Single stage paint correction: What did I do?

[joelmorehouse]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking here for a while and finally decided to take the plunge into the world of detailing and bought myself a Porter Cable, some Chemical Guys orange and white foam pads, some Megs Ultimate Polish and NXT Wax/Sealant. I have a red NA Miata and was trying to remove some pretty severe water spots on my front bumper with the PC with UP on an orange pad. After about 5 passes with moderate pressure on speed level 5, I ended up with this mess: DA haze on NA Miata - Album on Imgur

The strange speckled fade from the original paint to the newly polished/hazy section concerns me. I understand that these Miatas are single-stage paint, so I'm hesitant to do any more aggressive correction without some input first. Can anyone tell me what I'm looking at and how to fix it?

Thanks!

 

[2black1s]

Hard to tell for sure from just a pic but if I had to guess it looks like one of two things to me... 1) either micro cracks in the paint; or 2) it's a blend edge where the panel was spot repaired.

Might even be both with the cracks being in the blend area of the newer paint.

In any case, if my guess is accurate you won't be able to polish it away.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's your pictures, I downloaded them, cropped out the fluff and then uploaded them to the AGO gallery for easier viewing here...


This first picture looks to me to be normal swirls and scratches?

These two pictures here look like you're chasing a blend line, that is the paint on the left side was painted at a different time than the paint on the right side and is UNDER the paint on the right side. As you continue to buff you'll move the "line" towards the right.

This is a full size section cropped out of the original and again, looks like you're buffing on a blend line. Was the car ever repainted?

:dunno:

 

[LSNAutoDetailingLSNAutoDetailing is verified member.]

Mike, would an application of #7 help with the cracks and possibly the water spots?
I say #7 because it's the safest (non-abrasive) to moisturize and hide blemishes... just a thought.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Wow, this is a great instructional thread for what you run into in the real world where you never know for sure what you'll run into with the paint on your car.

Well, that didn't come out right, and I know that blending is a standard bodyshop practice but the problem the OP is experiencing doesn't seem to be one that comes up on the forum often, and it's just a lesson about what you can run into, even if you've had your car since new (which we don't know in this case yet), cars can be repaired at the port or the dealer and you could still run into this. And of course if you're a pro detailer, this is something you could encounter any day of the week.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike, would an application of #7 help with the cracks and possibly the water spots?
I say #7 because it's the safest (non-abrasive) to moisturize and hide blemishes... just a thought.

It certainly wouldn't hurt anything but I don't think it would fix anything either.

I've buffed out a number of Miatas with single stage paint in my life. I always found they had very good paint from the factory, both the single stage models and the clearcoated models.


Looking forward to the OP of this thread to chime back in with some more info...

 

[joelmorehouse]

Here's your pictures, I downloaded them, cropped out the fluff and then uploaded them to the AGO gallery for easier viewing here...


This first picture looks to me to be normal swirls and scratches?

Hey Mike! I was just listening to you on a detailing podcast (AMMO NYC, I think). Thanks for taking the time to correctly insert these photos. Sorry, I should have added descriptions. This first picture was just for reference - I actually didn't notice this blend line before polishing, so I thought that I created it, and the first image was meant to illustrate what the paint originally looked like. It sounds like it's unanimous, though, that this is a blend line from spot repair.

I did go back to try to find some images of the car before, and although lighting conditions for defect spotting is less than ideal, I really can't see ANY trace of the line:

View attachment 50510
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These two pictures here look like you're chasing a blend line, that is the paint on the left side was painted at a different time than the paint on the right side and is UNDER the paint on the right side. As you continue to buff you'll move the "line" towards the right.

This is a full size section cropped out of the original and again, looks like you're buffing on a blend line. Was the car ever repainted?

To my knowledge, the car was never repainted. I bought it from the second owner just a few weeks ago and they said they pretty sure it was never involved in an accident, as they purchased it from a friend and the original owner.

It's interesting that the paint on the right would be on top of the paint on the left, as the right side is the section that I buffed, and the left is untouched. I applied a wax to the buffed section to protect it from the sun while I figured out what to do, which dramatically reduced the appearance of the line. Any chance I can remove that blend line by compounding the entire front bumper?

 

[rmagnus]

I'm curious if it's single stage paint. Did the color come off on your pad, did the pad turn red? Also did you do a test spot anywhere on the the car?

 

[shadwell]

When trying to ID single stage or clear suggest do not assume the bumpers for example are painted with the same tech as the body... a small ding repair and respray for example would lead to colour and clear on a bumper from a body shop... with the body being single stage..
So test the section you will be working on and disregard (so to speak) adjacent sections when the history is not guaranteed..

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hey Mike! I was just listening to you on a detailing podcast (AMMO NYC, I think).

Must have been another Mike as I don't remember recording any podcasts with Larry? :dunno:

Thanks for taking the time to correctly insert these photos. Sorry, I should have added descriptions.

No problemo... it's what I do...

Any chance I can remove that blend line by compounding the entire front bumper?

The blend line might be there for a reason and if you buff it off you'll uncover the reason.

I wasn't clear after re-reading this thread but is the dull paint on the right clearcoat? And the paint on the left is single stage?

If that's the case then "something happened" to the right hand side of the bumper to cause someone to repaint it and clear it?


I don't know... seriously just guessing without seeing it in person. I'd suggest taking it to a local body shop and kindly as one of their long time painters or body shop guys to take a look at it and they can probably tell exactly what's going on.

 

[VAS]

The blend line might be there for a reason and if you buff it off you'll uncover the reason.

I wasn't clear after re-reading this thread but is the dull paint on the right clearcoat? And the paint on the left is single stage?

If that's the case then "something happened" to the right hand side of the bumper to cause someone to repaint it and clear it?


I don't know... seriously just guessing without seeing it in person. I'd suggest taking it to a local body shop and kindly as one of their long time painters or body shop guys to take a look at it and they can probably tell exactly what's going on.

I'd tend to agree with this assessment.

In my experience with blend lines (which is usually on the fresher side, 15-72 hours old) you can wet sand the area with 1500 (and up because you're inevitably going to touch the oem paint) by hand in that 6-8 inch area starting at the line and moving over to reduce the level of clear coat and further blend the area. Consider it beveling the clear coat on a nano scale to gradually reduce the depth of the blended area.

*HOWEVER* I don't know that this technique will work in this case. I personally have never had a case with a BC/CC blend area was directly on top of single stage, but the 2 finishes in these pictures seem to be night and day. It's most likely only an issue in direct sunlight. You might be looking at having the whole bumper repainted to cure this issue if the above doesn't make it any less noticeable.

 

[joelmorehouse]

Must have been another Mike as I don't remember recording any podcasts with Larry? :dunno:

Ah, it must have been the Auto Detailing Podcast with Jimbo, then!

I'm curious if it's single stage paint. Did the color come off on your pad, did the pad turn red? Also did you do a test spot anywhere on the the car?

Some color did come off, but nowhere near as much as when I polished other sections of the car. I didn't take note of whether the amount of paint that came off on the pad varied between the sections of the bumper in question. When I revisit this bumper, I'll polish each side independently to see if there's no paint transfer on the suspected clearcoated side.

I wasn't clear after re-reading this thread but is the dull paint on the right clearcoat? And the paint on the left is single stage?

I have no idea. I actually suspected that the left side was clearcoated, as it looks like there are some sanding marks on the left fender which would indicate bodywork on the panel next to the left side of the bumper. When I get a chance, I'll try polishing each side of the blend line independently to see if any difference in paint transfer to the pad.

I don't know... seriously just guessing without seeing it in person. I'd suggest taking it to a local body shop and kindly as one of their long time painters or body shop guys to take a look at it and they can probably tell exactly what's going on.

Thanks for the suggestion. I might end up doing this. In the meantime, do you have any recommendations for clearing up the haze? Someone else suggested that it may be due to leftover product, and a wipe down with IPA before re-polishing might clear it up. Anything technique-wise that causes DA haze? Pressure, speed settings, etc?

 

[joelmorehouse]

I'd tend to agree with this assessment.

In my experience with blend lines (which is usually on the fresher side, 15-72 hours old) you can wet sand the area with 1500 (and up because you're inevitably going to touch the oem paint) by hand in that 6-8 inch area starting at the line and moving over to reduce the level of clear coat and further blend the area. Consider it beveling the clear coat on a nano scale to gradually reduce the depth of the blended area.

*HOWEVER* I don't know that this technique will work in this case. I personally have never had a case with a BC/CC blend area was directly on top of single stage, but the 2 finishes in these pictures seem to be night and day. It's most likely only an issue in direct sunlight. You might be looking at having the whole bumper repainted to cure this issue if the above doesn't make it any less noticeable.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely have to try this. Totally makes sense.

If I can't fix it to my satisfaction, I may end up searching for a new bumper since I have the famous "license plate dimples" anyway.