What type of defects are there and how do I correct them

One of the biggest challenges any car enthusiast can be faced with is defects on their paintwork.

This post will be based on your modern clear's, not single stage paintwork.

First you have the general hedge meetings, these appear as straight lines, normally quite a few parallel to one another. You can view the typical hedge, bag or general scuffs below.


Above the white light you can see a distinctive line, dependant on how deep, what paint your dealing with and climate will determine how we rectify this area.




The next defect which we can see here is the typical swirling effect which comes mainly from the wash stage, however, a contaminated Microfibre - MF for short, polish not worked for the correct length of time and wash brushes will all cause this type of defect. No doubt, this is the most common defect we face on motor vehicles.

There is a phenomenon known as Random Isolated Deep Scratches - RIDS for short these are as described, which can come from general wear and tear, something scuffing the body when dirty, a stone dragging along the paintwork, a contaminated MF and the neighbours cat !

For all defects there is a rule of thumb, if your finger nails catches the scratch then all we can do is soften the edges with a rotary or dual action polisher. Without paint, total correction is not possible. If we attack the scratch there is a high chance of either breaking through to the undercoat, colour coat or the clear coat. The returns are simply NOT worth the risk associated with the gains.

I will show you the edges smoothed, which leaves plenty of paint and allows the user to detail without the hazard.


The above image was taken after the compound stage with a cutting pad and still requires to be "flattened" allowing for high gloss, clarity and velvety smooth paintwork.


Now onto the more serious paintwork defects - stone chips. My take on this is to buy a kit from local supplier and follow the instructions, I will be creating a post on stone chips but for now you just need to know what they look like. These are CLEAR only stone chips, no metal or undercoat here.

We have now covered most of the defects you will be met with, hopefully, we never have to tackle the dreaded bird bomb. This is totally different approach, we normally find that bird bombs are high acidic and will more than likely "etch" your clear coat. There are two ways to handle this either, use a cutting pad and an appropriate polish or venture down the wet sanding route. I cannot encourage you enough to have a Paint Thickness Gauge - PTG for short at hand for this type of thing.



Another common defect is marring. This is generally described as a 3D effect on the paintwork. The easiest of the defects to remove, is mistaken for product reside. So always wipe down with a Quality Quick Detailer - QD for short.

Now we have to address an all to common "feature" that comes standard on most vehicles - Orange Peel. This if in the clear is curable, however, you MUST have a PTG to perform this task. The above picture shows just how much it can affect the clarity of the reflection. Is it necessary to repair this if it is just a hacker/daily driver - no.

I personally have orange peel and just live with it, there are so many things to consider when reducing orange peel. How long will you own the vehicle, what type of environment is the vehicle stored in, how often do you want perfect paintwork, is this a garage queen or daily driver and most importantly how much paint do you have!! Infact this is a good time to ask yourself these questions as it will dictate how far we can go.

Don't lose faith though, this is just one example of what can be achieved !

From this

To this. Planning and assessment was key

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We will be looking at what tools you will need in the next post ! After this surface prep.