Recently inherited a 2003 Explorer XLS from my Wife's Mom. 18k on the clock, and it's generally in excellent shape... That's the good.



Now the bad... The truck was parked outside for the last couple years, and has suffered some hard water damage due to parking next to a irrigation zone. There are water deposits on a few different surfaces and I have questions regarding product to attempt to correct. I'm faily confident that I can get the paint squared away (or at least acceptable) using my PC.

The surfaces that I need help with are the wheels... (I believe they are a clear-coated, painted wheel)



... the wheel well trim...



...and the exterior pillar trim... (oxidation)



I plan on buying a Mothers polishing ball for the wheels from the auto store. I truly don't want to try and rub them out by hand. I have available to me...

Poorboys PP,
Meguiars DC 1,2, and 3,
3M "perfect-it"

For the plastic trim... what would you do? I normally treat my exterior vinyl with Stoners, of which I currently have the "trim cleaner" and the "more shine". I fear that these are going to do little to remedy the water staining. I know you cant get too agressive on vinyl, so I'm kinda stumped.


The pillar trim. I'm pretty sure I can go at it with my Porter Cable. Would you use one of the above products, as far as polishes?...

I'm planning on going at it this weekend so if you all have any ideas on what products you think might help me. Thanks.

 

Toolmaann,

"Long post alert".....so Good news bad news.

Bad news: You got a project and it isn't going to be easy.
Good news: It can be fixed.

First a few questions. Is only one side affected by these etched hard water spots? Have tried using the PB PP yet? PP has some chemical cleaners in it, so it's a good choice to start with.

Lets start with the easiest fix first, the glass.
Run down to Lowes/HomeDepot and pick up some Bar Keepers Friend. Mix up a very thick paste. Dip a damp cotton towel (cut an old towel into a 4" by 3" piece.) into the paste and work it into a small section of the glass. It will dry to a haze, remove. DO NOT GET THIS ON THE PAINT. Tape off the trim if you feel nervous. It will take mulitple passes, and that car has lots of glass. I bet 2-3 passes per window. If you don't want to use BKF, pick up a product called One Grand Glass Polish. You can find it here, http://www.topoftheline.com/glasspolish.html, same thing, do not get on the paint. This chit works and it really polishes the glass, you'll think you put Rain-X on it when you get them wet.


Now the tough part. The paint.

What I would do, is remove the 5" backing plate and pick up the 2 7/8 Lake Country Flexible Backing Plate, and the DA Adapter, found here http://www.obsessivedetail.com/Buffer.html.

Better yet on that same page, pick up the 4" pad kit, comes with orange, white and black pads. Then pick up at least 2 3" Lake PFW pads.

The reason to change the pads is speeds. You cannot fix this with your DA using the 5" backing plate. You will LOVE using your DA on with the smaller pads....the thing will fly and you can get much more correction out of it. Takes longer but it's way more effective and it teaches you to be a better detailer. My DA is only used now with the smaller pads and I use it often along with the Flex using regular sized pads. I digress...

Ok, now that you have all that taken care of:
Wash
clay
tape off trim, glass, etc
Test the PB PP on a small section using the White pad, then check your work, if you don't see much improvement, try the orange.

If that doesn't make a dent in it...you need to step it up. Its time to pull out the big dawg...Megs 105. Use this with a white pad first, if that doesn't do much, its time to use the PFW pad. Based on what I see, that combo is going to be your best shot. There are a few more steps after this but this is to get your started.

A little more bad news. If that still isn't getting all of it with your test spot. You are now a candidate for 3000 wet sanding. (we'll approach that later, but wanted to warn you)

So while you may get a lot of responses on this, I happen to have some experience dealing with this very issue. I tried all the above and then some until I finally said, f-it and wet sanded the entire surface then hit it with M105 with the PFW pad.

Let that sink a little, digest and it and ask away. I don't frequent here as much as I used to but I have given you a solid baseline to consider.

Cheers

RR

 

Thank you for your response RR...

Yes, only one side is affected... drivers side, all below the belt line. So no glass correction needed... I have yet to try anything on the affected areas yet, as the car just this week came into our possesion.

I will order up the smaller backing plate and pads. I use Properautocare, and checked online. They have the gear available.

I have a feeling the Megs product you mention wont be on the shelves at my local Kragens, but I do have an auto body store somewhat nearby.

Any thoughts on the vinyl wheel trim?...

 

You will need to order the M150 from ADS...as for the backing plate kit, its probably better to order from Justin, he's got them ready to go and fast shipping. My .02 on it.

Are you asking about the wheel it self or the fender flare? The Fender flare is the same as body paint just thinner material.

 

You could always try C.L.R. or another brand of soap scum/hard water remover on the plastic fender flares and window glass. From the photo, it looks like they're just unpainted plastic. As always, I'd test in on an inconspicuous area first. My $.02.

 

I would not recommend doing this.

Instead, on the unpainted areas, you could try the Chemical Guys Hard Water Sport Chemical Cleaner, apply and let it dwell. Repeat as needed. I tried it on the paint and it didn't improve much.

You could be a little more aggressive with that product on the unpainted areas