[thenewrick]

I'm going to attempt to polish a 25 year old Integra soon. The car has some clear coat remaining but a decent amount of exposed and sun-damaged paint as well. It's pretty difficult to separate them definitively by looking at it.

Should I polish as normal using a medium/cutting polish and pad or go extra mild on it?

Should I change pads or techniques when I notice paint beginning to stain the pad?

Using GG random orbital polisher. LC orange, white and grey pads. Menzerna super intensive polish, power finish polish, and Meguir's ultimate polish to finish. Then a coat of carnuba wax.

[TOGWT]

An automobile with an oxidized clear coat paint finish can be restored up to the point that clear coat failure begins (blotchy white / gray areas).Paint oxidation is the result of ultra violet (UV) radiation drying out the polymers and its resin binder system of exposed paint surfaces resulting in loss of gloss (clear coat failure) colour change, chalking, flaking and eventually destruction of the paint film

Removing oxidation necessitates thinning the clear coat, and therefore successful paint renovation will be dependent upon how much paint thickness there is. Sometimes a non-invasive chemical paint cleaner (Werkstat Prime Strong - a water-based cleaner for removing contaminants from paint surface) maybe all that is necessary

Optimum's Hyper Polish and / or Hyper Compound used with a Microfiber pads are very effective at removing oxidation from single stage paint

Ultra violet (UV) protection is added in the final coating; this tends to migrate towards the upper level of the clear coat this is why it’s important to check how much of the paint surface you are removing with an abrasive polish. Take measurements with a paint thickness gauge (PTG) or take the vehicle to a body shop and have the paint thickness measured. If the car has sufficient paint thickness you should be able to make it look very good with the right polishes

[thenewrick]

I guess I don't understand what you're saying. I don't know how much clear coat, paint and or sun damage there is and on what parts. It's sort of a might be this might be that thing and I was wondering if I could essentially polish the whole car as normal.

*I've never detailed, or used a polisher in my life before.

I've read that if the clear coat has been damaged to the point where it's all milky and gone that you can't polish that part. Would the best thing to do to be to just wash and wax those areas or would a mild polish be beneficial at all?

[FI PETE]

Originally Posted by thenewrick

I guess I don't understand what you're saying. I don't know how much clear coat, paint and or sun damage there is and on what parts. It's sort of a might be this might be that thing and I was wondering if I could essentially polish the whole car as normal.

*I've never detailed, or used a polisher in my life before.

I've read that if the clear coat has been damaged to the point where it's all milky and gone that you can't polish that part. Would the best thing to do to be to just wash and wax those areas or would a mild polish be beneficial at all?

A mild polish on an oxidized paint will require a whole lot of time and pads, like TOGWT said below, you might want to have that paint thickness measured for safety reasons and then get yourself a mild compound and 4-6 microfiber pads to get the oxidation off followed by a polish to bring back that shine. Menzerna FG400, Meguiars M105 or 101 (depending on paint measurements) will be great choices followed by Sonax perfect finish, Meguiars M205, etc.

Sometimes, even at the milky stage you can still polish the paint, you just have to be more careful and it requires more time and even more pads.

Good luck with your project

[thenewrick]

I guess I don't know if it's oxidized or clear coat is damaged. I guess I'll just try and polish the whole thing and see what happens. If I see paint on the pad I reckon that means the clear coat is no longer there and I'll stop polishing that spot and move to a spot where the clear remains intact.