polish the hood insert ?

[videoboy]

my insert looks like crap...faded pretty badly

doe anyone see a problem with putting that meguires purple gel crap on it ?

it's the same stuff i use on my cladding....

any other recommendations to bring my insert back to life, short of repainting or carbon werks, would be greatly appreciated

thanks!

stephen

[johnnyapollo]

I use Zaino Bros polish - same as what's on the paint. Seems to work fine - a coat of the prep then a couple of coats of Zaino gets the color very black.

-- Best, John

[Tone]

Uh, it was designed to be a matt finish insert to minimize reflection / glare much like a football / baseball player with black under their eyes....

[videoboy]

tone,

that sounds right...but it's all splotchy and uneven...i removed the ironman logo and who knows how bad i messed it up with all that scraping and bug/tar remover

maybe having it repainted is the best option ?

stephen

[Heraclid]

John's VX is the prettiest VX I've personally laid eyes on and he knows what he's doing. The insert is a white material covered in matte paint, so you can safely wax it. You and I both may want to consider doing that. I use Meguiar's tire gel on mine routinely for a touch-up and it causes no ill effects. It will attract dust and it will not adhere as well as it does on the cladding, though.

Tone makes a good point, but I have never gotten mine shiny enough to cause that problem. I'd say clean it up good (preferably with a clay bar) and then wax it. If the wax were to become an issue, wash just the insert with a good dishwashing detergent and it'll strip the wax off, no harm done.

[johnnyapollo]

I've found that even with Zaino, the insert doesn't get a bright, thick gloss - it only works out the uneveness and oxidation in the paint. Like David says above, if you don't like the wax you can always easily strip it off.

-- Best, John

[Anita]

I use zymol field wax on mine. A little sheen but not too shiny, plus it protects the insert from stains.

[psychos2]

i painted mine a month ago. before that i used the same wax i used on the rest of the paint.i have used wax on it since day one and have never had a glare problem.i would wax it or paint it. shawn

[mrtew]

I've never put anything on my cladding or insert and they look great after three years of being outside in the MI winters and summers. I don't think putting chemicals on them is a good idea, who knows what reactions you're causing?

[omegavx]

Hey Videoboy, I wouldn't put meguir's on your hood insert or on your half moon. It does make them look great, but when it rains it causes the meguir's to run onto your hood and make "drain" dark areas. It doesn't come off of paint with just soap and water, you actually have to rewax the whole hood to get it removed. The same thing happens on the rear door when you put it on the half moon. I did it once and then it rained 3 days later and I learned my lesson.

I've started simply waxing the insert and that usually makes it look an even tone color for about 2 to 3 weeks.

[Heraclid]

I'm not disputing what omegavx has said, but I am perplexed by it because it has never happened to me. I live in the land of the practically guaranteed afternoon summer showers, I've been using it (Meguiar's purple tire gel - Gold Class Endurance High Gloss) for well over a year now, and I have never had any problem with it on the paint. Granted mine is an astral VX and it could be less apparent on the color, but I am certain that there isn't ever any residue or discoloration on my hood or rear door. Maybe it's different waxes we use or something - I have no idea. I used Zymol before but a Mother's carnauba wax came with the clay bar and I used that the last time I did it.

I just wipe it off with practically no trouble if I get any on the paint during application. I know a trace amount will run off in the rain, but mostly it repels the water quite well with a fairly fresh coat on it. I'm not into the greasy look, so through trial and error I have perfected a technique for applying it and I use the minimum amount necessary for full coverage and rub it in pretty well. Then I go around again wiping off any excess I may have left. The same goes for the insert. I'll also do this on a weekend when I know I can leave it in the garage for a day or so to "cure" before running a chance of getting rained on. This will keep it will be looking good for a couple of weeks.

[omegavx]

It might be the fact that I have a dragon green. When the light hits the paint it looks green, but at other angles the paint looks black especially at night. When it rains the meguir's causes a darker "drained" area on the clear coat. Which then makes that area look darker then the rest. And on my paint at least that makes a huge difference cause it looks like all the hood is green except the "drained" areas which look black. The other thing was, I wasn't able to get it back to the normal shine with just soap and water. I had to actually wax it and it seemed to go back to an entire solid state (ie: no drain markes). I'm not saying it shouldn't be used or that it would damage your paint, just going by my experience and that I no longer utilize meguir's on the insert or the half moon. I do still utilize it on the rest of my cladding as well as my tires and it does work really well.

[johnnyapollo]

I also use endurance on the half-moon, and haven't seen any streaking or ever had issues getting it off the Proton yellow paint. Guess it is indeed related to your Dragon's "scale" color!

-- John

[xdfarrx]

I used 3m rubbing compound, after debadging my Ironman logo. and then waxed as normal paint. There is fading that occured on my insert and I plan to either get it Line-x'ed, go carbon, or rebuild with my extraction manifold I just bought

[coolk41]

Take it to one of those truck bed liner places and have them spray it with Rhino. It puts a really nice covering on the insert that is really durable and textured. CHECK OUT THIS LINK> I THINK THE INSERT AND CLADDING LOOK GREAT.


http://club.vmag.com/ubb/Forum39/HTML/003806.html

[WormGod]

Ditto what Tone said.

I understand what you mean by the uneven aging, but it's just that, aging. The only real way to take care of a matte finish is to keep it well cleaned. Believe it or not, adding polishes and silicones to matte finishes is bad and will help it age faster. Matte paint needs to breathe. By coating it, you are keeping oxidants in tghe finish and these oxidants slowly expand and can cause cracking, crows feet, and the discoloration. The discoloration (areas will seem lighter and darker, giving a zebra look) is actually where some some areas were able to breathe better than others.

In all, matte finishes are totally a thing of the past and ISUZU used it anyways. Their intentions were good, but the care as to how it aged was not. Hate to say it, but if its discolored or cracked, your best bet is to get it refinished. All polishing will do at this point is speed up the breakdown of the finish.

Sorry, more tech talk from an old automobile painter. ;)

[Heraclid]

Regarding the Rhino treatment, I think it looks fairly nice, but I've seen pics in the gallery of a VX (Grandpa Bob's?) done in Line-X, and I thought it went on more nicely (more fine, less texture) and looked better and closer to the original look. Not knocking Rhino, but just tossing out another option for folks to consider.

[Anita]

Has anyone here done Rhino? I know we have talked about it many times but I can only remember several owners doing Line-X.

[Heraclid]

Hmmm... I think you're right Anita. I think I was confusing pictures of Line-X as being Rhino. But I know Rhino is more coarse and textured, and of the two VX's I'm thinking of with Line-X, one looked a lot more fine and less "clumpy" than the other, which is what got me confused.

[coachreed]

Originally posted by johnnyapollo
Zaino Bros polish

At least I'm not the ONLY one using Zaino! Gotta love that stuff... does an INCREDIBLE job and you don't have to worry about it baking on and becoming hard to remove... gets better with EVERY application (very addictive)... and it smells good enough to eat! lol Man I wish my VX wasn't stuck in the garage! Damn I need a welder right now! Ugh!

Coach... I mean Randy (I often forget who I really am) ;)
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/406banner.jpg (http://www.geocities.com/ironmanvx2000)
Undergoing LS1 Conversion as we speak!
Click Image to Visit My Website!

[SPAZZ]

um...I'm sorry...polish what????:eek:

I got something you can polish!!!!;Dp;

jk...

JUST PAINT IT!!!...I did and love it.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4741&size=big&papass=&sort=4