Doug, ill be there for sundays driving tour and concours. mine's not exactly concours quality, but shes in great shape none the less. either way i like to show her off, cause im proud of her and love her for what she is, and there arent too many 912s out here in the midwest. (although john dixon, the man himself just grabed a 69, with only 12,870 miles on the clock! he told me in an email when i asked him about the event, that he got it last week, and hopfully it will arive in time for the show! maybe ill qualify under the 'wanna be' catagory.. lol

 

Harry I think it's great that you're going to be there for the concours. We may still bring up the "T", just to have numbers on the early 911 front. Just not sure yet...?

 

WAIT! This is moisture retention in the paint. You do not need to rub it out or apply a variety of chemical and abrasive substances to it. Hear me out.

I had the same thing, cloudiness in paint, under my magnetic numbers after similar rain/dry cycle. It positively stumped the band, including one of the best detailing shops in the area. As a last resort, they send me to a shop that restores/paints cars in frame-off restorations. I roll up, one of their young guys walks out, takes one look, and says "It's whitening".

He goes on to explain that the moisture was trapped under the magnetic numbers and did not release from the paint. What's the cure? Simple use of a heat gun. Took him about 10 minutes to coax the moisture out of all three affected spots (each 22" x 10"), and I was done.

I have had it happen a second time and treated it myself with a hair dryer. Took A LOT longer, but no problems. They explained at the shop that it will come out on its own given enough time.

So, please hold the chemicals and try the heat. Gently will do it, you will actually see the paint un-cloud as you do it. Ping me directly if you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.

 

First of all, there is a difference between a polish and a glaze, a polish actually removes a slight surface imperfection such as a swirl mark or towel lines. A glaze contains oils that fills the slight imperfections so they appear to go away. As far as the porter cable buffer goes, it just replicates a hand action and is idiot proof. To really remove surface problems, you need to use a rotary buffer/polisher just as used in a body or detail shop. One would use a variety of wool and foam pads in conjunction with different compounds depending on the depth of imperfection. This tool in the wrong hands could actually burn the paint film to the point where a panel has to be repainted.

 

I'll agree to disagree on the glaze as after a bit of research I've found some that contain abrasives and some that don't. Caveat Emptor I guess. I will disagree that the PC buffer cannot be used to remove surface problems. Although the rotary buffer may have more direct application of power to the surface, an RO buffer can cut paint too, albeit with a little more time needed but less risk for damage.

I totally agree the that the rotary unit can be really dangerous to your paint in the wrong hands!

 

Hello,

Beside the buying the Porter Cable tool, which accessories do I need ( such as pad/foam ... and which brand).Could you please advise

Thanks
TC_SJ

 

Harry,

Dave Swanson has it right with his suggestion of using a "conservative" amount of heat with a heat gun. I have had this question presented to me in the past because my company produces vinyl vehicle graphics.
After September 11 magnetic flags were everywhere, most of which were printed on cheap thin magnetic material. The thick "good stuff" is less likely to allow water behind it. A few months after 911 we started receiving calls from people who had purchased these flags from gas stations, etc. and had whitened areas on their cars.
Although we did not make the graphics I tired to find a solution due to the large amount of calls we were getting. As Dave did, I contacted a restore shop and they made the same recommendation. The same problem occurred when people washed cars that had been restored and then covered them with car covers before they dried.

The restore shop I called said that wax could even add another membrane above the trapped water ---I don't know about the later, I'm skeptical. ---try the heat and good luck.

 

well i had a hair drier on there for a good 45 mins on high back and forth over one spot.. nothing. im gonna call a detail or paint shop this weekend, see what they can recomend, or how much it would even cost for them to heat gun it out. im gonna do all i can to get it myself, but id rather get it done right if wax isnt gonna do it right like you suggest.