Car respray problems

[Jerry T. Lincoln]

Is anyone familiar with car respray problems? I bought a car a few weeks ago. The red paintwork was nice and shiny at the time. However, within a week or two, the roof and bonnet developed an overall pale matt bloom. I tried using T-cut on the bonnet. A lot of hard polishing brought back the gloss at first, but within an hour or so, whitish streaks started appearing, following the lines of where I first applied the T-cut. I t-cutted again, to polish out the white streaks, and followed this with a coat of car wax, hoping this would stop the streaks reappearing, but when this dried, the streaks appeared again. They can almost be polished out using a clean dry cloth and some hard rubbing - but then they seem to reappear! The streaks appear to be on the surface, but I guess they actually penetrate the paint, judging by the amount of rubbing it takes to make them (almost) disappear.The roof and bonnet have obviously been resprayed, and obviously there is some problem with the way it was done. Is there anything I can try polishing the paintwork with to get a permanent gloss back and stop the whitish streaks reappearing? I'm hoping to avoid having to respray the affected areas.

Thank you..

Jerry L

[Malcolm]

Try using Autoglym cutting compounds rather than T-cut, I was a valeter years ago, and the stuff can get most scratches out and returns a matt faded finish back to full gloss, but if there isn't a lot of paint there and the base is coming through, then you may need to re-spray the affected area. If it's just the roof and bonnet, you could get away with using aerosol and a coat of clear lacquer. We have a pain shop that match the paint to the colour of the paint on the car so it blends in better.

Malcolm

Jerry T. L> Is anyone familiar with car respray problems? I bought a car a few

[Howdy]

What make of car was it? My wife's Fiat was exactly the same. Bonnet and roof were terrible. No matter what I did the colour would just fade a couple of days later. uk.rec.cars.maintenance had a few threads running on this very subject. "Red" & "Paint" should find the thread.

[:::Jerry::::]

The best thing you can do is get a car sprayer to have a LOOK at the problem, what you describe could be caused by many problems and without LOOKING at the problems it's imposable to give the correct answer - and the incorrect answer could cause more damage.

I wish I hade a quid for ever time I've been asked "How much to re-spray my car" over the phone, I feel like replying with 'How long is this bit of string I'm holding?'...!

[Peter Parry]

If the car was some years old the problem is likely to be that the paint has degraded in sunlight, red cars (particularly Vauxhaul it seems) are very prone to this. The seller has probably given it a good rub with polish (or a wipe with diesel fuel!) just before sale either "cure" usually lasts for about a week or so.

The effect is as you describe, an almost fine matt finish with a faint white bloom over the surface. Assuming it is not a metallic paint sometimes rubbing the car down well with cutting compound (looks like Brasso and can be bought from a car paint suppliers quite cheaply) will renovate the paintwork. Applied by hand it is hard and slow work, a medium sized car will take quite a lot of hours to complete properly.

gives instructions on how to do it - there are many similar sites.

[Chris Bacon]

Do you think a "car polisher", an electric tool with a buffer on it, would help? I've never used one myself, in case grit gets in the thing (!).

[:::Jerry::::]

metallic

You can certainly bu**er up any paint with one, and the problem most certainly does not need the use of Brasso!

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

There used to be a floor cleaner ("Dual"?) which if rubbed neat onto oxidised paint gave a lovely shine..(For about two days)

sponix

[Peter Parry]

Not unless you know what you are doing, it is very easy to damage the paintwork with one.

[Rob Morley]

That was a linoleum cleaner/polish that built up into a thick gummy residue after a few applications and had to be stripped off again - I remember my mother using it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

All these things - Brasso, T-Cut, Farecla etc are simply fine abrasives. They might be 'fine' to a different degree but all remove paint. Of course the solution they're in might dissolve some types of paint. But Brasso works well with cellulose.

[:::Jerry::::]

,

abrasives.

Brasso

Who said it was cellulose, which I doubt it is if it been through a trade paintshop.

Considering that the 'correct' compound is available to anyone who cares to find their nearest trade supplier I really can't see any reason for taking a risk.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No - I was just giving an example.

Well, IIRC Brasso has an alcohol base so I doubt it would dissolve most car paints.

Trouble with many of the 'trade name' products is that they cost a ridiculous amount for what they are.

[Jerry T. Lincoln]

It's a 1997 Nissan. However, I do suspect that the bonnet and roof have been resprayed because the colour of the paint is very slightly more purplish than the pillar-box red of the rest of the car.

Thanks,

Jerry L

[Jerry T. Lincoln]

Some great replies here. Many thanks to all.

Jerry L

[:::Jerry::::]

All the professional paint cutting compounds I've used are water based.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You tried removing them with water after they've 'set'? Like from tyres, etc. ;-) Or plastic?

[:::Jerry::::]

,

Oh yes I have, bloody messy painters..... :~(

Not sure what your point is though, ISTM that it's a bit like suggesting that emulsion isn't water based because you need paint striper to remove it after it dries!

[Pufter]

I have a 2000 vauxhall astra in red that suffers the same problem - i some areas (roof & top of tailgate in particular) the paint seems t lose gloss to a dull finish which is at best more pink than red & has whitish mist to it. I think this is a common problem with thi make/colour & does seem to be related to exposure to strong sunlight. found the best solution to be autoglym polish. It easily restores th affected areas, but only lasts a couple of months. It is better tha T-Cut. I have been told only long term solution is a respray of th affected areas

-- Pufter

[Jerry T. Lincoln]

Thanks... Looks like AutoGlym is worth a try then..

Jerry L