Oxidation and holgrams...

[Hawkfanatic]

Hi guys! Newb here, and I need a little advice… Here’s the story:

I bought a 2006 white Toyota tundra Double cab last summer from a guy who never took care of it. Rarely washed it, never waxed it. I got it for a pretty good price because it looked pretty bad. It had black stripes down the side from his kids riding their bikes around it, and dragging the handle bars down the side. He thought it was all permanent, but I knew it would come out with a good claying session. It had black mold growing on the top of it because he was a pretty heavy guy didn’t want to get up into the bed to wash the top of the cab.

So I cleaned all that off, but what I was left with was a chalky oxidation on the top surfaces of the paint, gradually getting less and less as it goes down the body panels. With the truck being white, you can really only see it in just the right light, like at sunset. Unfortunately, that also means it is very hard to see it when trying to remove it. I currently have a halogen light setup to be able to see any reflection, but it is very inefficient. If anyone has any suggestions on how to see the paint better, I would welcome them.

Here’s the product I have:
Ultimate Compound
ScratchX 2.0
SwirlX
Cleaner Wax
Ultimate Polish
Gold Class wax

Equipment:
Harbor Freight Rotary
Lake Country Hydro-Tech foam pads, Blue, Orange, and Red

[FONT=Arial Narrow][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]After washing and claying it, I tried Meg’s cleaner wax on a foam pad, and that didn’t touch it, so I stepped up to UC on a foam pad by hand, and that seemed to help to clean out the oxidation, but was very hard to work with. I am guessing because the paint is pulling in moisture? I have read here that Ultimate Polish would help?? So the UC worked, but I could not imagine doing this giant truck all by hand, so I purchased the rotary because I knew I needed some power to get the product worked in. I used the rotary on the tailgate on the lowest setting(

[Hawkfanatic]

Re: Oxidation and holgrams...

I thought I fixed that post, but now I can’t because the edit button is gone??? Heres what it should say:

After washing and claying it, I tried Meg’s cleaner wax on a foam pad, and that didn’t touch it, so I stepped up to UC on a foam pad by hand, and that seemed to help to clean out the oxidation, but was very hard to work with. I am guessing because the paint is pulling in moisture? I have read here that Ultimate Polish would help?? So the UC worked, but I could not imagine doing this giant truck all by hand, so I purchased the rotary because I knew I needed some power to get the product worked in. I used the rotary on the tailgate on the lowest setting(approx 400 rpm) with UC and the blue LC pad, and that took care of the oxidation, but now there are holograms in the paint. Maybe it was my technique and applying too much pressure? I want to get this truck in good condition, but I am afraid to proceed any further and do more damage.


So, given the equipment and products I have, what would be the best course of action from here??


Maybe some pics would help.

Here is the tailgate I have already done. The oxidation is clear and the reflectivity is back, but with some hazing, which doesn’t show up well.



Here is that same light reflected in the driver’s side bed panel. Very cloudy.



Here is the flash in the tailgate.



Here is the flash in the bed panel. Not as easy to see the cloudiness.