Levistey0

I just moved into a new apartment complex. The parking place that i was assigned was right under the where the sprinklers would shoot water. I let the water set on my car for a few days, not thinking about how much a threat it would be to my paint. I washed the car and the hard water stains would not come off. I'm a big believer in washing cars in the shade or at night. so i know that these 'stains' should come right off after a good scrubbing and wash especially washing under the shade.







I've tried clay barring as well as paint polishes and it doesn't seem to effect removing this scaling? Is there something that I can put on the clear coat that will moisturize the paint? any suggestions?

PaPaHoFF

iTrader: (19)

Polish via machine will solve your problems. Get it detailed professionally if you dont have the time or knowledge and always keep a good coat of wax on.


Also might want to look into a car cover.

Chris@GlimmerGlass

iTrader: (3)

Are those pics After the wash/wax? Jeez.. looks like those are salt water sprinklers

What type of polish did you try? I would certainly try a vinegar bath to start. You may need some stronger polishes too.

habeeb89

iTrader: (3)

That's some pretty hard water where your at, I have never seen anything like that.

Levistey0

Yeah, I was wondering that myself! I thought they put acid in the sprinkler water. I think the heat had a lot to do with it. We've been having 110 degree + weather this whole summer.

The pictures are a few days after washing. Its not that huge of a difference after i wash it though. I scrubbed the heck out of it with the 3M polish, no dice.

I brought the car to a detailer, they ended up doing a great job on the half of the car that wasn't hit by the sprinkler, the front half looked the same as when i brought it in.

I'll give that vinegar bath a try. Isn't half vinegar/ half water?

Chris@GlimmerGlass

iTrader: (3)

yikes. Well, if you brought it to someone already who polished w/ a machine using a pretty strong combo, I dont think the vinegar mixture will do much. Might consider wetsanding at this point??

scottgs

iTrader: (2)

Isnt there a way to rotate the sprinkler around just a tad to keep it off your car? We did this same thing for a friend of mine with his new Rustang....as it would do the same thing.

Levistey0

i wetsanded a part of the bumper. then polished. it doesnt look so hot. but then again, i wetsanded with only 1500. would it be better to wetsand with 800, 1000, 1500, then polish?

the sprinkler's dont wet the car anymore. it only sprayed the car a few days when i first moved intot he complex.

i'm running out of options. If sanding doesn't work i'll just wait and repaint.

jcat_350

just a thought, dunno how it would affect your paint but what about that CLR stuff? hard water is supposed to be nothing for that..

Levistey0

i would imagine that CLR has some time of acidic ingredient in it. i'm not sure that would work well with the clear coat on the paint. it's a good thought though.

i tried the Vinegar water. It didn't work. I'm going to get into wetsanding once i find some time to.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

yea start low and work ur way up...800 1000 1500 2000 then polish

Levistey0

i'll definitely do that, Thanks! i'll post AFTER shots later.

Guitarman

Mike, I've been wetsanding all my life, and I'd NEVER use 800 on paint I didn't want to respray. That is just way too harsh, and if you follow it with progressively finer grits, by the time you get to 1500-2000, you will have little or no clearcoat left! I'm not kidding, your clear is roughly the width of a baby's hair. And that was when it was NEW.

And if you think CLR is harsh, you'd be MUCH better served to use that vs. 800 grit.

I'm very concerned as to why 2000 or 1500 wet sandpaper used briefly and PATIENTLY wouldn't work. It absolutely should, but I'd prefer the CLR used briefly (let it sit 3 minutes then rinse) or use a medium grit polish and go to a rubbing compound if necessary. Do you know how to use a rotary buffer?

Trust me, you will "cutting off your nose to spite your face" if you go with the series of wet sanding, because the end result will be little to no clear left, and then you'll REALLY have a problem!

Wetsanding is a last ditch effort type plan, and you're not there yet.

PaPaHoFF

iTrader: (19)

I actually just did a detail on a black ford five-hundred yesterday that took me 14 hours ha!.

It had the same exact kind of spots on the car and found out the only way to remove them is to wetsand the whole car and the polish it up to perfection.

To say the least, Using 3000 grit will remove them with a lot of patience.
Being that I didnt realize I ran out of all of my sand paper besides 3000 it took forever lol.


Id recommend starting at 2000 and that should remove it no problem.

UDel

What in the world is running through that sprinkler? How can hard water spots still remain on your car after claying and polishing? If you can not remove those spots by using a Porter Cable, a orange pad, and Menzerna IP then I don't know what will work or what the hell was in that water. I have never heard of just hard water doing that to a paint finish. Perhaps your apartment complex had some kind of fertilizer or insect killer running through the sprinkler system. It is almost like an adhesive was in the water and has stuck and bonded to your paint or some kind of acid has burned or etched through your clear coat. You should be able to remove hard water by aggressive polishing and I would not wetsand your finish. Check the other cars in your complex to see if they have the same spots which will not come off. Honestly I would go up to your complex and talk to the owner and say you owe me a new paint job for the damage you have done to your car and show them what happend and how you cannot remove it. That does not look just like hard water but something much more destructive.