HZ06

I am very frustrated. I took the black c5z in for paint correction. At first it looked beautiful, but a day later, hundreds of big water spots returned. The professional says that after the paint cooled down, the spots went back, and the paint is too old for sanding with unkonw clear coat left.

Overall, I have a car that has been polished in two stages with a ceramic coat, which is full of large water stains everywhere.

Is it true that nothing can be done? He says that no product for water stains is more powerful than a compound. I have no choice but to repaint it?

DrivesWithTwoFeet

Picture?

yamabob

Yes. There are water spot remover chemicals which help break down the mineral deposits. If he polished and is a pro has he taken before and after PT readings? Sometimes they need just need another. Sometimes you can polish which will open up the paint and use a vinegar wipe to break down the deposits.

HZ06

He said his reader doesn't work on fiberglass.
This is just after the compound and polish :


And this one day after.


All trunk, roof and hood are the same.

yamabob

Try and find out what polish and pad he used. Ive seen worse. Shame he doesnt have a PTG to read non ferrous. I think more cut and a remover should work.

macguyver

I can tell you from first hand exp. that some water spots can get so bad they have to be wet sanded, because they literally have etched into the paint. The top of the business detailers ALWAYS use a PTG-- ALWAYS, they just wont take the chance, then again the top guys corrections usually start @ around 2K. Would be nice if you had history on the paint. I can tell you if you used a coarse or wood pad with something like Megs 105 or sonax cut max & they are still there, no chemical is gonna remove them and its time to sand or have that panel re- sprayed & blended in.

HZ06

what remover? Guessing is the chemical to work along with the compound.

After the car was apparently good, he did a ceramic coating.

So, if I try by myself, what would be the method to remove the ceramic, cut, remove, finish, and coating again.

Thanks for the responses.

macguyver

Your gonna have to polish to remove the coating

HZ06

the problem is that is not a panel, it is everywhere.

macguyver

Well then thats a lot of work
There are some coating that are better @ resisting water spotting than others
Budget has tried lots of them and he can tell you wich ones are better suited against water spotting

yamabob

I gather the detailer did a paint correction on this car. The spots were there prior to. He thought he removed them and then proceded to coat the car. Is this corrrect

HZ06

Correct. Car looked good after the finish, he coated, let the car cure and then the water spots came back.. car is now with out swirls but with water spots.

He used :
Feynlab a20 with microfiber and then sonax Perfect finish for polish. McGuires microfiber and lake country orange pad

yamabob

Sadly the coating needs to come off in order to buff out again. Maybe the detailer will redo one panel. If indeed they have etched deep enough the clear would need to be stripped

yamabob

I know the feynlabs F100 . Do you mean a50? That combo with a micro is fairly aggresive. An orange LC is a cut pad not a polish pad so that is odd.
Corvettes have a pretty hard clear. Myself would have used Menz 300 or FG 400( first ). I love feynlab caotings as they give a nice depth and gloss. So easy to use.
Anyway, if he didnt see them- and I’ve seen that happen where they come back next day. You only really have the 2 options. I’d see if he can redo a panel, let sit in sun or some UV for 24. If still there, well it means they are too deep in the clear and would need aw wet sand and re- coat

HZ06

He wont try again. I have Menz300 and 3D One. I will try to do the trunk myself and let the car in the sun to see if they come back.

Thanks a lot for your comments.

macguyver

I am not familiar with the menz products, but I doubt you will get the results you want with the 3D one

slowtealz28

More than likely your detailer did not use an acid based water spot remover PRIOR to polishing. If you do not get every last bit of the minerals off the panel, the etching will come back. He then used a ceramic coating which sealed the minerals between the ceramic and the paint and they went to work immediately beating up the paint. I would ask to have the car completely re-done, this is detailing 101 he should have known this would happen. Corvettes also have really hard clear so unless the car has been polished multiple times I do not think you would need to worry about doing it again. Depending on what kind of ceramic coating he used, you may need to wet sand the ceramic off, then clean with a good water spot remover, more polishing to get the rest of the etching out, I would probably hit it with a water spot remover a second time just to be safe, panel prep, then coat the car all over again.

HZ06

Yeah, he didnt used a spot remover. I dont think the ceramic coating is hard. I dint ask him to to a ceramic coat, I was going to coat it by my self, but he thought that he can give to me for free becose "I loved how it turned and want to publish pictures of it to promote the business in social media, so I coated for free, but the water spots came back after a day in the sun. This has never happened to me, bla bla bla."

I lost the faith in him to re-do it. So, I will try small area to find a method that works, and then share the method to another detailer to do the rest of the car. It is to much work for me, mainly for the lack of free time.

If nothing works, I may wrap the car instead

yamabob

Well if he did this for free advertisement, i dont think he is truly a professional. Maybe starting it.
Menz 300 will not finish LSP ready so further refinement would be needed. I would use something in the lines of Citrol to assist in breaking down the coating( a couple times would be best ). Then cut using 300. On e done in the least I would do a vinegar wipe twice- 30 second dwell or a dedicated product to help disolve the minerals. Best when paint os freshly opened by the cut. Wait 24 and see. If any remains do another quick session. If that doesnt work, it might be too deep. If it does- refine and move on. Remember every panel will be different so take your time.

HZ06

The ceramic coat was for free, he charged for the paint correction. My intention was to have someone else correct swirls and water spots, then do a DYI ceramic. But he had some ceramic laying arround and coated the car.

I have one bottle of Carpro spotless, will use that instead of the vinegar. If I succedd, I will finish with the 3D one.

Thanks for your comments