bugman

That's great advice by the Chuckster. Now is a great time for you to get your PC7424 and some pads. Then in the future, spots and swirlmarks won't upset you because they'll be easy to conquer. Also you can truly remove the swirls left by your recent compounding. Knowing you can do this yourself any time will take the stress off

0TH0001@properautocare.com

Turtle Wax rubbing compound is the crappiest product evermade. Its like gravel mikxed with silicone.

chuckster

love the analogy...

Z06-Goose

I've just noticed you're in Colorado. I live in Boulder. I have used RejeX with great results. My car sits outside, and it has not had any problems with hard water spots from sprinkles from anywhere. If you'd like, or are interested, I can let you use some of my RejeX along with my S100 Paint Cleansing Lotion and some other stuff I've got to prep your paint, and hopefully, no more water stains for you. My Z06 is Torch Red also.
Heck, I'll even give you a hand on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. Let me know.
Goose
Edited: The Paint cleansing I've got is the S100 and NOT the P21S which is about the same product.

dascar

Goose,
Now that's an offer I can't refuse. I would love to have someone else look at the damage and help me recover from it. I would gladly cruise up to Boulder on Monday of next week (I have National Guard drill this weekend) and I would guess we could have my hood back to normal in an hour. Name your beverage of choice and get me directions, time and phone number! Thank you very much - you are going above and beyond!

Z06-Goose

No problem. My pleasure. I pm'd you my phone number. Anytime on Monday works, or I can even drive to where you are, it really doesn't matter to me.
Goose

Z06-Goose

We can start with the Meguiar's Clear Coat Scrub we've got, and the S100 Paint Cleansing and see how that works out, then we can step-up to a couple of 3M Products I've got if necessary.
Goose

TonyC6

I've been following this post. I have a 2003 50th Anniversay Black car with the very same problem. I've tried most of the same things already recommended on this post....vinegar, Scratch X, Zaino Fusion, Mothers, etc, etc. At the recommendation of someone (Bugman I believe),, I have purchased a rotary buffer, with white, yellow and orange pads. I have also purchased a bottle of Menzerna Intensive Polish, and some extra heavy duty stuff from Hitemp (HT 357 Heavy Power Cut Leveler and HT-3 Heavy Compound). I am ready to do some heavy battle this coming weekend. I am anxious to hear how you and Goose make out, or any other input from the guys who do this for a living. I've never had this kind of stubborn water spot problem on any car I've ever owned, but especially not the Corvettes.

Those damn sprinklers with that acid based water are beyond belief!

Thanks,
Tony

Z06-Goose

We're going to give it a good shot at the water spots. I think that we can tackle. The other problem Dave has is the scratches produced by trying to remove the water spots earlier.
I have a friend that has a Makita polisher, and we can try that if it comes down to it. My friend has a lot of experience doing this, and I would ask him to help us out if necessary, since I'm not a pro per-se, or do this for a living.
I need to call Dave this weekend. Tony, we'll definitely let you know how it works out
Goose

stormrider

My C5 also suffered from a case of water spots. Not nearly as bad as some on this post but bad enough that it was bugging the you know what out of me. Anyway, I took the advice of the postings on this thread along with other threads and used the following procedures to tackle the problem

1. Washed the entire car with Dawn and water.
2. Clay bar the entire car using Zaino's clay bar
3. Rewashed the car again using Zaino's car wash and dried of the car (at this stage the water spots where still visable)
4. Hand polished the entire car with Zaino's Z5 putting a lot of extra elbow grease on the section of the hood with water spots.
5. After letting the Z5 set up I wiped up the residue with a 100% cotton towl per the instructions. (the water spots where gone)
6. Hand applied and wiped off two coats of Zaino fx2 along with removing all the wheels and polishing the crome with chrome polish then Zaino fx2 and buffing with a Powerball.

By this time 6 hours had past and despite the fact that I workout 4 times a week both of my forearms where cramping up, a PC 7336 is now oficialy on my must have list. Dispite the pain, a few beers helped dull the sensation, the shine was Zaino show car perfect and the water spots where just a bad memory. However, as much as I love the look that Zaino produces, I miss that "wet" look you get with other less durable but respctable waxes so took a lead of faith and applied a coat of Meguiar's Gold Class on top of the three coats of Zaino. I can't tell you how that last extra step made the paint pop plus it gave my pewter C-5 that glossy wet look. Everwhere I went today people just stopped and stared; including me. From now on I will be using Zaino and topping it all off with Meguiars. Try it you will like it........

TonyC6

I posted this in another thread, but just to update this group, I'll post this here too.
I'm going to jump back in on this thread and see where it goes. I've got the very same issue, a black 2003 C5, with some very nasty water spots mostly on the hood. Just to let you know where I've been with this over the past 6 months.
Just about every over the counter wax and cleaner treatment, including the vinegar idea. No help.

Last weekend, I loaded up to do battle and declared war on these spots. I put away the DA orbital and bought a rotary buffer. I bought the Menzerna Intense Polish and some Hi Temp - HT-357 Heavy Power Cut Leveler (Our water-based leveler that removes heavy scratches and paint defects, restoring clearcoat paints to their original high-gloss apperance.) I even bought the more aggressive Hi Temp - HT-3 Heavy Cut Compound (A solvent-based compound that removes heavy scratches and paint defects on any type of paint.)

I bought a variety of constant pressure cool-foam pads. I started with the least aggressive approach but 5 hours later I was using the HT 3 Heavy Cut Compound with a yellow pad running at 3500 rpm! Those f*%#kin water spots are still staring me in the face, 7 hours later! So aside from scaring the pants off of HotWheelz, I'm asking for any other ideas. ???? Anything short of wet sanding and/or repainting? And if I do have to wet sand, what materials and procedures can anyone recommend? I'm just about to the point of being desparate here. Help!

Z06-Goose

Dave couldn't make it today, so we scheduled for next Monday
Goose

agentf1

Well it sounds like they are obviously etched into the paint, since you already have the rotary and some good compound I would sand a small spot with 3000 grit and rebuff to a shine and see how it looks. If that works I would not hesitate to lightly sand the upper surfaces with 3000 to get rid of them and leave yourself a perfect finish. And not to mention a good side effect of this is you will remove some of the orange peel in the process. You may want to keep on going and do the sides of the car also after you see how awesome it looks.

ETM

I used to have that problem a few yrs back when I lived in an apartment..and my C3 got sprinkled everynight...hard water spots..

I had success with McGuires...not polish..but Paint Cleaner...that always worked well for me..

TonyC6

Thanks for the response. Since all of my sanding experience in the past was to remove the paint and prep for a re-paint, maybe you could give me some tips on using this fine grit sandpaper to "polish" the paint. Do I use a sanding block? Any special lubrication other than water? Measuring paint thickness? Sand in a circular motion? Obviously, I'm a little worried about screwing this up.

Also, what "grit level" am I getting with the HT 3 heavy cut compound and the yellow pad? Is that approaching the 3000 grit level?

Thanks again for the help, it really helps to have some of the expertise from this forum to do these projects.

Tony

agentf1

Definitely use a block.

Watch the edges of the paper, fold it so you do not leave any tracers with the edge.

Add some automotive soap to your water as a lube. Use plenty of water. I get a big sponge full of water and hold it above the area I am working and squeeze it as needed.

I like using Meguiars pads (yellow) or 3M for my rotary. I also used my LC 4" orange pad for tight areas a lot.

You should not have no worry of going through with 3000, just stay away from the edges.

The HT 3 heavy cut compound should work. I liked the 3m PI III 05933 a lot.

A paint thickness guage for plastic is very expensive. Just use common sense and DO NOT go any more aggressive than 2000. I would stick with 3000 unigrit.

I like to sand in straight lines and switch directions horizonal and themn switch up 90 degrees so it is a cross pattern. you can go circular in some areas if needed but I do not like to.

Z Factor

You have received some good advice here. I would suggest however that you take pictures before you do any attempted repair. You insurance company might wait to see that there was an original problem that you were trying to fix before calling them and putting in a claim. Keep in mind that some water stains that etch into thin clear coat can never fully be repaired, and you might very well need a repaint. Hopefully that is not the case, but cover your all your bases.

agentf1

Insurance is not going to pay for fixing water spotting or if he burns through the cc trying to fix it. It is doubtful that the latter would happen especially if only using 3000 grit. If he sands enough that the finish is dull and then rebuffs it and still sees the water spots are still there it is likely they are too deep and will not be able top be removed, this is why I recommended he just do a small spot first and see how it comes out. Why waste all that time to do the entire hood if it is not going to fix the problem. It would be nice if he takes pics for us to see though.

TonyC6

I agree, I don't think this has anything to do with the insurance, unless he was talking about the other guy who got sprinkled at work. Anyway, thanks for the tips. I did try the 3000 grit paper on a small spot and again, no dice. You can still see the spots deep into the paint. You can't feel them. The paint is smooth, but the spots are hiding below the surface. I went ahead with the full barrage of buffing, compound, polish and sealant. The car looks great, even the hood. Not sure if I can even capture the spots with a camera, but I'll give it a shot when I can get the car back outside with the better camera. Like I said, it looks good, many people would probably not even notice the spots, but then again...some of us would. It's kind of an obsession.

I guess I'll just have to live with these unless I finally give in and have the hood painted.

Thanks for everyone's help.
Tony

brucefood

hi just encountered this problem myself. For me its the well water we have at our house. I used white vinegar and quickly rinsed with bottled water because the vinegar is very acidic. I didnt get every spot but 99% came off. I then waxed with a meguire's product. Seems to be good. Problem now is how to wash in the future and avoid the same problem.