Cool. So not that it makes me experienced... Watched a couple vids on soft clear... I get it. Heat, maring, haze, contamination, buildup, unforgiving... On the trike I can take the tour pack off and work on the bottom of pack or top of trunk. I can't even get my hand in between let alone see it. On my bike I can do side panels for test because, well... those are easily replaced.

I'll have to slow down and not chase every tiny defect until I get some time. It is sort of a daily driver.

 

Don't chase every defect. It will drive you crazy, well it does me anyway. I love owning black vehicles, they keep me sharp but they can wear me down also. Other colors are much easier to deal with.

My wife has a black CTS. I love taking car of that car. Great lines, everything. Ive learned when enough is enough though. 10 years ago it would have been a lot more time spent on it.

It is coated and it really does stay clean longer. This week it has rained 3 out of the 5 days and the paint is not 100% like after a wash, but its cleaner then 99% of the cars out there.

Just my opinion, if you want to keep it as close to perfect as possible, get it polished out and take it to have it clear wrapped by someone that is good at it. Then ceramic coat the wrap. It won't be cheap but there is no better protection than a wrap. When you can leave it out in the sun and the swirls correct themselves, hard to deny it.

 

Ya, but the films yellow and fade and get micro abraided right? I mean it does keep the paint good, but it gets weathered and still doesn't look as good as paint. Are films better now? Am I wrong about that? And I've never heard of coating film.

Hell, I need to take a look at my Hyundai. We put good film on that when we bought it new in 17 and I've never thought it looks bad now. 🤷

I sharpen knives and polished bevels are a thing... Not to me. Absolutely maddening. There was a whole thread on people losing their mind... Long story short: a guy knew a guy and PROVED to 3M a run of a specific grit lapping film was contaminated. Ya, **** like that drives me nuts, but I can walk away now.... Especially when polish doesn't have a single thing to do with a strong sharp edge.

Yes, I'm already jazzed about a quality finish, but I already know this is not a museum piece.

 

You'd do well to listen to eaglefan1 ... He's well versed in this and highly experienced

 

I’m guessing your 3 wheeler will spend less time in the elements than the car? UV is what kills film. Most new films have a UV protector in them. Coat it and your good

Here is the one I’ve used. Super easy. Used it on a convertible Red Eye. Not many of those out there
GTechniq Halov2

sorry it won’t let me copy the link for some reason

 

That's true... It is garage kept, not a daily. But she put 5K on it this year so that's awesome.

So vinegar didn't work. Even had some lime away... Nope. So I got the HD engine brightener. So it's silicone. Well ya, didn't think about that. I know there is other engine foams, but I don't know if the scale will come off. But silicone will certainly make it look better and make cleaning easier. Kept the jet skis hosed down but that was for water.

 

I took a good look tonight... First, the fender isn't TOO bad. Most can be buffed out. The rest I think can be filled pretty easy. I might give it a go. I know there more than filling, just saying...


I think I am definitely cleaning up the fenders and putting film on. The bras are of course doing their thing already.

Looking at the rest... Really it's just a lot of micro scratches, haze... There is not a lot of bad damage. I think a final polish... Like Reflect. I don't know if it will take more. Certainly nothing aggressive.



What would be a good next level down from a finish if it takes that?

If I use film, do you leave paint virgin, or do you polish and then protect then film... Or of course is there a special prep for that too?

 

Yeah those gouges are pretty decent . I would look for a fender off of EBay of I don’t like getting it repaired because they flex so much but if done by the right body shop and right, it can cost the same as buying a new fender assembly. I’d look for new old stock.. just looked and found this on eBay, I know it’s cracked but I just search for 10 seconds… there are new old stock online you can get

 

From the last 2 pictures, the paint is going to take some work

I don’t have the bike in front of me so this is just a guess. I would try 3D one on a 50/50 pad and see what that did.

If that didn’t work, it would be time to break out something like UltraCut or FG 400

 

Yes, I looked before. They can be pricey, but so is the repair. I know I have to completely gouge out and feather and fill. It's a lot. I remember them as worse, and was happy not, but yes, it's still a lot of work.

I think I might just touch up with paint temp, still do film, and wait for the right fender to come along.

They suck how they joking to body there is a tiny crack that allows sand then it vibrates and eats into it. I keep digging little bits out. I wanted to take the fenders off so I could put some like thin weather seal to prevent that. Trying to run os bead of something together would be a mess.