[jime]

The paint between the windshield and sunroof of my 95 coupe has lost it deep reflective gloss. I noticed one small area a year or so ago but it has gotten much larger recently.

The car sits outside all the time, but I have kept a good coat of high quality wax on it since it was new. For the last couple of years I have been using Finish First about 3-4 times a year. The rest of the car looks great.

Any ideas as to what caused this area to lose its gloss and what can I do to get it back.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

OXIDATION MY BROTHER! Thats whats causing the coupe to lose it sexy paint.. Same things happening to me.. I brought my car a year ago (2 days from now) and on the roof, trunk, and hood oxidation is taking place.. My car spent the summer of 2001 in Atlanta then it was driven to Florida (Miami) for school and has been in direct sunlight ever since... Now i'm back in the ATL so for a year 1/2 my Coupe will suffer from the rays of the Summer sun...

If ther is no more gloss on your paint and when you wax over the spot the color of the paint showas up on the cloth thne you've got problems.. you have no more clear coat left and the bare paint is showing... Basically the sun had dried out the paint and now the clear coat is gone.. U might beable to hit it with some rubbing compound and then wax it again but you might need to repaint it...

Go to a shop that deals with body work or detailing and they might beable to diganose it better than me..

 

[jime]

No paint on polish cloth

Thai.95LCoupe,

I have always used non-abrasive waxes so I haven't seen any paint on my polish cloth yet. I was wondering if there was any way to take the oxidation off the clear coat?

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

Well I would say use a paint cleaner, polish, then wax... and see if that helps..

 

[5speedLegend]

Is Finish First the wax in an orange bottle? That's by no means a high quality wax. You may want to look into using a better product like Meguairs. Yea it sounds like your paint is oxidizing. If not too serious get Meguairs Fine-Cut compund(professional) in the beige bottle. You must use an orbital buffer though. This should remove oxidation, or else you may need to use medium-cut. There's a heavy-cut but if your car needs that you should look into a new paint job. Next follow up with a polish, because this is what gives the paint a nice shine (wax doesn't shine). I only use the professional series from Meguairs, so for this step I use their Show Glaze. Finally, you apply wax to protect.
Note: A buffer can damage your finish if not used correctly, so make sure you know how it's used.