Restoring paint on 2001 Viper to its former glory

[V10 SPM]

The paint on my car is extremely hard to look after. It appears soft and is very easy to mark, even with the softest sponge and polishing cloth. The gloss black paint accentuates the light scratches and fly stains/water marks are a constant problem. I recently had the vehicle professionally detailed but all the imperfections are still visible and I struggle to see any significant difference. The problem is that some of the GRP panels have small pop marks and there is also minor crazing in the clear coat. Consequently the body was only lightly polished during the detailing process as paint thickness was hard to judge. I'm not happy with the result but do you think I should just live with the finish or is there something I can realistically do to improve the appearance?

[xjay1337]

Try applying a glaze such as Black hole or Super Resin with a soft pad via rotary or DA.

If it's really soft then not much you can do other than PPF , or respray.

Ceramic coating is a waste on really soft surfaces. You'll scratch it buffing it off.

[him]

Soft paint is always a difficult one to keep tip top. The usual suspects of soft paint - Porsche, lambo, koenigg etc are testimony to that. If one can get it up then it's keeping it that's the trick.

Yes, poor boys or any other filler glaze will hide the issues for a while, but soft black paint is the most difficult to maintain.

I've been using a ceramic 9h on a few cars and have experienced it on soft and hard paint finishes.

Once one has brought it up to snuff, and I prefer the Koch Chemie paint correction compounds for soft lacquers, it's essential to complete the alcohol wipe down process to really check the finish is good, one can then protect the car with the sealant.

The 'h' rating is the hardness of pencil one needs to. Use to scratch the paint, so 1 h like supergard, life shine or stargard gives virtually no protection. However the 9h gives uv, dirt, and scratch resistance. It also really brings out the shine and is hydrophobic.

You do have to be trained though to use it. If tHe bodywork is not perfect you not only lock in the defects but they are accentuated by the sealant.

Hope that helps.

Alastair