Paintwork- lacquer or lack of muscle?

[onewheeltoofew]

Hi,
Can anyone help me with an issue I've got with the paintwork on my van, just above the windshield?


This is the best picture I could get of it, but you can sort of make out the problem. The colour seems to have faded and gone dull (it's most obvious in the Sunshine-so not often a problem then ). It looks like old oxidised paintwork but using T-cut doesn't seem to help improve it and I don't want to go too heavy with the abrasives. So before I break out the elbow grease, is it more likely to be a problem with the lacquer and what's the best way to fix it?

Cheers

Col

[Northern Bongolow]

dont know about paint, but i like your solar panel wind deflector

[onewheeltoofew]

Just need to get some for the auto free top a la Dodgey's excellent thread and we'll be properly self sufficient.

[mikeonb4c]

If you wet the surface, does the colour come back or can you still see the fault?

[onewheeltoofew]

Hmmm, I'm not sure. I'll check when I get back from work. Out of interest, What would it mean if the colour came back?

[lpgimports]

Hi

Its basically sunburnt, the clear coat has been affected by the heat over its life and is scorched. some polishes will make it look a little better for a short time but the only long term cure is to repaint the affected areas and blend into existing

Paul

[onewheeltoofew]

Cheers for the info Paul.

When you say repaint, could I just take off the clearcoat and reapply (being careful to blend it in) or is it a case of taking it right back to the metal and starting again?

[lpgimports]

The problem is all paints fade at different rates, it is possible to lightly flat the surface and clear over it again and sometimes the wet clear will lift the faded dry paint, sometimes this works sometimes need to add a bit of matting agent as ultra glossy clear when all the rest around it slightly dry and faded stands out too much, worst case it you clear it and all the edges show up like an old map and it needs to be properly flatted back and repainted.

Paul

[onewheeltoofew]

Fair do's, I'll try a little section first to see if it makes any diffference before handing it over to the professionals.

[cabte]

Hi

Its basically sunburnt, the clear coat has been affected by the heat over its life and is scorched. some polishes will make it look a little better for a short time but the only long term cure is to repaint the affected areas and blend into existing

Paul

yep iv seen this on a lot of bongos,

[mikeonb4c]

The problem is all paints fade at different rates, it is possible to lightly flat the surface and clear over it again and sometimes the wet clear will lift the faded dry paint, sometimes this works sometimes need to add a bit of matting agent as ultra glossy clear when all the rest around it slightly dry and faded stands out too much, worst case it you clear it and all the edges show up like an old map and it needs to be properly flatted back and repainted.

Paul

Great advice from Paul and its all much as I suspected. You might get an acceptable and simple fix if you can find natural body lines to work up to as a panel, esp if the sprayer can melt the join line from old to new. I think there is a whole bag of cosmetic tricks possible by just relacquering instead of doing a full paint job.

[Lotustuart]

This was my Spoiler before I polished it


And this is after a bit of TLC!


Always worth a good old polish before you spend out on a respray. IMO.

[tonnee]

My silver Bongo is exactly the same, never tried to polish it out though, might try this year !

[Paulinwales]

I had a similar problem and found spraying with clear laquer sorted it out! might be worth a try, perhaps using rubbing compound as well - try a small section first.

rgds Paul