Had a black spot of really sticky, ugly gunk on the paint (tar or sap or something industrial), tried all kinds of regular cleaners, nothing worked. Then used some polishing compound, worked nicely to remove the gunk - but now I have a little cloudy spot.

You can onlysee thecloudy spot (about the size of a dime) when you look from a certain angle, and the light is hitting ita certain way. Flourescent light especially seems to make it visible. Really small, yes, but it is annoying me.

I have seen several products in the store that claim they can 'erase' little scratches in the clearcoat (which is what the cloudy spot is, I imagine - a bunch of really minor little abrasions in the surface of the clearcoat).

Question is: Have any of you had success dealing with minor scratches or cloudy spots in your clear coat? What product/process would you recommend?

 

i know what u mean my door got scratched one time and they had to repaint it and everything i have agrey mica color, anyway they did not do a good job cuz from acertain angle under the sun it looks like it's smudge correct? i think u might end up needing to buff it or something... don't take my word for it though because i am not sure.

 

What kind of compound did you use to get the "gunk" off? It's a possibility that the compound put tiny scratches on your clear coat.

I have yet to find a product that claims to remove small scratches that actually works, I'm convinced there isn't one out there (hopefully someone can correct me). I guess really the question is how brave are you? You could always try wet sanding it, and buffing it. But if you're not careful, you'll end up making it worse.

 

EDIT: Double post owns me. [sm=chairshot.gif]

 

As I said in my post, Neonix, I used polishing compound. And, as I said in my post, it probably is minor abrasions. Barely noticeable, but there.

Yes, bagurl, it looks like a smudge.

I don't want to do an experimental "wet sand" especially since when I used the polishing compound, I used plenty of water, and ended up with the result I have.

Any success stories out there?

 

well try to post ur pic on here... i think we are both in the same situation. i am gonna get mine buffed next week or so cuz the people did not do a good job... anyway i'll let u know

 

its very possible that the spot your describing is an area of the clear coat that has been eaten away by the gunk on your car. just like when you get bird droppings on it and it bakes into the paint by the sun..it actually eats into the clear coat.i know youdont want to get into sanding but,sand it down lightlywith 1500 grit wetsand paper and buff it out with acutting compound then a light compound thengo to a polish. if not have your local body/detail shop do it for you. . iwork at a body shop, soi do this kind of thing every day .good luck

 

Oh6sixXx ... thanks for the post ... when you saya cutting compound and a light compound and go to polish ... can you provide some SPECIFIC recommendations as to what products to use?

I have seen that Turtle Wax has some products ... 1) a polishing compound specifically for clearcoats,and 2)a "Scratch and Swirl" remover polish specifically for clearcoats. What do you think of these possibilities?

 

at the shop we use3M 05934 Perfect It IIIrubbung compound for cutting out the 1500 gritsand scratches, but that still leaves extremely slight scratches from the grit in the compound so you move on to thefine compound(we use Ardex4203 1500 PLUS Finishing Material) on a yellow/white foam padthat removes those marks and leaves a swirl free finish then go to apolish (Ardex 4204 2500 PLUS Foam Pad Finishing Material) on a gray foam padfallow up with a nice coat of GOOD wax and your done. you can order these products online through 3M and Ardex websites. there are other products out there but this is what i use.this should all be done with a buffer 2500 RMP for the compounding and 1000-1500 rpm for the polishing. if you do need any additional info PM me. hope this helps, Nick.