Water etching my enamel paint?

[roadhog0]

So the original paint on my 76 is being etched by water. I have no clue why its doing this and am looking for a way to prevent it because I don't want to wreck my original paint.

So would anyone know what I can do to prevent this? I put wax on the car and the water still gets to it. Also as an FYI my car is outside 24/7. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Sorry for the blurry picture.

[bills2002]

Duuude, acid rain! Back in the day I heard that washing with a baking soda solution would neutralize it but you gotta get to it right away after it rains. Do you live near an airport? It's usually pretty bad in those areas. Invest in a good car cover, a real good one.

[Napes]

You say you wax your car, but, do you use a high quality paste wax and apply it every 3 mos. +/-? I've got the original Chamonix paint on the roof of my ' 75 and it's never gotten any spots like I see on your car. I use OneGrand Blitz wax and only do it once every six mos. or so. But, living in Southern AZ, I have to admit, we don't get a whole lot of rain, and I live no where near an airport (the nearest one with large planes is 65 mi. away in Tucson).

Bob Napier

[penth2o]

Water drops left on the paint act as a magnifying glass in the sun. The sun burns intense through droplets. Put that thing in a garage or car cover.

If it is spots that can be buffed out with a lot of elbow grease you have hard water that is real hard to get out with the mineral deposits that eat at the paint.

Ask me how I know.....

[allbim]

That seems to be a common problem with old non clear-coated BMW red enamels. I've had the same thing happen to my 88 635CSI. I don't think it has anything to do with water drops concentrating the sunlight because it happened to my car while it was under a car cover. The only thing that removes the spots is whet sanding with 1200 grit paper and then rubbing compound.

[penth2o]

All you ever wanted to know.

Read through at least once. Very informative. It will explain why your red is more susceptible to etching.

A lot of reasons why and preventive measures.

Hope it helps.

http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f8/environnemental-polluants-8237.html

[eurotrash]

My verona car is covered with these spots. But its a sun scorched Cali car with oxidized paint that looks flat most days..

[Swiftus]

Just quoting a section of the article that was mentioned earlier . . .

"Why photo degradation (ultra violet radiation (UVR) fading) has a pronounced effect on red paint. The sun gives off many different kinds of radiation. Most people are familiar with the visible light spectrum or sunlight, with colours ranging from violet to red (violet being in the centre and red a little to the left).

Red is subjected to both Visible (VR) and Infrared (IR) radiation, which is the most concentrated form of heat radiation, which causes the oils in a paint system to dry out (oxidation) Any dark colour absorbs heat but the pigmentation in red paint fades quicker and its more noticeable because the colour fades to a lighter shade (light red or pink) whereas black fades to a lighter shade but it only noticeable when its in an advanced stage of oxidation."

[roadhog0]

So I don't live near an airport so that is ruled out. But I know the paint is quite oxidized because it had sat with no car for 20 years making the paint deteriorate. I have spent a combined 24 hours getting the majority of oxidation off of the car and a month ago I had it water spot free. I do wax my car about once a month and it doesn't help a lot but it prevents it for much longer. I don't think that is its Carnauba was either so that could be causing the problem.