REVscene Automotive Forum - Weird clear coat discolouring

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Weird clear coat discolouring

As the title states, the clear coat on my paint has this weird discolouring on it. I keep an N sign on my trunk lid and when I was washing my car today I noticed it. Tried buffing it off with compound and polish as well but it didn't make any difference. Any suggestions?

http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...pspnza7559.jpg

That's weird but that looks like it is beneath the clear coat. From your user picture, that looks exactly where your N sign would be placed.

Have you recently got your rear trunk lid painted? The magnet might have tugged on any metallic flake in the paint before it fully cured, creating a pocket of air. It sounds like a reach but that's the only thing that explains the size and shape of the affected area.

OP can claim ICBC :ahwow: :troll:

Quote:

Originally Posted by boibuddha (Post 8738754)

Nope, never painted the trunk. I've taken the N sign off now and it's still not changing back to the original colour

Stick the N on the inside and see if the metallic flakes go back

:troll:

How many Summers as the N sign been on the trunk lid?

Never seen that one before.

Almost looks like the car was washed with the N on and used some sort of heavy degreeser/acid and it was left behind the N resulting in the damage.

If trying to buff it out by hand did not work then I would look at wet sanding it and cut polishing it back. Unless its gone right through the clear (never seen that happen) then this should restore the finish.

PS, put your N in the back window.

I would contact ICBC and see what they say about it

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinxcrusader (Post 8738909)

How many Summers as the N sign been on the trunk lid?

The N has never been on there for long periods of time. Ive always taken it off everyday for a few hours when I'd park and go to school or work. Ever since I took it off and washed it from the last wash (2 weeks ago) it appeared.

Quote:

The clouding is due to the plasticizer in the magnetic sign material depositing onto the clear coat combined with slight abrasion from the body of the signal "fluttering" against the surface.

Before overheating the surface with a heat lamp, which will permanently bake the plasticizer onto the clear coat, or wetsanding, which would remove a large part of the clearcoat, try claybar first, and if that doesn't work, a very light application of white polishing compound or cleaner wax. Either of these is gentler on the finish than wetsanding. If you work from the edges of the discolored area inward, you may be able to blend the area into the surrounding panel rather than having to polish out the entire area.

Some others have said to gently use a hair dryer to heat up the paint (but be careful) and it should come out. I personally just used some polishing compound, and it helped.

FYI, wetsanding will not remove a large portion of clear unless your being stupid :P You can remove 1-2 microns of clear to fix that. Given your factory paint varies all over the car from 60 to 120 microns thick (base, color, clear) its not doing any hard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TysonK (Post 8738956)

This happened on my racecar when I used to use magnetic numbers on the doors. This tends to happen when moisture is trapped between the magnetic decal and the clear coat.

Here's the best answer on the 'net I could find:

Some others have said to gently use a hair dryer to heat up the paint (but be careful) and it should come out. I personally just used some polishing compound, and it helped.

Sat there with a hairdryer for 20 mins and it looks like it all evaporated away. Weird how it got behind the clearcoat. Thanks man!

^sweet glad it worked out!