Where to start? auto finish

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Gave in the other day and hosed off the truck, bit early for its annual wash but what they heck, been home for 2 months. I noticed it isn't getting as clean as it used to, I think things are growing or getting embedded in the paint. After it dried, I ran my hand over the paint and I can rub off white chalk--I'm guessing it's paint that is oxidizing, and quite badly. What should I try to do here? Get some sort of buffer? Or is there something I could do by hand, out in the sun? What product should I try? This is not a garaged vehicle, so it's basically been outside for 10 years (and has all the damage you'd expect after 10 NH winters).

I haven't done much other than wash a car in years... have some Turtle wax somewhere. At some point I got Mother's Clay Bar, that did remove some of what is growing. Honestly, I think she's a goner, needs a paint job to look good again, but it might be worth a bit of effort to bring some shine out.

Wife's car could use the same thing. At least that I could shine up in the garage, out of the sun. My car... ain't nothing helping that!

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Edit: after some claybar effort. Much of the black is gone, but there is plenty of pitting from rocks.
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Many white Toyota's do not have a clearcoat. If you use a cleaner wax, it will perk the paint up nicely.

If you first use a polish or polishing compound, that will help more, but you would need to follow up with a wax or cleaner/wax for more shine and protection. Meguiars Ultimate Compound might be worth a try, but for less $$ the Turtle Wax liquid compounds work pretty good.

You can use these products by hand or with a buffer. You will get better results with a buffer, but try hand application first. The results may surprise you with a little elbow grease.
 
Few years ago I got chewed out on a Tundra forum by those who insist that white does have a clearcoat... I'm not convinced mine does, it just doesn't have a sheen and there's spots where it looks like it was reworked. Doesn't matter, as a white truck everyone calls it a plumber's truck. To which I don't care, it's just a tool to me.

Meguiars Ultimate is only $10 or so at Walmart. That's cheap enough to try out.
 
If it doesnt have a clear, Meguiars #7 might ultimately help. Look up Mike Phillips how to over on autogeek. Even if it does have a clear, that process, using the terry towel to help gently remove the top level of oxidation might be good. Youll likely need some harder work on it though.

Id wash it well, probably use a pressure washer. Maybe put it through an automatic no touch carwash first, because some of those chemicals may be stronger. There is a purple power degreaser that some recommend as well, might be worth it here.

Id want to run iron X on this to get any embedded particulates. Id probably then try the glaze personally, but others might recommed to clay and light polish at least first.
 
As first steps I would use Tar and Iron Removers, followed by Clay. After those steps, you can try the #7 that JHZR2 mentioned, followed by machine compounding and polishing (if you desire).
 
Iron X to remove iron, something to remove tar, then clay, then maybe #7? Could try that. Will look into sourcing those things.
 
Sounds like you don't want your paint to fail. Maybe you should try making some regular effort to take care of it; annual washes do not constitute effort. To *attempt* to save it you'll want to follow what The Critic said. To keep it that way put just a little effort in, it will go a long way.
 
Braved the crowds and got some Meguiars Cleaning Wax and towels. After about the third application I started getting a shine on the hood. Few more attempts and it might start to look decent. Afterwards I realized I should probably use the foam applicator thing for applying, but I kinda wanted something more aggressive to lift anything off the paint.

I was surprised, it did lift some dirt, and even some rust staining around a chip.

What would be good to strip this off? I'm finding rock chips here and there, some of which will need addressing. Some IPA?

This is the first vehicle that I would like to trade out of with value; I have been starting to think about keeping it longer, but usually I get rid of after 10 years and 250k, and they're just not worth anything by then. A calculated estimation on my part says to not sweat the paint. I neglected to take this into account when I bought this vehicle, but I'm coming up on it's 10yr/100k calculation (different than prior vehicles), and I'm realizing I overlooked this aspect--a 13 year old truck with 180k is probably going to be worth more than a 10 year old econobox with 250k.

With that said, this single stage white paint chips if you look at it sideways.
 
My Tacoma is the same single stage white, and let me tell you it's a total bear to try and keep clean and shiny. Unfortunately at this point doing something by hand is not gonna do much and just wear you out for little results. If you're serious in getting it up to par, you'll need at minimum a DA type polisher and a polish/compound. You don't need a paint job. When I bought my truck it was so neglected and had no shine at all. Took about 6-7 hours, light compound, and multiple pads as they were getting loaded up with dead, spent paint. I already had a product laying around, Poorboy's SSR1 that I ordered online years ago, but parts stores have options. Autozone carries Griots Garage Complete Compound that would work really well for a one-step so to say. I guess you could do this by hand, but for an extra $100-$150 will save your body tremendously. This should also get rid of the junk in your paint. After that you need to protect your work. You can try any one of the easy to use Hybrid Ceramic waxes, but if you don't mine ordering online Collinite 845 works very well and holds up to the harsh winter conditions you see. I've used both, and the Collinite has the edge IMO. Like I said, you don't need a paint job, just a day or two worth of work, and I guess a little bit of money buying a DA, compound/polish, and sealant of your choice.
 
I still think the leading edge of the hood is kaput, but I'm no expert.

I started looking into the DA, might see if I can pick up a cheap one today, as I tend to work best when it's hot on my mind. Some reading indicates that while it needs to go one "thick" the pad would need to be changed often, so I'd need a DA and a stack of pads to go with it. It was quite a bit of work to get uneven results last night, but it did do something, which I was content with.
 
Originally Posted by supton
I still think the leading edge of the hood is kaput, but I'm no expert.

I started looking into the DA, might see if I can pick up a cheap one today, as I tend to work best when it's hot on my mind. Some reading indicates that while it needs to go one "thick" the pad would need to be changed often, so I'd need a DA and a stack of pads to go with it. It was quite a bit of work to get uneven results last night, but it did do something, which I was content with.


Grab an older microfiber towel (or even a clean old dish towel) and while the machine is off hold down the towel hard, turn on the machine at a low speed while holding the towel on there. It'll take off alot of the gunk and let you use a couple less pads. Do this occasionally. I went through 4 on the Tacoma, so you'll likely need 5 if not cleaning them in between.

Also you're going to hate yourself if you use too much product, that's one of the biggest beginner mistakes. Prime the pad slightly wet with product and just use 5-6 pea size dots afterwards. Too much product and it won't work as intended. That and make a mess...
 
At this point your truck is probably beyond an AIO, but it wouldn't hurt to try. It might get the results you're looking for.

That post is definitely intriguing to me; I've never used that much product "compounding" even going oldschool wool and rotary. But different strokes for different folks. I might be doing it completely wrong, but I've always gotten good results. That and I work in smaller sections. Another case of your mileage may vary...
 
YMMV, as they always say.

I just want to bring it 2 steps forward without going overboard. If nothing else... can always redo!

Just running my hand over it last night, compared to the other panels (only did hood and front fenders)--there was quite a difference. Looking at it this morning, definitely not polished, rather dull looking actually. But all the scratches and chips are popping out quite nicely now! The camera certainly hides the worst.

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Originally Posted by supton
Gave in and took a look at kits. My head spins with the options...

https://www.autogeek.net/pocapobuki.html


Hah, it can get overwhelming. Take a look at this unit from H-F (link). 6" and long throw is perfect for a big truck like yours, that and won't break the bank. It's becoming well reviewed. If my Griots 6" ever craps out I'm replacing it with the H-F unit.
 
I did see the HF options but had been thinking to go middle of the road with the Porter Cable, then started looking into what also was required, pads and accessories, and realized that I probably would be better off, dollar wise, if I waited and bought a kit. Just find someone's recommendation for a setup. I suppose in the scheme of things it's small money--for less than a car payment I could get a PC from HD and a bunch of pads from HF, and even if I replace it all in the future... it's still not that much money.
 
Originally Posted by supton
I did see the HF options but had been thinking to go middle of the road with the Porter Cable, then started looking into what also was required, pads and accessories, and realized that I probably would be better off, dollar wise, if I waited and bought a kit. Just find someone's recommendation for a setup. I suppose in the scheme of things it's small money--for less than a car payment I could get a PC from HD and a bunch of pads from HF, and even if I replace it all in the future... it's still not that much money.

There is no reason to buy a PC - low on power, dated and zero reliability advantage. The offbrand Chinese DA's are extremely good nowadays. I would look into the Maxshine polishers or the HF large-throw DA.
 
I saw a couple of vids on the Bauer, and they seemed middling--more expensive yet not as good as the Chicago Electric that it replaced. But this
video made it sound like the predecessor wasn't a bad choice--newer might not be as good, but still no bad.
 
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