I cant figure out what these spots are...any idea? Pictures Included.

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jms493

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We have a Maroon 2002 Lexus ES 350 (190K Miles). This car was given to us and the paint was never maintained. It is my wife's car but it is test car for me to try out all sorts of products and methods...fun for me. Anyway...these spots are all over the roof/hood/trunk of the car.

What I have tried.

  • Heavy duty CG Black Clay
  • Porter cable speed 6 and 2-3 passes
  • HD Cut - Meguiars MF cutting pad
  • HD Polish
  • I even did a small test spot of wet sanding (4000 grit).

I wonder if it is acid rain that has etched itself in the paint. I kind of gave up...put a coat of Glanz wax on top of it. It is shiny and smooth as a baby's but and I removed most of the swirls but these spots are terrible. Any ideas?

Lexus trunk (8) by jms493, on Flickr

Lexus trunk (7) by jms493, on Flickr

Lexus trunk (6) by jms493, on Flickr

Lexus trunk (5) by jms493, on Flickr

Lexus trunk (4) by jms493, on Flickr

Lexus trunk (3) by jms493, on Flickr
 
Looks like clear coat failure. Did wet sanding help any?
 
The wet sand helped very little...but it was only 4000 grit.
 
Looks like hard water etching into the clear coat.
 
OP, imo, slow the machine down, put a little initial pressure into it, slow yourself down (arm speed) and keep working the HD cut/Megs MF combo with multiple passes and check your work to see what difference is being made on the spots. your machine doesn't have much power (which is just fine) so you want to give it time to work. and of course make sure the backing plate is spinning while you are moving along slowly. it doesn't appear these are too deep to be mostly removed but if they are, you just want to improve as much as possible without making the factory clear too thin for no real reason. i wouldn't wet sand anyway, but i esp. wouldn't wet sand right now considering how you initially went at this with the machine. i think your process needs to be modified with what you already have and see how that pans out.

good luck.
 
Best advice Builthatch has given since sounds like it just needs a little more work with the least aggressive method first. If that does not work then it still shines nice but not time to repaint yet.14 years old 190,000 thousand miles wont be like a garage queen.
 
I had a customer bring me a BMW with very similar spots. Paint was hammered on this thing and I had to remove a ton of swirls and scratches before the spots became super noticeable.
View attachment 38204
I started with a microfiber cutting pad and the rupes because it had so many swirls already. Ended up doing a very small spot with 2000 grit but the result was only a marginal improvement and certainly not worth doing anymore wet sanding on.
 
builthatch said:
OP, imo, slow the machine down, put a little initial pressure into it, slow yourself down (arm speed) and keep working the HD cut/Megs MF combo with multiple passes and check your work to see what difference is being made on the spots. your machine doesn't have much power (which is just fine) so you want to give it time to work. and of course make sure the backing plate is spinning while you are moving along slowly. it doesn't appear these are too deep to be mostly removed but if they are, you just want to improve as much as possible without making the factory clear too thin for no real reason. i wouldn't wet sand anyway, but i esp. wouldn't wet sand right now considering how you initially went at this with the machine. i think your process needs to be modified with what you already have and see how that pans out.

good luck.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

OP - I can't tell if your pictures are "after" pictures, but if they are there are too many swirls present to think that the best work is already done.
Last fall I bought a used Lexus with similarly hammered paint and I had to do 6 section passes (using pressure) with FG400 on a PC with a cutting pad. On panels that were bad, I went back and did another 4 passes on top of that. The PC doesn't have a lot of power and you need to give yourself time and have patience. You will be able to make a massive improvement I am sure if it.
 
Thanks for all the replies...i will get out there again hit and post my results. I am encouraged for sure.
 
OK update...I tried every combo I had as well as slowing down and applying pressure.

MF - HD Cut and 2 3 passes
MF - M105 and 2-3 passes
Orange Foam Pad with M105 - 2 passes
Some heavy Duty Clay...what the hell why not?!?!
Anyway it looked better but spots were still visible..

So I said screw it...let's wetsand. it seems like the only feasible way to get down that low and level out some of these craters.

I used 2000 grit and then 400 grit. So here are the results. by the way I tip my hat to those that can take pictures of these types of defects...it is so effing hard to get really solid pictures. I hope these tell the story a bit.

After trying every combo in my garage.
1st Buffing by jms493, on Flickr

Craters still there.
Marks still there by jms493, on Flickr
Marks by jms493, on Flickr

WETSANDING!!! AHHHH!:eek:
Wet Sand 1 by jms493, on Flickr

You can still see the dips in the clearcoat where the sanding does not get to.
Wet Sand 2 by jms493, on Flickr

During sanding I would stop and check progress
Wet Sand 3 by jms493, on Flickr

Buffed out...using MF Pad and HD Cut
After Buffing Wet Sand by jms493, on Flickr

Green pad and HD Polish and then hand waxed with Glanz Wax
After WS by jms493, on Flickr

After WS1 by jms493, on Flickr

After WS2 by jms493, on Flickr

After WS3 by jms493, on Flickr

And that is it...I believe this is what I will have to do to the roof and the hood. I would not attempt to do this with anyone else's car but it was fun to get it to improve to like 80%. This is a car I could car less if I burned through the clearcoat by accident. I just need to keep running until we replace it one day.
 
Is it me or the edges on trunk burnt ,I see some crazing I would not sand or cut that ,polish by hand and forget it,you are accelerating paint damage how is the roof and hood look?
 
GSKR said:
Is it me or the edges on trunk burnt ,I see some crazing I would not sand or cut that ,polish by hand and forget it,you are accelerating paint damage how is the roof and hood look?
Click to expand...

No the edges are not burnt...reflection of white garage.

The hood is a freaking disaster...there is a millions chips in the front and just as bad etching. It really needs a repaint. The roof just has a bunch of etching and no chips. Good thing there is a sunroof..less area to cover. Who knows when I will get to that. The sides of the car are ok but scuffed up here and there. I may just compound/polish the side of the car for now.
 
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