Red paint fading unuasually and quickly-help

[Mikesmerc]

Hello all,
my old 88 230E Mercs red paint(resprayed) is fading fast. Not your usual fading occurance. When I bought the car 6yrs ago, the roof, boot and bonnet were faded so i cut the paint back using g3 rubbing compound and waxed it using carnuaba wax with excelent results. When the summer approached every time there was a sun shower, directly under the beads of water the paint faded/stained immediately so much so that the only thing to do was recompound it again. It would take an hour per panel to remove the stains. This would not happen during the winter months as there is no heat from the sun. Is theren any way to prevent this as I fear that I cant be far from the primer at this stage. One other thing is that the lacquer on the top of the wings seems to be chipping off, but the bonnet seems fine, unless it wasnt lacquer at all.
Any comments would be gratfully appreciated.
Mike.

 

[jaymanek]

Dont wash your car when its too hot!!

But seriously, you will get those marks whenever you let the water dry on the paint. From experience i have found that its best to leave them untill the next wash with hot water, they will dissapear..... Polishing to try and get those water marks out will just make the situation worse...
In future, leather your car over as soon as you wash....

I think you should put the rubbing compound in a locked safe and lose the key!

Cheers

Jay

 

[Mikesmerc]

Thanks for your reply, but this does not happen when I am washing the car, it happens when it rains for a couple of minutes and the sun reappears and creates a faded mark far worse than a water mark.
Cheers
Mike.

 

[dieselman]

Are you sure it's not the water reacting with the wax.

Try a different wax or polymer sealant.

 

[Mikesmerc]

I thought the very same thing after the first time it happened soI re-cut the paint back with rubbing compound(the only thing that would remove the stains, if I used T-cut it would probably take me a week)and polished it back with Turtle Wax paste. No good Im afraid, next shower the same thing happened. I have been restoring fading paint finishes for years as the newest car Ive bought was 10yrs old and this has never happened. I blamed the Carnuaba wax first, but after recutting and waxing with a different polish you would think that this would have ruled this out.
Will post a pic of stains that happened 12 hrs after polishing just to show how bad this is.
Have I been living under a waste chemical reprocessing plant the last 5 yrs without someone telling me or what!
Cheers for your response, much appreciated.
Mike.

 

[kiwi_bloke]

polish

not sure if this is any help, but on my fathers bighorn, cutting / polishing it eventually took the laquer layer off the paint, this caused dull spots ect....

Are you sure your buffing the polish off the car properly?

Have you just tried using a "wash and wax" as its called here in new zealand. A brand like simmons or armour all is my recomendation.

best of luck

josh

 

[Mikesmerc]

Ya, tried wash and wax as well. I think the laquer has worn off the bonnet because when I cut the paint the rag turns red. It buffs up to a brilliant shine. Must experiment with different waxes.
Cheers for your comments Josh
Mike

 

[mezza]

acid rain?

 

[auto-union]

Red paint fading unusually and quickly-help

I take it the colour is signal red? Without seeing it, it is hard to say whether the paint is original or not, but this is a common problem. The paint is dead from years of neglect. I can buff, glaze and wax the paint until it shines like a cheerleader bum om prom-night, but, it won't last, especially if it gets wet and then dries in the sun. The water droplets act as tiny magnifying glasses, that causes the spots. (they will be pink). You talk of lacquer - I assume you mean clear coat?? (Lacquer is "acrylic " paint.) Not all colours have a clear coat. They can be COB or non COB (clear over base) depending on what the applicator is using or how keen he is! Lacquer is only suitable for painting billy carts these days, and may not even be available in UK.
Long answer to your short question - paint is knackered.
KJ