Car paintwork cleaning and restoration

[mrcheese]

I have a 1997 Discovery. I bought it last year as it was the right price and being from Japan it has no rust. I haven't used it and I could do with the money so I am doing a few jobs on it before selling it.

I have always assumed that the roof was sun faded.

I washed a test section with car shampoo, then T-Cut and finally polish.
The white residue now looks like either wax or tree sap. It scrapes free with my thumb nail and the paint underneath is in good condition.

Any suggestions on how to remove it? The above did not work and I tried a small section with lighter fluid with no results. The small section I cleaned with my nail polishes up nicely.

In the picture the top right bit is still wet.

 

[jayg]

panel wipe will get it off without damaging the paint.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Best advice I can give is to sign up to Detailing World, have a read there - particularly to bit about clay bars, best for removing paint surface contaminats.

If you're simply selling on, a going over with AutoGlym Super Resin Polish after claying will hide swirls etc in the short term. Follow this up with a coat of wax or sealant [Chemical Guys Jetseal 109 is good} and I can almost guarantee you'll add hundreds to the value.....

Remember the 'before' & 'after' pics too.......

 

[Ducky]

If it comes off with your nail than a clay bar would probably be the best for removing the contamination.

As mentioned above, DW is a very good source....but usually your wallet takes a beating once you join that forum..!

 

[Chipper]

It looks like it could be dead lacquer, in which case the loose cooked white stuff might come off with a polisher, but leave a tide mark where the clearcoat ends.

 

[J_K]

Definitely the laquer.

I tried fixing a mates roof with the same problem.
It didn't end well.
Complete rub down and repaint is the only cure.

His was a Jap import PS13 so it may be a jap paint problem.

This is why you should use a decent quality wax on your car. It cuts out the UV which is what destroys the laquer.

 

[Robotstar5]

His was a Jap import PS13 so it may be a jap paint problem.

It was painted in Solihull...

 

[the snooper]

without doubt laquer failure, respray / blend only to cure that

 

[J_K]

It was painted in Solihull...

Yeah. What I meant, and not what I wrote was, maybe it's the japanese sunlight and their lack of decent car polish.

Looking at a UV radiation map, Japan get pretty much twice what we get.

 

[jimi_boom]

Not sure if it’s a problem with the lacquer but as mentioned above one of the easiest ways to remove old wax or paint protection is to use a clay bar.

Don’t be afraid to buy one of the kits that Halfords sell this is the same stuff a pro uses, the only difference is that a pro can get his hands on more aggressive clay.

a good source for this kind of thing is polishing bliss.

And as mentioned above once you join detailing world and if you have that bug about things being clean you will start to spend.