Daily Driver - Paint/Body Discussion

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
So i probably have the worst color for a daily driver, black. It has just hit 10 years old this year, i am the second owner and to my knowledge the car has been an outdoor car enduring the elements 365 days a year its entire life. (Did not know previous owners actions (indoor/outdoor) and the cobra takes the garage space currently) I have owned the car the last 5 years. Now with all that in mind....the paint and body isnt all that bad. While waxing it with your face near you can see small hairlines EVERYWHERE (buffer isnt enough, needs paint correction) ....take a literal one step back, everything looks new.. Ill take that. lol. Ive just come to ignore it now but every-time i do a wax it, it seems more and more little ones keep poping up.. wondering how to prevent this from happening....guess you cant :grin: Considering its age and use im perfectly okay with the paint but it just amazes me how it picks up new scratches every month. If i ever repaint this car im using black primer as the base.

As for the body, the car is 100% straight except for a few "coin sized" dings around the car... 2 on the trunk (acorn?), 1 on passenger front fender, one on lower passenger door. I've tried to think as to how that could possibly happen? -While i was at a local junkyard this past weekend i was talking to Tom (junkyard owner) about cars and body work and blah blah blah...eventually during the conversation he pointed to the 3 cars in-line waiting to be crushed,he asked if i wanted to throw some pebble sized rocks to mimic possible road debris before they go to the crusher. He was just as interested as I. The three cars were A Ford Taurus, a Chrysler Pacifica, and a Plymouth stripped so bad i couldn't tell you what model. Anyway, we weren't throwing mlb fast balls lol but we werent throwing soft either... It was enough to go into the primer but not enough to cause any dents, dings/impressions etc. The pebbles were tiny of course...but still enough to cause paint damage to the primer at low speeds. Maybe at 70-90mph a ding is inevitable from rock debris?

What do you guys think?
Post your daily car paint rantings below!
 

Pete@FTR

Active Member
Preferred Vendor
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
815
Reaction score
15
Location
Rocklin, CA
I'm not sure what color your car is but the white 94-98 cars are notorious for peeling paint. Here's a shot of my 96 before we repainted the DS rear quarter panel. If you look closely you can see the huge splotch of paint that peeled off. Almost every picture of the car before we fixed the paint was either photoshopped or cleverly angled to avoid seeing the paint defect, so this photo was hard to find.

8745206389_96be8e2720_c.jpg


Seeing the amount of trouble paint on these cars cause (since 95% of them were not garaged their whole life), wrapping the car has become a more and more attractive option to me. I don't daily drive a mustang anymore, so on a race car it seems like a good chose to wrap the car. If you get a ding, all you have to do is pull the wrap off that panel, knock out or fill the dent, and re-wrap. Couple hours and about $50 max, vs having to take the car to a body shop.
 

Cpotts13

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
1,594
Reaction score
36
Location
Biloxi, MS
I'm not sure what color your car is but the white 94-98 cars are notorious for peeling paint. Here's a shot of my 96 before we repainted the DS rear quarter panel. If you look closely you can see the huge splotch of paint that peeled off. Almost every picture of the car before we fixed the paint was either photoshopped or cleverly angled to avoid seeing the paint defect, so this photo was hard to find.

8745206389_96be8e2720_c.jpg


Seeing the amount of trouble paint on these cars cause (since 95% of them were not garaged their whole life), wrapping the car has become a more and more attractive option to me. I don't daily drive a mustang anymore, so on a race car it seems like a good chose to wrap the car. If you get a ding, all you have to do is pull the wrap off that panel, knock out or fill the dent, and re-wrap. Couple hours and about $50 max, vs having to take the car to a body shop.


Not just 94-98.. specifically mustangs with "crystal white" paint, which includes 1999 and 2000 :wink:
 

Pete@FTR

Active Member
Preferred Vendor
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
815
Reaction score
15
Location
Rocklin, CA
Not just 94-98.. specifically mustangs with "crystal white" paint, which includes 1999 and 2000 :wink:

I figured that was a possibility, but I didn't want to speak about something I know nothing about and didn't necessarily have the interest/motivation to research Ford paint colors at the moment. :wink::wink:
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
I'm not sure what color your car is but the white 94-98 cars are notorious for peeling paint. Here's a shot of my 96 before we repainted the DS rear quarter panel. If you look closely you can see the huge splotch of paint that peeled off. Almost every picture of the car before we fixed the paint was either photoshopped or cleverly angled to avoid seeing the paint defect, so this photo was hard to find.

8745206389_96be8e2720_c.jpg


Seeing the amount of trouble paint on these cars cause (since 95% of them were not garaged their whole life), wrapping the car has become a more and more attractive option to me. I don't daily drive a mustang anymore, so on a race car it seems like a good chose to wrap the car. If you get a ding, all you have to do is pull the wrap off that panel, knock out or fill the dent, and re-wrap. Couple hours and about $50 max, vs having to take the car to a body shop.

Let me start off by saying love your mustang, i was looking at the photo thinking what needs to be repain...oh wow lol. Very cool that you found this photo.

Thankfully my 98 has been garaged its entire life and the paint is almost like new.

Cant say the same for my 97 lol. Its an outdoor mustang and has lost its entire clear coat on the hood roof and trunk. Id consider wrapping that for sure when the build is complete down the road. How much they charging for a wrap these days?

Also for reference the daily is a black 2006 but was on the streets in fall of 2005. Not a sports car just a regular stock sedan to put miles on for work.
 

Pete@FTR

Active Member
Preferred Vendor
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
815
Reaction score
15
Location
Rocklin, CA
Let me start off by saying love your mustang, i was looking at the photo thinking what needs to be repain...oh wow lol. Very cool that you found this photo.

Thankfully my 98 has been garaged its entire life and the paint is almost like new.

Cant say the same for my 97 lol. Its an outdoor mustang and has lost its entire clear coat on the hood roof and trunk. Id consider wrapping that for sure when the build is complete down the road. How much they charging for a wrap these days?

Also for reference the daily is a black 2006 but was on the streets in fall of 2005. Not a sports car just a regular stock sedan to put miles on for work.

Thanks for the compliment. For 3M gloss white, the material is about 50 center per square foot as far as I know. I'm not sure how much shops charge to do the wrap, but I would lean towards doing the wrap myself.
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
Thanks for the compliment. For 3M gloss white, the material is about 50 center per square foot as far as I know. I'm not sure how much shops charge to do the wrap, but I would lean towards doing the wrap myself.

I would consider wrapping it myself, still new to the technology.
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
Had no idea i picked such a "sensitive?" topic. Figured you guys would be all over this one! 75 views 2 people replied! :confused:lol
 

Tony

Legend
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
9,396
Reaction score
978
Location
ohio
i'd like to see pics of this. not sure what you mean by hairlines in the paint. are we talking full blown cracked paint?

try this...on a small area maybe out of plain site if possible.....wet sand with 2000, then go up to 2500, then 3000....get some mild rubbing compound...rub it out then polishing compound.
 

Ferocious

Post Whore
SN95 Supporter
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
12,255
Reaction score
600
Location
San Diego
Buying a black car was a mistake. My next car will be white to earn me back all the time spent washing/dustin/detailing my current one. It also won't be a mustang so I won't have to worry about entire panels of paint coming off.
 

sleepn_sn95

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2008
Messages
2,420
Reaction score
59
Location
Indy
Buying a black car was a mistake. My next car will be white to earn me back all the time spent washing/dustin/detailing my current one. It also won't be a mustang so I won't have to worry about entire panels of paint coming off.

This man speaks the truth
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
i'd like to see pics of this. not sure what you mean by hairlines in the paint. are we talking full blown cracked paint?

try this...on a small area maybe out of plain site if possible.....wet sand with 2000, then go up to 2500, then 3000....get some mild rubbing compound...rub it out then polishing compound.

Nah its not THAT bad. Did a full detail right after the winter was over. Compound the whole nine. Determined it will need 24 care and a mil thickness tool to really get it right.

Was able to get you some pics, the specs you will see on the close up is pollen. I literally just detailed the car yesterday AGAIN (this pollen is killing me! ;)) Not as bad as the last wax in early may... waxed it, went inside - ate, went to go to the store... it was literally green wtf lol.

But anyway, it was hard to get a clear shot with the pollen and sun lighting today but i was able to pull it off using the trunk as it has the most.

Far Shot of Trunk

Shot%20Far_zpsd0oyjrs5.jpg


Near Shot
Shot%20near_zpszmbjnd8q.jpg
 

1997GT4.6

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
1,992
Reaction score
69
I made the mistake of buying a crystal white car.... I want all my cars white, I love white. My car sits in the garage the entire week and goes out at night on the weekend only. Paint is peeling faster sitting in my garage than when it was my daily. Bottom of both doors, engine bay about to go over onto the passenger fender. I hate it. Makes me not want to look at this car. Some what want to sell it now before I need to repaint panels. Sigh.
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
I made the mistake of buying a crystal white car.... I want all my cars white, I love white. My car sits in the garage the entire week and goes out at night on the weekend only. Paint is peeling faster sitting in my garage than when it was my daily. Bottom of both doors, engine bay about to go over onto the passenger fender. I hate it. Makes me not want to look at this car. Some what want to sell it now before I need to repaint panels. Sigh.


I hear ya that stinks bro. Maybe the previous owner did not maintain it like you have? You can always do as Pete mentioned and wrap the car. Buddy i know owns a local detail shop around here, he bought a brand new black m3 last year.. had it wrapped bmw comp orange with carbon fiber roof line...full bolt ons. Looks exactly like real paint and the benefits over real paint are astronomical as Pete also mentioned. Im not to sure on the process but it seems like the way to go
 

Tony

Legend
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
9,396
Reaction score
978
Location
ohio
those look pretty deep....wetsanding will definitely help but doubt you'll get the out completely. kinda looks like someone alreadt cut and buffed around the scratches already lol. with the rounded off edges. no?
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
those look pretty deep....wetsanding will definitely help but doubt you'll get the out completely. kinda looks like someone alreadt cut and buffed around the scratches already lol. with the rounded off edges. no?

Yup! :grin:. After the snow and salt cleared off the roads i gave it a full detail head to toe, even cleaned the salt off the chassis. Figured to get it right it would need a mil thickness tool and time, with no expectations of completely erasing them... Wonder how all the little ones keep popping up... some deep and non removable some removable with alot of work. Any other black car owners have this problem? Maybe the factory clear coat is extremely sensitive and thin?... idk. Would suck if that happened to the cobra

Thankfully, as you can see from the photo only when your face is literally in the paint can you tell their is any flaws or imperfections... for now it will stay the way it is (minus detailing work) im perfectly okay with how it sits as of today.. it just amazes me how easily it picks up new things from just driving and bad weather..
 

Tony

Legend
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
9,396
Reaction score
978
Location
ohio
hard to say man...could be the towels you're using?? but definitely can't see it from a couple feet away lol.
 
OP
OP
1998cobrasvt

1998cobrasvt

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
1,531
Reaction score
9
hard to say man...could be the towels you're using?? but definitely can't see it from a couple feet away lol.

Lol yeah from one foot away it looks new Ill take that :grin:. I hope its not the towels, i go out of my way to only use clean microfiber towels making sure their is no micro debris within in the towel.

If you think about it, after all the 10 years of snow/seasonal wear it isnt that bad. But it still seems no matter what i do it still picks up new ones. When the time comes to repainting it if i choose to do so,hopefully doing a black primer with a few extra coats of clear will correct this problem. It seems the clear coat is abnormally sensitive.
 

the5.ohh

Legend
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
9,561
Reaction score
129
Location
Shaolin, NY
I third the buying black was a mistake. It's too hard to keep clean..I do detailing and it doesn't matter, its still a pain in my ass. If I could do a color change I would, but these ****s want 6k plus here for that, so it'll stay black. The Mach 1 I just bought is yellow, super easy to clean. **** black!
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
77,435
Messages
1,502,126
Members
14,918
Latest member
Diabolic2010

Members online

Top