Paintwork probs

[vince]

Have you tried cutting the panel? ie T cut

If its under the laquer then your stuffed, if its ontop then a cutting compound should shift it.

[Xaccers]

Cassy's got this quite bad along the top of her driver's door.
I'm waiting for the laquer to finish flaking off before re-applying it.
Course compared to the roof, her affected area is small!

[dnsey]

If the cover's a cheap'n'cheerful one, the plastic might have reacted with the laquer. Certainly, some grades of PVC can cause havoc with paint (I think the plasticiser migrates from the film and does the damage), and I suspect that many other plastics are the same.

[XantiaMan]

Speak to me when you pick your TD up Mike.

It sounds like the cover may have been scuffing the paintwork. The best solution is to machine polish. T-Cut is old hat and will take ages. I had a car at work where someone had used a scouring pad on the front bumper (it was an ST Focus so not a cheap one!) and a quick flick over with 3M fastcutplus and it looked new again.

[firstrebel]

A coat of good wax on top of the polish will seal the paint and might help prevent this sort of thing. Meguiar's Tech Wax 2 is very good.

Bob

[XantiaMan]

If the paint is OE i.e original it would be 2k which is very tough. What it could be is a 'blooming' effect where it appears cloudy? If its ever been painted in the past it could be more vunerable to it, but definatly leave it in the sun when you can to see if it fades.

[xmexclusive]

Hi All

Citroens in metallic paint seem to have an age related spotting lacquer failure problem. Seems to have started with the 95 model year cars and taken them about 18 months to clear the problem. On XM's it seems to be particularly bad on plastic panels. I wondered if it was specific to the new factory brought into use then.

John

[Xaccers]

Cassy's an estate, which I believe we built in a different factory.
Wonder if they shared the same paint supplier?

[evilally]

A cheap car cover will usually do more harm than good. You get problems with scuffing and moisture build up (the car "sweats"). You need something breathable with a soft inner lining.

[Deanxm]

Does your car cover look like this?


cant see the cover is the problem, or the autoglym, ive been using it for 6 years on the XM and it is brilliant, your activa is the metalic though and a lot of early met's suffered with the laquer de-laminating and pealing, it usualy happens on the more sun exposed panels like the roof and bonnet too

D

[bxman]

Zac says

I'm waiting for the laquer to finish flaking off before re-applying it.

does anyone know if there is a way to encourage this process
or to selectively strip the laquer without to much damage to the underlying
paint

N reg xantia salon.

[XantiaMan]

Zac says

I'm waiting for the laquer to finish flaking off before re-applying it.

does anyone know if there is a way to encourage this process
or to selectively strip the laquer without to much damage to the underlying
paint

N reg xantia salon.

Try compressed air...

[Citroenmad]

superloopy1

Im not sure why a car cover would have caused that problem.

Depending on the covers, if its not a breatable one then the car can sweat and cause condensation.

We have 3 car covers, one is very old now and was used for the Xm. It is breathable though and did its job of keeping water off the car, out of the doors, any places rain water could settle etc. It did make the paintwork a bit dull over time, but that was the only effect and it soon polished back up fine.

The Xm has a new cover now, which is a tailoured fit cover, made just for the Xm, its breathable, lets out any moisture and has a nice soft lining. I doubt if this cover was designed for the Xm to sit in low though, as when its resting in low the covers is about 2mm from the floor. A good thing really. Being fitted to the cars shape it fits snug, so doesnt flap around in the wind and buff up the paint, as can happen on non fitted covers. The van also has this type of cover too.

Neither one of these covers have effected the paint of the cars in any way. The non fitted one didnt either. They can dull the paint due to the constant touching of the fabric, but it takes nothing to polish the paint back to shiny again. Although to minimise this always make sure the car is spotless, freshly dusted before covered over and the inside of the covers is as clean as it can be too.

Seems like the cover you have might have had an effect with the laquer.

Where in the NorthEast are you from superloopy1?

[firstrebel]

My '97 Xantia has the Emerald Green Pearlescent paint, can I use 3M Fast Cut Plus on it, or is there something more appropriate for Pearlescent paints.

There are a lot of scuffs and marks on the paint and the likes of T-Cut and Scratch X do nothing.

Bob

[XantiaMan]

My '97 Xantia has the Emerald Green Pearlescent paint, can I use 3M Fast Cut Plus on it, or is there something more appropriate for Pearlescent paints.

There are a lot of scuffs and marks on the paint and the likes of T-Cut and Scratch X do nothing.

Bob

Its an excellent product, the best detailers use it, on all paint types. There is a misconception that metallic and pearlescent paints use have a thinner less durable finish hence the need for the famous ' metallic' T-Cut. This is just a marketing ploy!

Its best used with a machine polish. On deeper scratches i use a product called Abralon, 2000 grit which is excellent for lightly flatting scratches out first before machine polishing the finish back. This is best done with caution and experience though. Without it my Activa would still be riddled with scratches that would of taken some time to remove by polishing alone.