Hard water spots & trunk closing scratches

[cerberus]

Thought I'd pass this on as it's bound to happen to someone else.

Skipping a few details here, but the short of it is I came out of work Thursday to find my car had baked in the hot sun after getting soaked in very hard city water. While the terible looking white mineral deposits looked like trouble, I figured I'd be ok having just clayed, deep cleaned, and protected the finish not very long ago. As soon as I got home I washed the car and while things looked fine from a distance, close up, the water spots remained. I tried everything I could get my hands on that night and those spots would not budge.

As I understand these things from what I've read, hard water spots are a problem and will damage your clearcoat and even paint the longer they sit. The water has evaporated, leaving just the minerals, typically calcium. At this point as time goes by, these minerals will etch into and eventually through the clear and into the paint. In this instance, it's only been a day to a day and a half into my 6 or 7 day window for a clear coat damage. Off to a professional detailer where they can buff it out with an machine. They reiterated just what Gary tells us. Had I waited too long I'd have to reclear the car. I didn't and all came out well.

Moral of the story, stuff happens, but it can be dealt with so long as you take car of it reasonably soon.



So as I look over my freshly detailed Midnight Blue I see that I've put some pretty good surface scratches in the trunk lid by closing it. Now the first forum friend I met in person very patiently went out of his way to teach me how to close the trunk nearly a year ago. To avoid scratches he recommended swinging the lid down by pressing on the chrome pieces. I thought I'd read somewhere that that could stress the lid mounts side to side if you weren't careful, so I'd used the push on the center approach as the dealer taught and as I believe I've seen all my Sky kin do. Well, looks like RODEO was right and I need to work on a less damaging technique. I'm still concerned about stressing the lid mounts, but it appears that even though I'm using a MF towel to press with, I'm rubbing dust and dirt into the paint and scratching it from the pressure. Still not sure about this one, but I'm going to have to change something here.


Input and corrections welcome. Hope this all saves anyone else a bit of hassle or problems.

[jel]

I have a cloth in my car that I use as a mitten for closing the trunk. I noticed those finger scratches too and knew it would just get worse. Maybe Saturn will put some of that clear coating that's under the buttresses near the front of the trunk for a closing point.

[jayman]

I've noticed my Midnight Blue tends to pick up fine scratches also...perhaps one of the vendors here who deal with 3M clear bras could come up with a small half-circle piece to place behind the window, towrd the top of the trunk--much like the pieces around the buttresses--in would think this would cut down on scratches and be largely invisible

[joker70]

I think that a self latching lock like the trunk of a caddy would be the best then all you have to do is push it to the latch and then it does the rest badda bing badda boom no more scraches. I know I dreamin

[xmicro_Redline]

I have owned Black and Dark colored New Cars in the past. I do not care how careful you are either handling the car, washing, driving, etc. I was never able, in my ultra anal life, to keep those cars looking brand new. It drove myself INSANE. I LOVE A BLACK CAR, looks like a liquid finish when new. My solution to my problem, I have purchased Silver or White cars ONLY, since 1996. Done Deal!

Maybe that is not a realistic goal for some but I can bet others on this site wanted the dark colors but got a light color because of the reasons you speak of.

Use cotton gloves to close the trunk. They are used to handle photographic negatives. Keeps the grease off and WILL NOT SCRATCH. Of course anything will scratch if you run your finger over a very dirty surface.

http://www.uline.com/Browse_Listing_968.asp

[JohnD]

Guys ...

There are the mylar panels on the trunk where the roof winglets sit. They are there to protect the finish from scratches caused by the roof rubbing on the rear deck...

I place my hand there when I close the trunk.

I get the momentum of the deck going downward and do not ride all the way down with my hand so I have no risk of buckling the surface.

Works great.

[shamayim]

Originally Posted by JohnD

Guys ...

There are the mylar panels on the trunk where the roof winglets sit. They are there to protect the finish from scratches caused by the roof rubbing on the rear deck...

I place my hand there when I close the trunk.

I get the momentum of the deck going downward and do not ride all the way down with my hand so I have no risk of buckling the surface.

Works great.

I'll have to try that, thanks. I had a problem with the water in my sprinkler system last year. The water marks would not come out until the car was compounded. I had to park across the street all summer.

[MidniteBlues]

I also have 2 items, 1 is a white micro fiber thick cotton glove, the other is a micro fiber towl--no damage will ever happen, even on a dirty surface. Got the items where I buy my car stuff--Also I might add, any decent drug store, or any store really that sells nail polish stuff for the ladies usually have white cotton gloves for sale if ya wanna go that route

[Rick Tinley Park]

Originally Posted by JohnD

Guys ...

There are the mylar panels on the trunk where the roof winglets sit. They are there to protect the finish from scratches caused by the roof rubbing on the rear deck...

I place my hand there when I close the trunk.

I get the momentum of the deck going downward and do not ride all the way down with my hand so I have no risk of buckling the surface.

Works great.

I'm w/John -- This is how I close the lid...

[GaryH]

Originally Posted by JohnD

Guys ...

There are the mylar panels on the trunk where the roof winglets sit. They are there to protect the finish from scratches caused by the roof rubbing on the rear deck...

I place my hand there when I close the trunk.

I get the momentum of the deck going downward and do not ride all the way down with my hand so I have no risk of buckling the surface.

Works great.

Thats the way I do it too.

[turbomangt]

When I read posts like this it makes me happy that I spent a full week filming. now I can answer in 3 sentences rather ten 10 paragraphs. BUY MY DVD TO LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY CARE FOR YOUR CAR!!!!! GARY

[Midnight Sky]

Originally Posted by jayman

I've noticed my Midnight Blue tends to pick up fine scratches also...perhaps one of the vendors here who deal with 3M clear bras could come up with a small half-circle piece to place behind the window, towrd the top of the trunk--much like the pieces around the buttresses--in would think this would cut down on scratches and be largely invisible

They do!!!

Mine is going in next week to get the 3M bra. They are also putting a strip across the trunk between the humps to use to close the trunk with.

[gffct2]

cerberus, take a look at the owner's manual on page 322. "Chemical Paint Spotting". Your car should be covered for 12 months or 12,000 miles!

[Valistener]

Just put a good layer of wax on the car a couple times a year and you will be fine from bugs and water deposits. The wax leaves a protective barrier between the outside and the clearcoat.

[Rick Tinley Park]

Originally Posted by Valistener

Just put a good layer of wax on the car a couple times a year and you will be fine from bugs and water deposits. The wax leaves a protective barrier between the outside and the clearcoat.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by cerberus

Thought I'd pass this on as it's bound to happen to someone else.

Skipping a few details here, but the short of it is I came out of work Thursday to find my car had baked in the hot sun after getting soaked in very hard city water. While the terible looking white mineral deposits looked like trouble, I figured I'd be ok having just clayed, deep cleaned, and protected the finish not very long ago. As soon as I got home I washed the car and while things looked fine from a distance, close up, the water spots remained. I tried everything I could get my hands on that night and those spots would not budge.

As I understand these things from what I've read, hard water spots are a problem and will damage your clearcoat and even paint the longer they sit. The water has evaporated, leaving just the minerals, typically calcium. At this point as time goes by, these minerals will etch into and eventually through the clear and into the paint. In this instance, it's only been a day to a day and a half into my 6 or 7 day window for a clear coat damage. Off to a professional detailer where they can buff it out with an machine. They reiterated just what Gary tells us. Had I waited too long I'd have to reclear the car. I didn't and all came out well.

Moral of the story, stuff happens, but it can be dealt with so long as you take car of it reasonably soon.



So as I look over my freshly detailed Midnight Blue I see that I've put some pretty good surface scratches in the trunk lid by closing it. Now the first forum friend I met in person very patiently went out of his way to teach me how to close the trunk nearly a year ago. To avoid scratches he recommended swinging the lid down by pressing on the chrome pieces. I thought I'd read somewhere that that could stress the lid mounts side to side if you weren't careful, so I'd used the push on the center approach as the dealer taught and as I believe I've seen all my Sky kin do. Well, looks like RODEO was right and I need to work on a less damaging technique. I'm still concerned about stressing the lid mounts, but it appears that even though I'm using a MF towel to press with, I'm rubbing dust and dirt into the paint and scratching it from the pressure. Still not sure about this one, but I'm going to have to change something here.


Input and corrections welcome. Hope this all saves anyone else a bit of hassle or problems.

Heres another suggestion: I have black plastic things on my trunk lid (from the factory) and I just use a single finger or two and slam it down. It leaves no fingerprints and shuts fine. Sorry about the waterspots, I use to live in Florida and I have seen alot of paint jobs get ruined by that exact occurance. Anyone that moves there can't understand how fast they can get baked into the paint. I had a friend who left soap spots (just a few) and we went to the beach (he planned to get them out on the way back). After only 30min, we came back and he never was able to get them out....

[cerberus]

Lol. At my last place across the valley from my current home the little area I lived in was called Sulphur Springs. Tap water came out looking like skim milk and smelled terrible. Anything it dried on had a hard white film on it. I didn't use the kitchen much which was probably a factor, but twice the water ate out the bottom and sides of the disposal leaving a wet mess when you turned on the tap and it poured out the bottom. We're talking _hard_ water here.

The water is not as bad at my current place, but I don't wash with tap water, and certainly don't let it dry on the car. I just got caught unluckly.

I did use Gary's stuff and had a good layer of sealant on it. That stuff is great. Tree sap comes right off, but nothin's gonna stop that water if it bakes in from the sun and sits too long. It wasn't coming out as it had already worked under the sealant and was working on the clear. Least that's what I think was happening as no product in my superkit and beyond was making a dent in it. Hence the professional detailer. No time in the schedule to strip sealant get that junk out and rehit it with cleaner and sealant. So, if I understand what happened, I think that layer of sealent saved my clear coat as it bought me enough time to deal with it.

Thanks everyone for the input. I've picked up some good stuff here.

[cerberus]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Heres another suggestion: I have black plastic things on my trunk lid (from the factory) and I just use a single finger or two and slam it down. It leaves no fingerprints and shuts fine. Sorry about the waterspots, I use to live in Florida and I have seen alot of paint jobs get ruined by that exact occurance. Anyone that moves there can't understand how fast they can get baked into the paint. I had a friend who left soap spots (just a few) and we went to the beach (he planned to get them out on the way back). After only 30min, we came back and he never was able to get them out....

Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, that's a variation of what I was shown but didnt do, and what others here have suggested. They're right, and I'll change to this. I wanted to point it out as I figure I can't be the only one slamming from the center so a few of us probably need to adjust.

Yeah, you get the water thing too then. I got lucky and they all came out.

[AnonNomis]

I got some water spots today that I couldn't get out with the spray and shine so I had to resort to the paint cleaner. I got it off but does anyone know if I have to re-apply the paint sealent? I put a layer of poly seal over it for now.

[turbomangt]

Anon, I'm following you (LOL) when you use the paint cleaner, just spray and fine mist of the poly seal over it, you are good to go, remember to use the poly seal sparingly, a little goes a long way. gary