Extremely Thin Paint

[SilverJag]

Hey guys, first post here. I've been following the threads and such for the past few months and decided it was time to voice my concern/question to you knowledgeable group of people.



I have a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse (love the car) but it has clear coat problems. The paint is really starting to thin out and I'm worried about my method on how to remove swirls. I've tried SwirlX in the past with no significant improvement. I'm thinking of moving on to 105/205 with my g110. Although I do not have pictures to show you guys, the paint on top and around the hood and spoiler is really starting to fade and one can easily start to see white flakes. I understand 105 is rather aggressive, do you guys think I should still go ahead and use that or something else?



Thanks for all help and tips!

 

[Dan]

Time buy or find someone local that has a paint thickness guage. Otherwise its just guessing.

 

[Accumulator]

Silver Jag- Welcome to Autopia!



Yeah, sounds like an ETG is called for, any you may be nearing the point of gotta-repaint.



If the paint's that thin, I wouldn't use M105 on it. I'd even think twice about M205, in fact, I'd probably use nearly nonabrasive products and work on concealing rather than correcting. A few of my original paint cars have paint that's too thin/fragile to correct, so I just live with the marring.

 

[Barry Theal]

A few of my original paint cars have paint that's too thin/fragile to correct, so I just live with the marring.

I would love to sand them in front of you to show you what thin really is!!!! :argue lmao Now that would be a kodak moment, Lmao



To the OP welcome to Autopia. Please remember to start with the least aggresive product and work your way up. And like Accumlator said be carefull with m205 as a beginner it corrects more then most people think.

 

[gmblack3]

205 as with most other polishes is pad dependant. So using 205 with an orange pad will give you some decent cut, depending on the hardness of your clearcoat. M205 with a LC black pad has very little cut.

 

[Flashtime]

Pics? up close.

 

[SilverJag]

Thanks for the advice everyone. If worse comes to worse, I'll consider a new paint job - although by that time it will probably be worth more than the car itself :think:

 

[Accumulator]

I would love to sand them in front of you to show you what thin really is!!!! :argue lmao Now that would be a kodak moment, Lmao ..

Heh heh, oh yeah...but not for the reasons you think :nana: :chuckle:



But seriously (and yeah, I know you're kiddin' ..hey folks, buffer barry and I have our inside jokes..), the two in question are factory single stage *metallics*; both just happen to be paints notorious for failing and the amazing thing is that they've lasted for decades without having been reshot. They're actually great examples of how some well-meaning person could easily destroy the collector value of something they're not familiar with. Having those two cars, and feeling responsible for keeping them as original as possible, has taught me a few things.

205 as with most other polishes is pad dependant... M205 with a LC black pad has very little cut.

I'll modify that just a bit if I may...M205 is pad dependent *within* its inherent cut range; there's no way to get it to cut *less* than its abrasive size/shape/sharpness do; you can't "pre-break it down", or otherwise use techniques that diminish the initial cut, since the abrasives don't diminish.



There are some materials (including certain paints) that M205 is simply too abrasive for...though I'm tempted to word that as "that M205 is simply too *sharp* for".



I don't mean to be as :argue as the preceding probably sounds It's just that I *know* that M205 isn't suitable for the two cars I'm referring to. While several goes with a milder product might work out pretty much equivalent to one pass with M205, how that amount of correction gets done can be critical in some rare cases.

If worse comes to worse, I'll consider a new paint job - although by that time it will probably be worth more than the car itself

Heh heh, yeah, I'm there with one of my cars; I *really* want to repaint it but that'd cost twice the car's value



But that's just a beater I happen to be attached to. With my "real" cars, I always try to avoid repaints if at all possible, along the lines of "it's only original once". If I had my two ss metallic cars repainted, it'd utterly ruin them for me; IMO anybody with a checkbook can get a car restored, but keeping one in great original condition is a real accomplishment.