Discussion
I have a 1998 MX5 which did have very rusty rear arches. It's just been in a bodyshop to get the rust cut out and new arches and sills welded in, as well as repairing some rust on the boot. This basically involved spraying the whole rear of the car. So I thought the best thing to do whilst at the bodyshop would be to get them to machine polish the front half of the car.
Anyway, I picked up the car this morning and spent all my time inspecting the rear of the car but didn't really look at the front. (I know, I'm kicking myself now). The rear looks great, however, the front is worse than when I took it in. It's beautifully smooth but every minor chip or imperfection in the paint is now white in colour (the car is dark green). The imperfections were previously green, so were not noticeable at all. So it now looks awfull as the bonnet and front bumper are just covered in white specs which are noticeable from about 5ft.
Is there anything I can do to sort this out myself as the bodyshop is a 90min drive away, which is a pain (I took it to a specialist MX5 bodyshop, hence the distance). I have already washed it with plenty of elbow grease, which has made little difference. Would Colour Magic work? Is there anything else I can try as it's a pain and will cost £15 in petrol just to take it back to the bodyshop. I've not spoken to them yet as they are closed this afternoon, but will be doing first thing on Monday morning.
Cheers
Anyway, I picked up the car this morning and spent all my time inspecting the rear of the car but didn't really look at the front. (I know, I'm kicking myself now). The rear looks great, however, the front is worse than when I took it in. It's beautifully smooth but every minor chip or imperfection in the paint is now white in colour (the car is dark green). The imperfections were previously green, so were not noticeable at all. So it now looks awfull as the bonnet and front bumper are just covered in white specs which are noticeable from about 5ft.
Is there anything I can do to sort this out myself as the bodyshop is a 90min drive away, which is a pain (I took it to a specialist MX5 bodyshop, hence the distance). I have already washed it with plenty of elbow grease, which has made little difference. Would Colour Magic work? Is there anything else I can try as it's a pain and will cost £15 in petrol just to take it back to the bodyshop. I've not spoken to them yet as they are closed this afternoon, but will be doing first thing on Monday morning.
Cheers
The white stone chips were likely to have been there all along - the machine polishing may have removed something, like chipstik wax, from the indentations and caused the chips to become noticeable.
Stone chips can be:
1) ignored
2) resprayed ie whole panel done
3) touched in with stonechip paint (best layered, takes a while if there's a lot, colour match never great)
4) filled with Color Magic Chipstik by Turtle Wax - don't go for a liquid, only the lipstick style wax will do. Again, a poor colour match is likely and this is only a temp fix as the wax isn't permanent. A good result for not a lot of money perhaps, and what may have been on the car before.
Stone chips can be:
1) ignored
2) resprayed ie whole panel done
3) touched in with stonechip paint (best layered, takes a while if there's a lot, colour match never great)
4) filled with Color Magic Chipstik by Turtle Wax - don't go for a liquid, only the lipstick style wax will do. Again, a poor colour match is likely and this is only a temp fix as the wax isn't permanent. A good result for not a lot of money perhaps, and what may have been on the car before.
Ouch.
Cheers Domster. Glad I didn't go nuts at the bodyshop before getting your response. What you're saying makes sense and I suspect is the most likely cause. Wish I hadn't got it polished now, damn.
Having now done a bit of research I've found DrColourchips which sounds like the way forward. Have a look at the results on the link below.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Cheers Domster. Glad I didn't go nuts at the bodyshop before getting your response. What you're saying makes sense and I suspect is the most likely cause. Wish I hadn't got it polished now, damn.
Having now done a bit of research I've found DrColourchips which sounds like the way forward. Have a look at the results on the link below.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...
Hope it gets sorted ok for you and report back re the Colourchips stuff if you use it 
You've not had any paintwork done on the front?
Sounds like they've given the car a good polish ("beautifully smooth") and then a deep wax across the whole thing, then buffed it off. The wax build is left in the chips and imperfections, and is white.
Just being in the bodyshop won't have turned the chips white, it's something that's *in* the pit.
If it's a tough wax and deep chips, a wash won't remove much. Let the new paint settle, then a good snowfoam with a foaming TFR maybe? Then replace the wax with one (or a sealant) which dries clear, not white.
From what you describe, the marking is likely to be very temporary, I shouldn't worry.
Tol
Sounds like they've given the car a good polish ("beautifully smooth") and then a deep wax across the whole thing, then buffed it off. The wax build is left in the chips and imperfections, and is white.
Just being in the bodyshop won't have turned the chips white, it's something that's *in* the pit.
If it's a tough wax and deep chips, a wash won't remove much. Let the new paint settle, then a good snowfoam with a foaming TFR maybe? Then replace the wax with one (or a sealant) which dries clear, not white.
From what you describe, the marking is likely to be very temporary, I shouldn't worry.
Tol
Edited by Anatol on Monday 2nd November 10:07
Cheers Anatol. I don't have a foaming lance (or working pressure washer, it died this summer) and can't seem to find any TFR's that you can use without one. Will something like Autoglym Tar Remover do the same job? Or are there TFR's out there that you can apply by hand?
Also, do you know if Autoglym High Definition Wax Dries clear, as that is what I'd bought to apply? If not, do you know what waxes dry clear.
Many thanks
Also, do you know if Autoglym High Definition Wax Dries clear, as that is what I'd bought to apply? If not, do you know what waxes dry clear.
Many thanks
I'm a refinisher, so I'm not the best person to ask on valeting/detailing products, doubtless one of the pro's will be along to help you out with suggestions before too long.
As for wax options, Turtle wax do one that dries clear, or the other option is to use their colour-matched wax, that won't highlight any chips...
Tol
As for wax options, Turtle wax do one that dries clear, or the other option is to use their colour-matched wax, that won't highlight any chips...
Tol
It could also be the polish been pushed in to the chips hence there showing brite white, try some panel wipe or IPA and see if it dims them down a bit, its not going to remove the chips but it will remove any polish that is in them,
Doms suggestions are good and another to consider would be the dr chips colour fix thingiy, we did a car and used one of these for the front end and whilst it was not a perfect fix its the best iv seen short of a respray.
Doms suggestions are good and another to consider would be the dr chips colour fix thingiy, we did a car and used one of these for the front end and whilst it was not a perfect fix its the best iv seen short of a respray.
autoglym tar remover will do the job fine. just put some on a cloth and try on a few of the white bits - will be obvious very quickly if its just dried polish build-up.
if not, my recommendation would be to get a citadel paintbrush and a tub of touch-up paint and paint em in by hand. As domster mentions it will take a while........ if you post the paint code and model year of car my chap could mix you up a pot which should be close enough for jazz.....
eta, oh yeah..its a MY98...doh
if not, my recommendation would be to get a citadel paintbrush and a tub of touch-up paint and paint em in by hand. As domster mentions it will take a while........ if you post the paint code and model year of car my chap could mix you up a pot which should be close enough for jazz.....
eta, oh yeah..its a MY98...doh
Edited by Nightmare on Monday 2nd November 23:23
Sorry, yes Isopropyl alcohol, i personally would not recommend using tar and glue remover, if you can get your hands on some panel wipe, tar and glue removers can actually soften the paint slightly whilst there active on the paint work and then when your rubbing trying to get the polish out the chips you are more likely to "scar" the paint work, a panel wipe evaporates quicker and will do the job faster any way.
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