Suggestions to get out water etchings?

[05RLS2]

I am working on trying to get out some wter etchings on the hood of my car. I don't know if you'd actually call them etchings or not, since there are not craters formed in the paint just outlines on the clear finish where the water and dirt sat. My car is driven daily and sits outside 24/7 at the moment, but I do bust my butt on it all the time and put lots of hours into it to make it look its best. The last time it was washed was a couple weeks ago, and during that time it has been driven and sat through stroms and days in high 90 degree heat. Whenever it did rain the sun did not come out after to heat it in quicker. The car did have dried on water that looked dirty for a week or so, but I didn't think much of it becuase I have never had a problem with this before and figured that they'd wash off. I'd have never though this was going to happen, otherwise I'd have taken the chance using a waterless wash to get the dirt off of it.

 

Anyways, after washing I tried the easiest stuff first, vinegar, non abrasive cleaner polish, and nothing there. So I went ahead and got the PC 7424 out and used some Danase Swirl Abolisher II and I with 6.5" Lake Country CCS orange and white pads. I don't really know how these polishes compare to others out there since its all I have ever used, plus it's not really a widely used polish, so I can't comment. I thought I had them all out with this combination, since a few IPA wipeedowns showed nothing, so I threw some wax on. This took care of maybe 20% or so of them, but they then reappeared since later on. I guess the polish was just masking them from the oils in it I guess. Since the oils left from polish was just masking them, does this seem like they can be still corrected with a PC without having to resort to drastic measures such as wet sanding?

 

I have never used the Adams Products before, but I have heard lots of positives on them and have become interested in trying them. I am thinking that I may need to try the Severe Swirl Polish Remover with these, or at least try the Swirl & Haze Remover Polish (Any suggestions on what to try next?). I see that the polishes that Adams offers also has color coded pads to use with them. I have the older style Porter Cable 7424, the non XP version, and I know that if you start to put a real good amount of pressure down with 6.5" pads that the pad will actually stop rotating. Are the Adams pads reccomended for use on the older style 7424s, or should I use a different style pad or a smaller one? I know that the XPs have a little more power, so I am wondering if the older models will have enough power to spin the pad and correct as intended without bogging down.

 

Also, do you all have any before and after pics, testimonials, or anything else that can show the capabilites of the Severe Swirl Polish Remover and the Adams green pads? Thanks for any help

[the1inblue]

I have the same issues as you. Do some searching on here and you'll see plenty of threads on the same issue. If I was at home I post you some links however im on my DROID and I can't. If you can't find any I suggest trying some ne machine polish and work you way up to a more aggressive polish such as swirl and haze remover or SER.SSR. I hope that helps some.

 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[lawson4450]

take alook at the F350 thread by Dylan he goes over this issue

[Chris@Adams]

Can you feel them with your finger nail? I have seen some so deep that you can't get them completely out. The 4" Focal Pads work good! I removed some yesterday (they weren't that deep) I used Orange Pad & SHR, then White Pad & FMP then a coat of Americana. Once you get them removed you want to keep a good coat of wax to help prevent spots in the future.

[Bill-V8V]

You won't have any problems using the non XP version of the PC with these pads and polishes

[mbreyer]

:thumbsup:New pads and the pc you have will work. Id start with FMP and then maybe move to SHR. Also check out the junkmans corner he has pics, videos, and tons of info that will keep you busy for a while:thumbsup:

[Chewy]

Pictures would be HUGE! I'm thinking maybe some focus pad work followed by the PC and its three steps. I'd really like to see the pictures first so we can have a more educated response.

 

Chris

[Faceless1]

Just finished removing water spots on my hood air intake scoop today and thought some pics might help. Not sure if this is what yours looks like but it will give you an idea how awesome the PC and Adam's products are. Here is what my spots looked like.

 

 

It's hard to capture in a photo, but the entire area in front of my air intake scoop had these water spots.

 

 

These photos were taken after washing and using a clay bar. The clay bar helped a little but they needed a PC to completely remove.

 

 

I started with the orange pad and SHR, then white pad and FMP, and grey pad with MSW. The orange pad and SHR worked great for me and removed the spots. Followed with the white pad and FMP and the grey pad and MSW here is what the hood looks like after using a PC.

 

 

 

And from the side after using the PC and Adam's products on the entire hood.

 

 

The PC is worth the investment as is all of Adam's awesome products. Also, check out the Adam's Blaster Sidekick by MetroVac. The Sidekick is my favorite tool for getting water out of all the small cracks and crevasses after washing. My water is very hard and the Sidekick could have saved me a lot of work if I had it when I first purchased my 2009 WRX.

 

But then again, I wouldn't have purchased the PC and enjoyed seeing the results first hand. Good luck.

[BRZN]

My DD that sits outside had some pretty nasty water etchings on it that the SHR and Orange pad wouldn't remove (did 4 or 5 passes if I remember correctly with little to no effect). There were way too many to attempt the 4" focus pads on, so I lived with them after the last paint correction. This past weekend I went at the car again: this time starting with the SSR and Green pad and the etchings melted away right before my eyes! With the XP version of the PC I'm putting enough pressure down to where the pad is barely rotating at all with a setting of 5, bumped to 6 on trouble spots. I've got a box full of the Lake Country CCS pads that I'm using up and replacing with Adam's as they wear: the pad colors and foam density correspond to Adam's but are much harder to center to the backing plate and feel a bit different across the finish due to their little holes rather than the hex pattern Adam's has.