Just drove home with my dearly-departed mother's red 99 Swift from SoCal. Got some peeling clearcoat and the roof is pretty well sun-bleached. Recommended paint treatments? The headlights are fogged, too. Feel free to make suggestions on that. I think there was a thread about these topics recently related to Miata restification recently but I couldn't find it.
I'd imagine for the paint you're best off doing the best scuff and rattle can job you can muster. As far as the headlights go, I usually do 1500/2000/3000 grit wetsand followed with a plastic polish and some sort of sealant, some folks in the detail business will shoot some clear on the headlights after wet sanding.
Try cutting compound on the paint with an electric buffer. Can't make it much worse.
Maybe try light grit sanding all of it smooth, rattle can clear coat. Might salvage it a little and make it look presentable.
Where the clear coat is gone, you're down to the basecoat and basecoats don't get shiny. So in those areas, you're probably going to have to repaint. You might get away with scuffing and shooting more clear over it depending on how far gone the basecoat is.
Re: headlights, a friend did vinegar and baking soda, came out pretty well.
Is a swift actually two part paint. I thought they were single stage. IF so you can buff that out no issues.
Do just the roof a contrasting/matching shade of PlastiDip
thedanimal wrote: some folks in the detail business will shoot some clear on the headlights after wet sanding.
Always a good idea, especially if you can get UV-resistant clear coat.
I've used Blue Magic TR-3 on my NA Miata with amazing results. However, my car has single stage paint and is much easier to correct. Look into TR-3, but I believe it is only suitable for single stage paint and not clear-coat.
Toothpaste a stiff nylon brush, and a little water will clean those headlights. It takes a bit of elbow grease--- but it's basically free, and comes pretty close to the "headlight restorer" products on the market. After all, toothpaste is just a polishing agent.
after hitting the lights with toothpaste, use a regular bottle of Mequiars plastic polish and a rag or towel. Before the headlights kits were in existence, this is what we used. Often can be found in Wal mart by the motorcycle stuff also if not by the car wash stuff
GameboyRMH wrote:thedanimal wrote: some folks in the detail business will shoot some clear on the headlights after wet sanding.Always a good idea, especially if you can get UV-resistant clear coat.
I put Lamin-x on mine after I redid them three years ago. It's held up really well, more so than any other method I've tried.
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