Scared that I may have burnt through clear coat compounding by hand

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TheRealBFKR

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Hi all,

So I found a weird yellow spot that was slightly protruding on my 1-month old '18 BRZ. I assumed it was a factory paint defect (could have been some crazy bird poop too) and decided to just compound it out.

I used a microfiber pad with Ultimate Compound and the small (1/4 inch maybe) yellow spot got a lot smaller and harder to notice, so I was happy. Then I noticed that in the process of doing so, I have managed to create a quarter-sized cloudy spot right below the now mostly gone yellow spot.

I tried hitting the spot with Ultimate Polish and for the life of me could not get the cloudy quarter-sized spot out. I have now stopped and am quite worried that I burnt through the clearcoat on my car. I thought I would be fine since I was doing this by hand, but I did exert quite a lot of pressure with my fingers when I was trying to compound out the yellow dot. I tried wiping the spot with a white towel and did not see any blue transffered onto it.

Thanks!
Burnt paint? - Album on Imgur
A very concerned detailing noobie

EDIT: To be clear, I used a lot of pressure on the concentrated yellow spot (two fingers pinching the microfiber pad.) I now realize that this was a bad idea...
 
Id be really surprised if UC by hand you could burn through your clear coat. I cant tell very well from the pics though.
 
dcjredline said:
Id be really surprised if UC by hand you could burn through your clear coat. I cant tell very well from the pics though.
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Sorry, the lighting was poor by the time I was trying to fix the haziness. I have stopped and will bring the car in to a detailer who has a small foam pad that may have a better luck getting rid of the marring/haziness than me. I just want to be able to sleep before then, haha. So, it is quite unlikely to burn the clear coat with microfiber pad and UC by hand? I did exert quite a bit of concentrated pressure with my fingers.
 
Looks like you have smeared the spot out to a larger area. Do you have any clay at hand? It could take off the dirt. Or even a tar remover could also work. It is what I could get out of the pictures. Could look different in person though. The detailer will sort it out.
 
After you compounded, what else did you try???? I.E. a finishing polish? Megs #7? etc?
You may not have burned it, but rather marred it... Try following up with some polish or #7, and see if that clears it up.

compounding by hand will not finish off like a DA and pad... Rather it will leave the area marred. Hard to burn clear by hand, but nothing surprises me these days.

Try what I suggested and see if that helps.
 
LSNAutoDetailing said:
After you compounded, what else did you try???? I.E. a finishing polish? Megs #7? etc?
You may not have burned it, but rather marred it... Try following up with some polish or #7, and see if that clears it up.

compounding by hand will not finish off like a DA and pad... Rather it will leave the area marred. Hard to burn clear by hand, but nothing surprises me these days.

Try what I suggested and see if that helps.
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Hi! Thanks for the response. I hand polished with a MF pad and Ultimate Polish. Only seemed to make the hazed up spot slightly larger.
 
A working theory is that my the ultimate polish+Mf pads combo is too coarse still to restore shine by hand. Or, perhaps it is indeed the weird yellow contamination smeared out and I need to clay the area.
 
If you have a cleaner wax/AIO or you can get something like d166 at a local store. I think it will be clearing the spot up. And clay first so you get anything embedded contaminants off before you polish by hand.

The spot could be different since if you look at the swirls on one picture. You can both cleaned and correct the spot so it difference to the untouch part of the paint.
 
That appears to be a paint defect to me,,clear coat will yellow like that if it gets to much heat from something like a heat gun used to remove a decal or stripe of somesort,,I doubt you did that much heat by hand.

I worked at a Subaru dealer in the early 90's and all the cars came with a cosmoline coating but I do not know if they still do or not,,if they do it could be a remnant of the cosmoline ,,you could try a little PB Blast on a rag and lightly rub it see ,,or take it to the dealer and show it to them
 
Yeah, that looks like strike through.

Especially if the spot gets bigger as you polish.
 
dlc95 said:
Yeah, that looks like strike through.

Especially if the spot gets bigger as you polish.
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https://i.imgur.com/G7GKElL.jpg

Yup, I burnt through it. :(

Only way to get it looking perfect again is a total respray? Or can the rear fender be partially resprayed and blended in? How much am I looking at for a factory quality (well, better than factory would be preferable actually) job?
 
Farmallluvr said:
That appears to be a paint defect to me,,clear coat will yellow like that if it gets to much heat from something like a heat gun used to remove a decal or stripe of somesort,,I doubt you did that much heat by hand.

I worked at a Subaru dealer in the early 90's and all the cars came with a cosmoline coating but I do not know if they still do or not,,if they do it could be a remnant of the cosmoline ,,you could try a little PB Blast on a rag and lightly rub it see ,,or take it to the dealer and show it to them
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Be that as it may, I did end up burning through the clear coat trying to get rid of the yellow spot. So it's on me to fix... Would you recommend taking it to the auto collision center associated with a Subaru dealership?
 
Any good body shop can repair/repaint the area. Ask around to see who is good. A good way to gauge a body shop is bu cleanliness. If the shop is filthy it’s likely they will do shoddy work.

Don’t feel bad I burned through my clear on a VW Jetta many years ago with a microfiber cloth and Scratch-X. Two fingers and a polish can do some damage.
 
TheRealBFKR said:
Be that as it may, I did end up burning through the clear coat trying to get rid of the yellow spot. So it's on me to fix... Would you recommend taking it to the auto collision center associated with a Subaru dealership?
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I wouldn't unless they are footing the bill,,remember you rubbed through the mark that was there already and you have picture proof,,some reputable dealers will meet you 1/2 way,,It's really a management call.just be courteous and explain you situation and that will make it more likely to get somewhere,,if not your not out anything.

do find a shop that does high quality work though.,,too bad it's burnt,,I am really surprised you did this by hand to be honest,,,wow.
 
Im shocked you went through that clear with a MF pad and UC. Were your freaking fingers hot while doing it? Geesh. Sucks man, we have all done it dont beat yourself up too much about it.
 
Thanks, you all are being really nice. This is my dream car and I can't believe I made such a dumb mistake one month into ownership.

Will the entire quarter panel have to be redone? (that extends from the A Pillar all the way to the trunk/bumper)
 
TheRealBFKR said:
Thanks, you all are being really nice. This is my dream car and I can't believe I made such a dumb mistake one month into ownership.

Will the entire quarter panel have to be redone? (that extends from the A Pillar all the way to the trunk/bumper)
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yup,,including any de trim and glass removal,,if a shop tells you it can be without doing that run away unless your car has removable window trim to get the clear underneath of,,anything less can lead to peeling of clear.
 
Farmallluvr said:
yup,,including any de trim and glass removal,,if a shop tells you it can be without doing that run away unless your car has removable window trim to get the clear underneath of,,anything less can lead to peeling of clear.
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Although this particular panel doesn't have any clear bra on, several neighboring panels do, namely the edge of the passenger door, bottom half of the rear bumper. Do these need to be removed for a proper blend? Or can someone theoretically do a good job without blending? This is World Rally Blue Pearl, which I have heard is somewhat difficult to match...
 
I see some comments here about burning thru while hand polishing being “hard to do”. I feel the complete opposite. When hand polishing, you can exert a lot of force on a very small area. When machine polishing, that pressure is spread out over a vastly larger area especially if you consider the math aspect of surface area in.

Anyway to the OP, I hope you get your new baby fixed up and back to like new condition. I’m sorry to hear about your issue. I would still talk to the dealer and be honest. Maybe they can help you out.
 
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