Are there any good tips to try and remove minor paint oxidation? I see suggestions on the web to use rubbing compound gently, but what about with metallic paint?
I also had someone recommend Spic N Span, a US household cleaner.
Personally, I think the safest thing is to just use an off the shelf polish and try and clean it up as best I can, but it just needs to be repainted.
Any suggestions?
I have a tube of their scratch remover, I'll keep trying it. I just hate abrasives, minor or not...
Yes its a 98, clearcoat metallic paint.
Then definitely stay away from the rubbing compound...
Like brownell said, meguiars products are pretty solid, I've used them for years, I wouldn't be afraid to use any of their products...
There are two kinds of paint. Factory applied, and repaints. Factory paint is water based emulsion, sprayed on, and allowed to flash, but not dry, then clear coat is added to the previous partially dried layer, and the whole things is baked to melt and reflow the paint, producing the deep luminous coating that one sees on new cars. When these oxydize, you have to restore the smooth outer finish. Paint is a relatively hard plastic film. Polishing it with successively finer compounds will result in a good finish. The oxydation layer is very thin, and you want to avoid removing excess material, as the paint is quite thin.
Aftermarket, ie body shop, paint is solvent based, and applied in a number of layers. Usually the color layer is allowed to dry prior to adding the clear coat. In that case, polishing the clear coat, and possibly adding an additional coat of clear coat, will solve your problem. If the oxydation is only in the clear coat, you should be able to restore it quite completely.
