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Showtime

Showtime

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Hey guys, I'm detailing a 2003 50th Anniversary Corvette for a customer of mine. He has etched in water spots on the hood. They didn't appear to bad, so I first tried a light polish and my PC. That didn't work, so I bumped up to a more aggressive compound. Still didn't work.

Then I decided to switch over to my Dewalt rotary using a yellow foam pad and HD Cut from 3D products. After my first pass, I noticed I had a light reddish pink residue on my pad...being that the car is red, I told my customer I would have to stop and do some research.

It seems that the 50th anniversary paint job has whats called a tintcoat in addition to the clear. My question is: am I see the tint coat on the pad or is the 13 year old car that hasn't been waxed nearly as often as it should losing its clear and exposing paint? I don't have a paint gauge so thats out of the question, unfortunately.

Anyone shed some light on this? If its just the tint coat, I am going to propose wet sanding to get these water spot etchings out.
 
I don't really have pictures...just basically wondering if the Tintcoat on a Corvette will transfer to the pad.
 
Showtime said:
I don't really have pictures...just basically wondering if the Tintcoat on a Corvette will transfer to the pad.
Click to expand...

Yes, it will transfer, but should be fairly light in color vs. what you would see polishing single stage.

I was curious about the level of etching, as you indicated you were considering wet sanding. Photos would help Forum Members give suggestions regarding process and products.
 
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...438-2011-camaro-modeled-amy-4.html#post535104

From the above article:

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Here you can see the tint in the tinted clear coming off the car as we compound it and onto the face of the pad. This is nothing to worry about, keep in mind when you're doing any correction work on a clearcoat paint system you too are removing paint that is building up on the face of your buffing pad but because the paint is clear you won't see it build-up on the face of your pad.

2011RJTCamaro010.jpg
Click to expand...


Bob
 
Amy did a heck of a job removing the wax :dblthumb2:
 
It will. 50th anniversary red, as you mentioned, has a red tint coat. There is red pigments in the clear coat from the factory to give the paint added richness and depth. It will definitely show on your pad.
 
Sounds like Type II water spots. I think in my how-to book I state these are the worst type of defect there are to remove.

When it comes to water spots if possible. Try to find how they happened? You don't want to remove water spots if there only going to come back due to an owner parking their car where a sprinkler always goes off - like a Condo situation with assigned parking.

Also Google this,

Clearcoats are thin Mike Phillips

Then share the info and the picture with the owner of the Corvette.

It might be you can only safely improve them instead of completely remove them.

:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Sounds like Type II water spots. I think in my how-to book I state these are the worst type of defect there are to remove.

When it comes to water spots if possible. Try to find how they happened? You don't want to remove water spots if there only going to come back due to an owner parking their car where a sprinkler always goes off - like a Condo situation with assigned parking.

Also Google this,

Clearcoats are thin Mike Phillips

Then share the info and the picture with the owner of the Corvette.

It might be you can only safely improve them instead of completely remove them.

:)
Click to expand...

The source of the water spots is unknown. The car is literally babied in the garage. They are Type II and they will be very difficult to remove. I already told him to be prepared for just an improvement, not a removal.

Coincidentally, I'm also doing a 1995 Corvette that is a rare combination of Polo Green Metallic and something about the interior that makes it like a 1 of 30 car. Could be blowing smoke, but it too as horrible water spots on the hood that I can only remove about 80%
 
Showtime said:
I am going to propose wet sanding
to get these water spot etchings out.
Click to expand...
•Hope you've changed your mind about doing this.

•But if you decide to go that route,
(and perchance there's a "boo-boo")...
-Here's the paint code for this vehicle:

(Dupont)
94U Anniversary Red Pearl Metallic (Tintcoat)
WA-820K/GM-94

Stock Number: P4727/P4728
----------------------------------

Note:
GM's Part# for Anniversary Red Metallic Paint:
#12346639


Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
•Hope you've changed your mind about doing this.

•But if you decide to go that route,
(and perchance there's a "boo-boo")...
-Here's the paint code for this vehicle:

(Dupont)
94U Anniversary Red Pearl Metallic (Tintcoat)
WA-820K/GM-94

Stock Number: P4727/P4728
----------------------------------

Note:
GM's Part# for Anniversary Red Metallic Paint:
#12346639


Bob
Click to expand...

Thanks Bob, I appreciate it. This won't be my first venture into the wonderful world of wet-sanding. I wet sanded the 1995 Metallic Polo Green Corvette I mentioned above to about 80-90% correction on the water spots and I've wet sanded numerous other vehicles including my own Mustang and my wife's black Audi S5.

That being said, is there a reason you're suggesting against this other than making sure I'm not a novice at it?
 
Showtime said:
That being said, is there a reason you're suggesting against this other than making sure I'm not a novice at it?
Click to expand...
Yes...(and it doesn't matter to me whether
a person is a wet-sanding novice, or not):

Reduction of the OEM CC paint's thickness,
via the total wet-sanding processes, will
greatly reduce its service-life expectancy.


Bob
 
FUNX650 said:
Yes...(and it doesn't matter to me whether
a person is a wet-sanding novice, or not):

Reduction of the OEM CC paint's thickness,
via the total wet-sanding processes, will
greatly reduce its service-life expectancy.


Bob
Click to expand...

That general statement does not seem like something Bob would say. Who took over your keyboard.

Not stating all of the variables, such as exposure to the elements, follow on maintenance, etc. should at least receive a quick consideration, before stating that the OP's suggested process will "greatly reduce its service-life expectancy".

What if his next step is to apply a coating and he enjoys waxing the vehicle weekly and he has a garage and it's not his Daily Driver.

Slipping



I think the OP should wet sand it, in the nude; using Megs Wheel Brightener as sanding lube!
 
AGOatemywallet said:
I think the OP should wet sand it, in the nude; using Megs Wheel Brightener as sanding lube!
Click to expand...

That was the plan. Duh!

No but seriously, the customers options are A) wet sand and remove the water spots and have a slightly thinner clear or B) live with the water spots and have a factory thick clear coat finish.

As mentioned in the original post, the car is a weekend "show car" and in its 13 year life, has only accumulated 16000 miles (I believe). It is garage kept in an A/C'd garage with beautiful glossed flooring and nothing within 3 feet of it on any side lol. The car is pampered.
 
FUNX650 said:
Yes...(and it doesn't matter to me whether
a person is a wet-sanding novice, or not):

Reduction of the OEM CC paint's thickness,
via the total wet-sanding processes, will
greatly reduce its service-life expectancy.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I should have stated it as fact
being handed down from the Mount...
not unlike most every other random
conjecture that's stated here.


Bob
 
Personally I would never wet sand factory paint, liability is just not worth it. That being said, you may want to invest in a paint thicknesses meter. Also thanks for sharing that tinted clear bit. I've polished a few cars that have done this to my pads and been very confused by it. I knew the clear was still intact (I have a PTM) so it was always a head scratcher.


www.JaxDetails.com
www.facebook.com/DentsAndDetails
I may be slow, but I do poor work.
 
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