What To Use On This Hood?

[Propflux01]

I've acquired a 1996 Ford Contour for my son to drive to college with. Car is in good shape, except for the paint on the hood. I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion for cleaning this up a bit. the rest of the car is pretty good and I can get a good shine on it, but the hood looks kinda rough. I used a bit of turtle wax polishing compound on a small section About silver dollar-sized area, but it didn't seem to do much to it at all. Any suggestions?

 

[Artem]

A good rubbing compound is needed to remove the layer of oxidized paint. You'll need a rotor or dual action machine to get the job done as it will take FOREVER by hand and you still won't get good results on the end because your arms will fall off a quarter way through.

If you don't have anything like that, I suggest you look up a good detailer in your area and have them quickly buff the hood. Shouldn't be more then $30-40 bucks. That will restore the shine into the paint and then you simply apply a wax of your choice every few months to keep the paint protected.

 

[Propflux01]

I have polishing and rubbing compound, the turtle wax 'off the shelf' stuff, but I thought the rubbing compound would destroy the clear coat and leave nasty swirls?

 

[mrsilv04]

Have you ever tried a clay bar?

Also, there are clear coat "safe" varieties of Rubbing / Polishing compounds.

 

[Artem]

Here's a Toyota Paseo I did several years ago.

Little test spot to determine what steps and products to use.

 

[Vikas]

You should forget the Turtle Wax and just go and pick up Meguair Ultimate Compound, foam applicator, and microfiber cloths from local parts store or Walmart (total less than $20). If that paint can be salvaged, UC will do it. Follow the direction on the bottle.

 

[Propflux01]

MrSilv04, Yes, I have used Clay many times. Didn't knock a dent in this hood.

Artem, what did you use on that hood?

Vikas, Thank you, I'll check out the Megs Ultimate and see what it can do.

If I can get it to shine better, I will seal it with Collinite.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
You should forget the Turtle Wax and just go and pick up Meguair Ultimate Compound, foam applicator, and microfiber cloths from local parts store or Walmart (total less than $20). If that paint can be salvaged, UC will do it. Follow the direction on the bottle.



This! Stay the [censored] away from anything Turtle wax and never use a polishing and rubbing compound first. Work up in aggressiveness not straight to the harsh stuff.

 

[Artem]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
MrSilv04, Yes, I have used Clay many times. Didn't knock a dent in this hood.

Artem, what did you use on that hood?

Vikas, Thank you, I'll check out the Megs Ultimate and see what it can do.

If I can get it to shine better, I will seal it with Collinite.


I personally used Meguiar's M105 Ultra Cut Compound (it's from their professional detailer line of products) but you can use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and achieve the same results as it also cuts really well and breaks down to a nice fine polish as you continue to work it in.

A clay bar won't do a thing to that paint finish. It definitely will clear the paint of any imbedded contaminants and prepare the paint for the next step... compound / polish.

Let me know how it works out for ya and post the results when you're done.

 

[Vikas]

Watch this (2 parts) (and throw the Turtlewax!) Before some smart [censored] comments on the paper towel, don't use them! Get the foam applicator and microfiber towels. Nothing will give you better return on your $20 than my suggestion!!

 

[Artem]

Thanks for those videos, Vikas. It just further confirms what's we've all said already.

 

[RTexasF]

That Paseo is single stage paint where the Contour is not so it's not quite apples to apples. The pictures of the Contour are not conclusive but I agree that trying to deal with it by hand will be difficult at best. Having said that Meg's Ultimate Compound is THE best over the counter product of its type I've ever used. That's the one I'd use if dealing with that hood by hand.

 

[Artem]

dull oxidized paint is dull oxidized paint, any way you look at it. I have no doubt in my mind that it can be restored via a polish by machine.

 

[Vikas]

Given that it is only a hood, there is no reason why it could not be done by hand as long as OP is willing to invest some time. I don't think it will take more than 3-4 hours at most to correct that hood by hand.

Unfortunately, I get a nagging feeling that we will be deprived of any further progress on this topic. I remember there was a guy who showed his old Honda CRX with red faded paint and after promising to show us the after pictures, he just vanished :-(

 

[Artem]

Maybe the CRX vanished... Who knows. Haha.

 

[Propflux01]

OK, I went out and got the product, and used it on the hood, top and rear trunk. It's not perfect, but way better than what it was!! Went over it with collonite as well.

 

[Artem]

Nicely done. I'm glad you got good results.

 

[Vikas]

I thought Ford Contour was the stylish Euro looking car aka earlier Fusion. But what is shown in the picture is one of those squished Taurus :-(

Now that you know how much you can correct with the Ultimate Compound, you could try two different approaches.

If you think it has not corrected enough, you can do another pass. On the other hand, if you are not thrilled with the final finish, you should follow it with Ultimate Polish to bring more shine to the paint and then use the Collonite.

 

[icepickjazz]

Lot's of good info here by Vikas, Artem. Based on your replies will probably try the Mequiars UC on my 98 Sienna. Not as bad as OPs hood, but starting to oxidize a little. Van is too large to do by hand. Will a inexpensive DA from harbor freight work or should i try something else? Don't want to invetst a lot of $ in tools but don't want to do it by hand either. Sorry for hijacking this thread.

Thanks

 

[Robenstein]

There are inexpensive orbital buffers you can get at Oreillys as well. I have a cheap off brand one that has held up for a couple years. Also have a Kawasaki brand rotary polisher that works well also.