oxidizes fast?

I was thinking of repeating the same process, but after compounding I would sand and prep the car to add a 2K clear coat myself. Then after a few weeks I would polish the clear coat to get rid of orange peel. Would my solution work? Or is there something else I'm missing. Thanks in advance!

 

[Calendyr]

1. What did you use to wax the car and how long do you allow between waxing?

2. Are you sure it's oxidation? Oxidation is caused by oxygen and water and takes time.

3. Applying clear coat might help, but it's hard to say. If your paint has failed, applying clear coat is not a good option. Maybe if you could post some pictures it would give us a better idea. In any case, if you do decide to clear coat the car, here are some thing you have to think about before doing it:

- You need to sand the current paint with 500 or 600 grit sand paper to make sure the clear will stick to the current paint.
- You have to make sure to mask and protect everything you don`t want clear coat on.
- You will need a place with little or no wind. A garage is best but consider where the overspray might land. Some towns have spray booths you can rent for a few hours to spray your car, that would be my recommendation.
- You need protective gear. 2K Clear is EXTREMELLY toxic. You will want eye protection, a breathing mask designed to painting cars, and clothes that cover every inch of your body, no exposed skin.
- If you decide to go with rattle cans, buy one can for each panel you spray. So that's about 10 cans for a typical car. If you go with a compressor and spray gun, you have to make sure your compressor has enough CFM to feed the gun for the entire coat. I cannot remember the numbers at the top of my head but if you google it answers are easy to find.
- Make sure that the paint is dry before starting to remove the masks and plastic (or paper) sheets. It's easy to make a mistake and rub some of it in the wet paint and then you have a mess on your hand you are forced to correct.

Clear coating a car is an expensive thing even if you do it yourself. Using paint cans calculate about 15-20$ per can for quality 2K clear. If you go with a spray gun I can't remember the exact prices but I believe you can get a basic clear coat bottle starting at around a 100$ and you will need to buy the reducer and or hardener needed for it separately. So at the very least 200$, more if you want quality clear. I am by no mean an expert on paint quality but I believe the top of the line clear you can get is made by PPG. Eastwood makes affordable products that are good quality if you want a better value. Again, I suggest you research it.

Hope this is of some help for you.

 

[Audios S6]

Were you getting color transfer on to your pads when you compounded? If not, then i would guess your clear is already in jeopardy/compromised. If you did get transfer, then it's single stage and will be a continuous battle, there is little you can do but apply a quality wax/sealant/coating (not many coatings are single stage friendly) and keep it away from the sun as much as possible.

Pictures before you compounded will help a lot

 

[sharingonegduf]

Thanks for the feedback, I've uploaded some pics of my hood before compounding and some progress into it.

Also, I did have color transfer on my pads, and since that indicates it pretty abrasive I want to apply clear coat. Wouldn't applying clear coat help protect my paint much more than just consistently applying waxes?

Also thanks for the safety tips!

I do realize how expensive this might get, so I have considered going cheaper with 1K clear coat since this is more of a project car. Would using 1L clear coat be a viable option, knowing that there is a quality and durability trade off?

 

[jtford95]

If it was black on your pad, it is single stage paint. Try some meguires #7 on it.

 

[GSKR]

Compound the crap out of it. Normally ss fades rather quickly from washing. Try a rinseless wash.

 

[spazzz]

If you are doing it yourself the 2K Spraymax isn't much more than 1k

 

[Octopiston]

Also, I did have color transfer on my pads, and since that indicates it pretty abrasive I want to apply clear coat. Wouldn't applying clear coat help protect my paint much more than just consistently applying waxes?

Transfer is indicative of single stage paint, not how abrasive a product is. 2 stage (base coat/ clear coat) does the same except the transfer is...well...clear.

Try something like Megs #7, as mentioned, to restore some of the oils to the paint. I've had several single stage painted cars (I'm older). You should not have to clear it for it to remain shiny.

 

[DARK HORSE]

Transfer is indicative of single stage paint, not how abrasive a product is. 2 stage (base coat/ clear coat) does the same except the transfer is...well...clear.

Try something like Megs #7, as mentioned, to restore some of the oils to the paint. I've had several single stage painted cars (I'm older). You should not have to clear it for it to remain shiny.

^^ :iagree: this is good advice!

 

[392hemi]

Do as mentioned by some above and use Megs 7.

If I were you I'd just plastidip it the whole car.

 

[panthershark]

So I had a similar concern (paint oxidizing after short period of time. I''m approaching differently this time and decided to use a coating Vs. A seal and wax....we shall see how it last in time

- Washed with CarPro iron X foam and clayed vehicle.
- Polished with Boss's Fast Correcting cream on a 5" Megs DFC5. Multiple passes on hood, while 2 on roof and trunk and just once elsewhere.
- Used CarPro eraser to prep for coating
- used two coats of CarPro C.Quartz ceramic quartz (used for first time and happy with ease of application and results.

Very happy with results on this almost 200k mile vehicle that was very much neglected when we purchased it.