Stresss Cracks or what?

[dmaleck]

Hello all, Have a bit of a problem I could use some help with!

 

I got my PC kit in the mail the other day and got a little time today to hit my hood for a bit.  The hood on my CTS-V is definitely the worst part of the entire car..its pretty beat up.  I thought what I had was tons of tiny scratches all over the hood, mostly closer to the windshield. I am not sure where these all came from to be honest. The car has definitely been neglected to say the least.  The steps I took are as follows, followed by some pics of what I am talking about.

 

1st- Hit the hood with correcting polish on the cutting pad.

2nd- Correcting polish with the correcting pad.

3rd- finish polish with the finish pad.

 

All steps were done on speed 5.

 

Now my hood is almost like glass, smooth as can be and I can't catch my finger nail on any of these little scratches. Is it possible to have some sort of stress cracks in the paint underneath the clear coat? As you can see from the pics there are thousands of these cracks you cant really see them looking straight down on them but from an angle they are very visible.

 

Please help and fellow car enthusiast!!

[rrmccabe]

 That looks pretty bad. I would try taping off a line and spending time with the correcting polish and microfiber pad. Go over it many times and see if you are making headway. strip and claybar it first?

Forget the finishing compound for now until you can see progress. 

[sahls01gmc]

Is that a fiberglass hood?  That's all I can think of.

[dmaleck]

 That looks pretty bad. I would try taping off a line and spending time with the correcting polish and microfiber pad. Go over it many times and see if you are making headway. strip and claybar it first?

Forget the finishing compound for now until you can see progress. 

 

Yep I stripped and clay bared first, I can spend more time on those areas...I just wasn't sure how long and how much I can focus in a spot without doing damage.

 

 

Is that a fiberglass hood?  That's all I can think of.

 

Nope, Stock hood.

[rrmccabe]

If you felt the scratches to start then it tells me they were in the clear.

 

You can do a lot of buffing with an orbital without damage.  But I am guessing you are going to have to make several passes with the first step before moving on.  Add the tape line so your progress is obvious.

[dmaleck]

If you felt the scratches to start then it tells me they were in the clear.

 

You can do a lot of buffing with an orbital without damage.  But I am guessing you are going to have to make several passes with the first step before moving on.  Add the tape line so your progress is obvious.

 

Ok i'll try that, I appreciate your help.   What has me scratching my head is that I felt the scratches before..now I cant feel them.. But I can't see any improvement.. How is this possible? Unless its under the clear coat 

[rrmccabe]

Well you probably have partially removed and filled them and the scratch is not so abrupt of edge.

 

Just do a small taped off area several times. Pull the tape and look again.

 

Are you done yet

 

Anxious to see your results.

 

This may require wet/dry sandpaper !

 

Does the trunk look just as bad? 

Edited April 29, 2016 by rrmccabe

[dmaleck]

I will give this a go tomorrow, I am stationed in Germany so its midnight here   Trunk is completely normal, no weird scratches.  Is there a good how to video on properly wet/dry sanding? I am very new to all of this.

[rrmccabe]

Well try the buffer first.  Since its not on the trunk lets hope the hood has not been re cleared and have issues.

 

The wet sanding is a last resort.

[dmaleck]

Sounds good. I will Update ASAP!

[LFairbanks]

Looks like clear coat failure to me, and the only way to fix it is a repaint.

 

http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/pdf/Troubleshooting_Guide_English_PDF.pdf

[dmaleck]

Looks like clear coat failure to me, and the only way to fix it is a repaint.

 

http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/pdf/Troubleshooting_Guide_English_PDF.pdf

 

I had a feeling it would be worst case scenario. Definitely don't' want to pay German prices for a repaint over here.  Still going to attempt the buffer some more and see what I can do.

[stripesace]

Nice PDF there.

[dmaleck]

Nice PDF there.

 

Not sure what PDF is? 

 

Just got done with another 2 hours of polishing....these cracks do not go away.  I went over them at least 10 times with no improvement that I can tell.   I guess this means the clear coat failed for some reason.  Not sure why it would only be on the hood though.

[rrmccabe]

PDF is the Adobe document he posted above. Acrobat PDF file.

 

Well that is too bad on the hood.  I am guessing it has had paint work done on it and not GM paint.

 

The bad part is it will need stripped off to repair it. And because of color it will probably require the fenders and any other panels that meet the hood to be blended in as well.

[dmaleck]

PDF is the Adobe document he posted above. Acrobat PDF file.

 

Well that is too bad on the hood.  I am guessing it has had paint work done on it and not GM paint.

 

The bad part is it will need stripped off to repair it. And because of color it will probably require the fenders and any other panels that meet the hood to be blended in as well.

 

Oh gotcha. I thought he PDF was some sort of detailing acronym haha. 

 

Well, As bad as I don't really like wraps, I might just wrap the vinyl wrap the hood.  It would probably cost me a small fortune to pay a German to paint and blend ect. I really appreciate all of your help!! other than the hood, the car is coming out great!

[rrmccabe]

Yea to be honest it might be about the same cost to get a carbon fiber hood for it !

[dmaleck]

Yea to be honest it might be about the same cost to get a carbon fiber hood for it !

 

Unfortunately can't get one of those shipped here    Sucks being overseas sometimes!

[rrmccabe]

How long are you over there?  And thanks for your service by the way.

[dmaleck]

I'll be here until next May, so not too bad.

 

Thank you!

[LFairbanks]

Well that is too bad on the hood.  I am guessing it has had paint work done on it and not GM paint.

 

 

 

I have a 2011 GMC that I bought brand new.  It had something similar to what the OP posted in regards to his hood, on the roof.  GM paid for a repaint.  

[rrmccabe]

I have a 2011 GMC that I bought brand new.  It had something similar to what the OP posted in regards to his hood, on the roof.  GM paid for a repaint.  

How old was it when they did the repaint?

[rrmccabe]

I'll be here until next May, so not too bad.

 

Thank you!

Well if you get back the states maybe you can put it off until then.

 

Carbon fiber would look great on that color

[LFairbanks]

How old was it when they did the repaint?

 

 

4 years old.  I have to find time to take it back and have them re-do it.  Isn't high on my priority list as I'm busy with other things.  Frustrated though as they do a great job matching paint, but I "always" have to take it back for something when they have done work for me.  Frustrated too, that they kept if for two weeks and ended up renting us a pos Dodge as my wife needed a truck for her horses and they went a week over what they promised and it was "supposedly" scrutinized to make sure it was "perfect".  The picture below shows that it wasn't perfect.  Surprised they even let me have it back with that in the picture.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by LFairbanks

[rrmccabe]

I have the same issue at body shops. First attempt usually teaches them my expectation level and then they usually get it right on the second visit. Sometimes third.