Polishing a car with clear coat failure

[Mc'lovin]

Esteemed experts,

I am rather inexperienced with machine polishing (did it only twice so far) and I am constantly asking friends to let me experiment with their car...

Finally one agreed and when I came to check out his extremely neglected car, it seemed that his clear coat had failed in certain parts, especially on the roof, as you can see in the pic below:

He said he really doesn't mind whatever happens to the car's paint and that I can have my way with it, so I'm wondering whether I should go for it or not?

Should I try polishing the parts where the clear coat is in tact? Will I gain any knowledge that you can think of from doing that?
Is there any point to try to polish around the clear coat failure areas?
If the answer is yes, what tips could you give me when attempting this task?

The car is 20 years old and extremely neglected as stated.

Thank you!

 

[Vegas Transplant]

Not looking good as you'll eat up pads.
Will make more of a mess than anything...but the verticle panels might present favorable condition to practice defect removal/polishing skills.

 

[c5errr]

try small panels and every time try something else

try sanding a small panel and of course that will remove the whole clear cuz it has clear coat failure so its very thin

but trying is a very good thing so that u know when to polish and when not to polish a car paint

if u have cquartz or opti coat try them also after polishing see what happens

 

[Vegas Transplant]

Esteemed experts,

I am rather inexperienced with machine polishing (did it only twice so far) and I am constantly asking friends to let me experiment with their car...

A suggestion if I may.
Instead of picking a vehicle that may not show off you polishing skills, and may lead to future avoidance of said other 'friends', why not offer a friend, neighbor, or my personal favorite - a stranger a reduced package.

Say, for the price of a wash, throw in a clay and an AIO. Or maybe, if you can convince someone that you're worthy of performing a one step, throw in quality polishing topped with a durable product such as 845.

You gain practice, customer gains value as seen in the durability of end results.

Time to make the donoughts

 

[Porsche Pilot]

Although you will see immediate results by polishing that panel, the results will not be long lasting at all. I have experimented with panels like that just to see what I could do. 6 days later and it was back to the way it was.

Here is the hood of a 2006 Mustang. The panel was trashed but looked ok after polishing. It's return to it's damaged state was not worth the effort. Like Vegas said, you may have better results witht the vertical panels.

 

[Mc'lovin]

Hi all,

After considering your advice I discussed it with my friend, and decided not to go for it after all..
I guess I'll need to learn on other cars.

Thanks a lot for the input!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The car is 20 years old and extremely neglected as stated.

Thank you!

One thing I always consider also when considering doing any type of work to any neglected car is after the hard work, will the owner take care of it?

I know there's something to be said for the "learning experience" but I always ask myself, how did the condition of the car get so neglected in the first place and more times than not it's due to neglect by the current owner. If that's the case,

What's changed?

What's changed now that after you do all your hard work that the car will now be taken care of?

Which means after all your time, money and resources , (hard work), what's changed that now the car will be taken care of?

If the answer is nothing, then walk away...


As to the paint on the car in the picture... stick a fork in it as it's done...