Too Late to Fix/Correct?

[irishcharm15]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Forum and this is my first post!

I have a 95 impreza L, w/ 2.2L and AWD. I purchased this car to save some money and I'm working on making it less of an eye sore. I have done a ton of research on here about the Meguiars DA power system and the G110v2 as well as additional research on the Porter Cable 7424XP. I am leaning towards the DAPS for cost reasons and mainly as I will be using it only on my and my fiances cars. I would also have to buy a corded drill too as my cordless isn't up to required RPM specs. However, I started to search more and saw that the G110v2 and PC 7424XP may be a better option (as far as paint correction). I am torn and need a little help deciding.

My fiancees car is a '10 Corolla S that has what appears to be automatic car wash swirls, but they don't seem to be that bad. I'll try and grab a picture of the car once we wash it.

My car may be a lost cause. I am looking to reduce the eyesore. Here is a Flickr link with some pictures I took last September: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajm5291/sets/72157635376396657/ . I know that for this project to be done correctly, I would need to re-clear coat the car after chipping away the rest of the peel. Especially because if you wipe where the clear coat is gone, you actually get some green paint on your hand/rag. However, I have seen that it is possible to reduce the look of the peeling clear coat through wet sanding (ungrit paper), compounding (M105), polishing, and waxing. All of that being said, what is the best way to make my Subaru look presentable; bearing in mind that my funds are very very limited. I don't mind spending extra time to account for the smaller pad that the DAPS has.


I look forward to hearing what can be done!
-Alan

[Jarhead0754]

I hate to tell u buddy but bad news. U have massive clear coat failure. The only thing u can do for this is to get it repainted. I suggest u spend the time on fixing ur rust spots and once u saved up a little cash get it painted.
If ur mechanically inclined than u can paint it urself. U could just go ahead and by some flat black and murder the thing out on the cheap. U can still do a good job with a rattle can. It's all in the prep work.

[C8N]

Re: Too Late to Fix/Correct?

First, rust is like cancer.
If you have plans on holding on to the car for a while, you probably want to take care of that first.

As for the clearcoat failure, wet sanding and polishing is a way to take off a layer of paint. You are already missing paint which is basically what clearcoat failure is or will eventually result to. Hence, no amount of wet sanding and polishing will help to improve that. What can possibly help appearance wise and only in a temporary way for a short period of time... is by waxing.

[irishcharm15]

Re: Too Late to Fix/Correct?

I agree. I was planning on trying to take care of the rust by cutting away around the rust and using bondo/steel mesh/etc. My only issue is paint colors. I cannot find any spray can/aftermarket company that makes the color code of my Subaru. Apparently I was the "odd color out". I've tried my own blending with limited success; I also don't want to spend the $45 bucks to get an OEM matched quart as I am trying to limit what I dump into the car.

I've seen on this forum, someone who chipped away the peeling clear coat, then used a wool pad to correct the paint (I think), then polished and waxed the surface. It looked perfect; but it didn't really give a step by step.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Too Late to Fix/Correct?

While you can sand away some of the peeled edges of the clear and then buff the paint to a decent gloss, there are some downsides to this. First, and really the least of the downsides, is that you'd need a rotary buffer and the skill to use it, in order to remove your sanding marks. Not to mention you'd have to have the skills to properly sand the finish in the first place without causing even greater problems. You could easily spend $400 on the buffer, pads, sand papers, etc to do this job. But the worst part of this is that such a process will only give you a very short term improvement in appearance. The color coat under the clear is not meant to be glossy and in fact will never hold a gloss, no matter how much you buff it. So you would spend all that money, do all that work, and in a matter of weeks it would basically revert back to what you have now.

You're probably better off spending your money fixing the rust and keeping the car mechanically sound. You might want to try either paintscratch dot com or automotivetouchup dot com to see if they have your color code. Both will supply custom matched rattle cans in virtually any color. Of course you could always Plasti-dip the whole car for a custom look; dipyourcar dot com.

Lastly, regarding that "mechanically sound" part. Keep this baby running and hang onto it. When you get a new car this one would make a great rally car!