9 replies to this topic

[Joe V]

This is a freind's new used truck that sat in the phoenix sun for years. I've never seen paint crack like this. I failed to get an after picture, but I used Optimum Polish with an orange pad and my metabo at around 1500 rpm, working it for quite a while. I also tried Hi-temp heavy cut with a yellow pad, but the OP/orange seemed to work just as good or better. The cracks were rounded off and looked better, but they did not come close to being removed. I'm thinking about trying Optimum Compound, has anyone seen this problem before? the cracks can be felt with a finger nail and they look deep, but it's difficult to tell how deep.

see attached photo

Cheers
Joe

[Chris Thomas]

Joe V, on Jul 26 2008, 11:25 PM, said:

This is a freind's new used truck that sat in the phoenix sun for years. I've never seen paint crack like this. I failed to get an after picture, but I used Optimum Polish with an orange pad and my metabo at around 1500 rpm, working it for quite a while. I also tried Hi-temp heavy cut with a yellow pad, but the OP/orange seemed to work just as good or better. The cracks were rounded off and looked better, but they did not come close to being removed. I'm thinking about trying Optimum Compound, has anyone seen this problem before? the cracks can be felt with a finger nail and they look deep, but it's difficult to tell how deep.

see attached photo

Cheers
Joe

I'd go with OHC on a yellow pad right off the bat. You ain't gonna make it worse and it looks like it's through the clear or in it anyway.

[Bence]

This is called paint checking; clearcoat failure. It is unfortunately a permanent damage - it can not be removed, as the cracks are going through the entire clearcoat, sometimes through the basecoat as the paint "opens".

[Anthony Orosco]

Bence, on Jul 27 2008, 07:31 AM, said:

This is called paint checking; clearcoat failure. It is unfortunately a permanent damage - it can not be removed, as the cracks are going through the entire clearcoat, sometimes through the basecoat as the paint "opens".

Yep, what he said.

It's toast, sadly.

[Joe V]

Just as I feared then....too deep to fix. I protected the paint with spray wax to prevent further UV damage, and now the truck is in a much cooler part of AZ so hopefully it will last a while without getting worse. Thanks for the responses.

[Brent]

What are the most common causes of clearcoat failure? I have heard that "over polishing" a car leading to thinning out the clearcoat can result in clearcoat failure. What about cars that have never been polished but have clear coat failure? Too much exposure to the elements w/o proper protection?

[Bence]

Basically yes. There are a couple of variables, but the lack of protection plays a part*, just as UV, heat, contamination, polishing, etc.

*Interestingly, totally unprotected vehicles are in a better situation is some cases. The lack of surface tension results in a totally flat, pooling water film, which evaporated away very quickly, leaving practically no spotting. The surface tension doesn't allow the water to stay *sticking* on the surface and therefore the water returns to its most stable energetic state and forms a sphere (or close to this as we know). The results are horrible water spots and slow drying characteristics. Well, detailing and paint protection is a double edged sword...

[Joe V]

I re-buffed the paint with an orange pad and Optimum Hyper Compound, 1400 rpm on the rotary. Here is an after photo. The zoom isn't the same so it's not a perfect comparison, but the paint looked 75% better!! This was my first experience with the hyper compound and it worked well with the orange pad....left a nice finish on the paint but really took care of the edges on the cracks. I should note that the goal here wasn't high gloss.

[attachment=163:truck_after.JPG]

[dionnfr]

Nice job, looks 110X better. I would of thought you'd never get it back.

[repare-brise]

Once you have it down to that state there are a few products that can help protect it further. The first is Presto pro fill, sort of a cheesy web site with as seen on TV hype, but the stuff actually works, and can help keep that truck shining a little longer. The other is X Cote, another wipe on clear, but harder to get, but provides a much thicker film build.

For both products clean the paint witha good wax remover to rid the remaining cracks of any polish or wax residue, then apply product as per instructions. For the presto, best done indoors, with much elbow grease to work it inot the cracks, then bring outdoors to let the sun cure the product.