Cloudy wax

[lionvt]

Over time, gasoline spills have clouded the wax/finish underneath the fuel filler door on my wife's 91 Range Rover. Any ideas on how to fix this? I tried rewaxing but improvement was negligible. I am one who washes my Disco "once a year, whether it needs it or not" so all the exterior finish issues/products confuse me.

 

[Ian95rrc]

The stains are due to the fact that you had no or little wax on at the time. Ideally a car should be waxed every 6 months to maintain the protective coating of the wax. If you are only washing the car every year then I'm guessing it hadn't been waxed in a long time. At any rate, your first option would be to use some rubbing compound. You will put swirl marks in the paint with it, but they can be buffed out. If that doesn't do the trick then you may need to wet sand the finish then follow up with a power buffer. I would probably leave that to a professional detailer unless you are up for the challenge.

 

[rmarti]

Do you have a Clear Coat, because if you do I may have an answer.

 

[lionvt]

It is the wife's car

As it is her car, I am not exactly sure how often it has been waxed, but I think it is safe to say that it is probably not too often. She does take it routinely to a commercial car wash, but I do not exactly know what she has done there. I've assumed that it is being waxed but I really don't know. I have noticed the cloudiness getting worse over the last year or so. Although I take care of the mechanicals, cosmetics are more her thing but now this cloudiness is bothering her and she wants me to see what I can do with it.

If I use the rubbing compound, do I just rewax it? I did try a small section of it once with rubbing compound and it seemed to help but did not remove it entirely.

I am pretty sure it is a clear coat.

 

[rmarti]

If this doesn't work than yo may have to get an estimate at a body shop to wet sand your vehicle.

I use Meguire's, only from experience. I tried other stuff I had laying around and they simply did not work as well as Meguire's.

1. Prep Paint. Wash vehicle w/ dish soap to rid it of grease and wax build up.

2. Use Meguire's Clay Bar w/ lubricant to rid the paint surface of contanements. You may
have to use some elbow grease on the hard stains, like the one you have pictured. If
this does not work then you may have to get an estimate from the body shop for a
wet sand, because using the clay bar is the last attempt before wet sanding.

3. Wash again w/ car wash soap, this is get rid of the Clay Bar residue.

4. Use Meguire's Scratch X, this will also help w/ removing surface junk and fill in the
minor scratches. BE ADVISED use this stuff in tiny sections, because it's hard to get
off if left on too long.

Your paint should look 100% better by now and it should feel like glass. The Clay Bar will make it feel as smooth as a baby's butt, like it should be. If you run you hand over the paint right now, it may feel "gritty" and the Clay Bar will fix that.

You can stop now if you'd like, but to make it even more shiny, do the rest.

5. Use Meguier's Polish. If you think your paint looks and feels good now, try this stuff.
The polish will give it that wet look.

6. Seal in your hard work with the Wax. I use the Meguire's liquid wax.

I would take before and after pictures just to see the difference. Also PLEASE DO THIS IN THE SHADE!! My Aunt waxed her car in direct sunlight and the wax was burnt into the paint, you do not want that happening.

If it's cloudiness thats bugging her this stuff will help 110%. So good luck, and if you hate it use dish soap to take it all off.

 

[lionvt]

Thanks for the detailed step by step. I'll give it a try and post the pics if its successful.

 

[lionvt]

Tried it, and it mainly worked

Well, I tried your suggestions over the past two weekends with the following difference. The first weekend I tried it using Meguiar's? Scratch-X because I couldn't find the clay bar. As you can see by the pictures, it was markedly improved but not gone. The next weekend I tried it with Meguiar's? Overspray Clay. This improved it again. Thanks for the help. You can see that it didn't exactly remove all of it (when I look closely it really looks like the metallic paint has been rippled a little) but when polished -- it looks a lot better. And that is all I was going for anyway. My wife is happy with it because it removed the obvious staining. Thanks again.

P.S. With all I've learned about these exterior finish products, I actually washed and waxed my Discovery. I picked my wife up at the airport after waxing the Disco when she was out of town and she didn't recognize my car because it was so shiny!

 

[aturner71]

lionvt,

Did you use a orbital buffer? You do not want to use it too much (with a scratch removal product), but using a orbital buffer will help a whole lot in this situation. Also use it to apply your car wax and to finish with final buffing (with a "buffing pad). Your going to have to wax and polish your entire Rover to even out the whole look of the vehicle.

That "stain" can be removed.....it is just going to take time.

 

[lionvt]

Don't have an orbital buffer

I didn't try the orbital buffer. I don't have one, borrowed one from a friend, but got the thing looking pretty decent without it so probably won't try it. What do you use as an abrasive with it?