Hi there. I'm new to the forum but I have visited the site quite a few times before. I have a silver 2000 v6 that was given to me by my dad so it's very special to me. I have had it for 6 years and it's age is beginning to show in the paint (chips, losing some clear coat, various other flaws).
The front bumper cover is a hot mess because I hit a big dog a year or so back and busted the original cover. We bought a new one and when I was prepping it to paint I wasn't careful and forgot some essential steps such as wiping it to remove any molding residues. The paint shed off very badly in places after my dad painted it. Lesson learned.
I am in college so I don't have time to prep the whole car right now (my dad said if I prep it he will borrow his friend's nice booth to paint it) and I hate to do just the bumper and hood (where the clear is chipping) when the whole car needs it. My plan is to prep it this summer after I graduate and have it all painted at one time.
Until then, the chips and blemishes were driving me crazy and I didn't have time to fix them the correct way so I decided to touch them up and experiment some since my ultimate goal was to redo the paint on the whole car anyways. I knew the paint I had, which was leftover from one of my dad's sale cars, wouldn't match perfectly but I figured any silver would look better than metal and black so I used a fine brush and added paint to all the bald spots. It helped mask the marks some but when I was sanding the spots before adding paint I wasn't thinking and sanded over on the clear in several places without realizing it because I was rushed and not careful once again. Now I not only have touched up spots but I also have "halos" of dull spots attracting the eye to every touched up blemish. Makes me wish I hadn't even bothered sanding some of them at all.
I was crushed because I knew I had screwed up again. I hit the computer researching and read about Meguiar's products. I grabbed some Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish at Walmart and hand buffed some of the dull spots. I was impressed not only with how they helped my screw ups but other blemishes such as marks caused by other car doors. So far the dull places' appearances have improved but I just wonder if the effects will last... especially after washing and weather exposure. I thought about buying an electric buffer to use to see if that works even better with the compound and polish.
I thought I would share this little learning experience and see what advice you all have. I am not experienced with detail/paint work, my dad is a used car dealer and paints the cars he sales, but I like doing things myself, even if I do mess up from time to time. I painted the letters and the "dip" in my back bumper and I think I did a decent job for my first time. This was just a :facepalm: moment. Maybe I can fix it though just to give myself peace of mind before summer gets here.
I will try to post pictures of my car soon and some before/after pictures. Thanks for reading!
The front bumper cover is a hot mess because I hit a big dog a year or so back and busted the original cover. We bought a new one and when I was prepping it to paint I wasn't careful and forgot some essential steps such as wiping it to remove any molding residues. The paint shed off very badly in places after my dad painted it. Lesson learned.
I am in college so I don't have time to prep the whole car right now (my dad said if I prep it he will borrow his friend's nice booth to paint it) and I hate to do just the bumper and hood (where the clear is chipping) when the whole car needs it. My plan is to prep it this summer after I graduate and have it all painted at one time.
Until then, the chips and blemishes were driving me crazy and I didn't have time to fix them the correct way so I decided to touch them up and experiment some since my ultimate goal was to redo the paint on the whole car anyways. I knew the paint I had, which was leftover from one of my dad's sale cars, wouldn't match perfectly but I figured any silver would look better than metal and black so I used a fine brush and added paint to all the bald spots. It helped mask the marks some but when I was sanding the spots before adding paint I wasn't thinking and sanded over on the clear in several places without realizing it because I was rushed and not careful once again. Now I not only have touched up spots but I also have "halos" of dull spots attracting the eye to every touched up blemish. Makes me wish I hadn't even bothered sanding some of them at all.
I was crushed because I knew I had screwed up again. I hit the computer researching and read about Meguiar's products. I grabbed some Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish at Walmart and hand buffed some of the dull spots. I was impressed not only with how they helped my screw ups but other blemishes such as marks caused by other car doors. So far the dull places' appearances have improved but I just wonder if the effects will last... especially after washing and weather exposure. I thought about buying an electric buffer to use to see if that works even better with the compound and polish.
I thought I would share this little learning experience and see what advice you all have. I am not experienced with detail/paint work, my dad is a used car dealer and paints the cars he sales, but I like doing things myself, even if I do mess up from time to time. I painted the letters and the "dip" in my back bumper and I think I did a decent job for my first time. This was just a :facepalm: moment. Maybe I can fix it though just to give myself peace of mind before summer gets here.
I will try to post pictures of my car soon and some before/after pictures. Thanks for reading!