To Polish or not to Polish? (or just wax)

[Zeppelin89]

Hey guys, I need some advice on my 93 Camry V6, LE, Dark Emerald Pearl coloured. I've been working on it, cleaning it and stuff, and I began waxing over this week and noticed theres some weird spots on the rear right fender (or whatever it's called), and I'm not sure if I should bother polishing it first or just wax over.

I'm worried that I might make it worse if I polish it, cuz it seems like a layer of clearcoat is peeling off, I'll post pics so you guyes see what im talking about.

ANd lastly I wanan clean the grill but I'm not sure what to use on it.













This is another spot, rear right door..



And lastly the grill..

[Tommy]

looks like stains and crap that youve just sealed into your paint by waxing it weekly.

you're overwaxing for one thing, and even then, you arent doing it right. If you want the paint to look good, you need to clean it, not just cover it up with wax.

You definatly need to polish, if you do it right, youll get rid of all those stains and the terrible swirl marks youve got going on. Go over to www.autopia.com and read the How-To's about detailing, washing, waxing and polishing.

[Razo-E]

for the grille, repaint it with plastidip..

http://www.plastidip.com/consumer/index.html

(comes in a few colors)

it's a rubberized spray, similar in texture to the rubber hoses in your engine bay...

about $5 a can at Home Depot, Lowes, etc...

[Tideland Prius]

Either way, I suggest a polish. The paint has enough swirls and scratches that polishing will be worth the effort.

[PolishAndWax]

Originally Posted by Zeppelin89

Hey guys, I need some advice on my 93 Camry V6, LE, Dark Emerald Pearl coloured. I've been working on it, cleaning it and stuff, and I began waxing over this week and noticed theres some weird spots on the rear right fender (or whatever it's called), and I'm not sure if I should bother polishing it first or just wax over.

I'm worried that I might make it worse if I polish it, cuz it seems like a layer of clearcoat is peeling off, I'll post pics so you guyes see what im talking about.

ANd lastly I wanan clean the grill but I'm not sure what to use on it.

This is another spot, rear right door..

And lastly the grill..

Looks to me like your clear coat is gone.

Take a white cloth and a little water and gently rub the area above where the 'peel' appears to be. If the color of your car appears on your cloth, your clear is gone and there is no remedy other than a new paint job.

If your cloth doesn't get colored, then I was really fooled by what sure looks like toasted clearcoat! Especially since the worst areas seem to be facing upwards...typically this is what goes first.

[secrecyguy]

Originally Posted by PolishAndWax.com

Looks to me like your clear coat is gone.

Take a white cloth and a little water and gently rub the area above where the 'peel' appears to be. If the color of your car appears on your cloth, your clear is gone and there is no remedy other than a new paint job.

If your cloth doesn't get colored, then I was really fooled by what sure looks like toasted clearcoat! Especially since the worst areas seem to be facing upwards...typically this is what goes first.

That's what it looks like to me!

As the other poster said, he over waxed it.

I made the same mistake in overwaxing my old car that I used to have.

You should only wax your car once every 6 months. No more.

[Pb]

You have some issues that can only be fixed by repainting, but you also have a lot of swirls that can be fixed with polish and a buffer.

[Zeppelin89]

I just got the car about two weeks ago, so I haven't been the one overwaxing, I've only waxed the hood, and the two right doors, and the fender, that's it.

So ya think its the clearcoat coming off eh?

Thanks for the advice

[PolishAndWax]

Originally Posted by Zeppelin89

I just got the car about two weeks ago, so I haven't been the one overwaxing, I've only waxed the hood, and the two right doors, and the fender, that's it.

So ya think its the clearcoat coming off eh?

Thanks for the advice

Try the white cloth test...

Also, perhaps 'overwaxing' is not the right term...because if your wax contains no abrasives or anything else that would remove paint, waxing doesn't hurt your paint. You should be able to do it weekly with no ill effects.

Overpolishing, however, is a different story...

[Tommy]

I shouldnt have said overwaxing, i missread the post and thought you said you had been waxing it every week.

you can polish it and it will look a lot better, but the clear will only get worse. eventually it will need to be repainted, but since you have rust too, id just live with it till you can get something in better shape. severe rust = lots of body work + paint = lots of money.

[Zeppelin89]

Ye for sure, its a car for school for a few years, its only got 191k kms on it tho, damn it, so polishing wont ruin/make worse the peeling if it IS clear coat peeling that is? (I'll do the test tom morning)

[PolishAndWax]

Originally Posted by Zeppelin89

Ye for sure, its a car for school for a few years, its only got 191k kms on it tho, damn it, so polishing wont ruin/make worse the peeling if it IS clear coat peeling that is? (I'll do the test tom morning)

I wouldn't polish the area that has no clear on it. Base coats are typically really thin and you might go through. Scratched base coat without clear probably looks better than primer.

If you do decide to go down that dangerous path, be sure to do a small, inconspicuos area first so you can see what's going to happen.

[Pb]

Yeah, don't get to agressive around those areas where the paint is peeling. You could tape it off with some blue painters tape.

But on the rest of the car you can safely polish out the swirls.