General Road Salt

[Motorcyclist Colin]

My 2018 TA 4x4 paint work is known as "Active Grey" and is perhaps best described as a metallic silver...
The car has not been used much lately but did do a few miles on some dry(ish) roads recently. However it seems these roads had been salted, Something I did not spot at the time
Now, parts of the bodywork show some patches of tiny white specks. I washed the car carefully with a water/ArmourAll wash & wax mix and it came up well---- MOSTLY.
However some patches of these white specks remain and are very resistant to being polished out..
Has anyone experienced similar residue on paintwork, and if so how did you deal with it? Is a metallic paint more susceptible to marking/staining?

I would add that my Citroen Camper, also with a metallic paint finish, did get plastered by salty roads recently but I washed it, (water only) as soon as we returned home, and it shows no sign of these white specks
An y thoughts on care of metallic paint would be welcome Thanks

 

[jrkitching]

Clay the car.

and read this

A big advantage of the Bilt Hamber clay bar is that it uses water as a lubricant, so you only have to buy one product.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Try a clay bar and clay bar lubricant. These things remove all the contamination and dirts and leave the apint clean. I am sure it would work. I do mine annually and fol,low up with autoglym gold paint sealant. The effect is fairly profound and when you first do a clean car and see how much muck and contamination that they remove you will be suprised, HAve a look on the interent and see details of how to do. Get a medium and fine grade block. You can clay bar the windscreen to good effect to leave it nearly spotless and also do the plastic trim, but be gentle so as not to heat up and damage things. Let us know how you get on. I will bet it looks like new again.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

We just leave ours (also silver) to get really really dirty. Detailing days are long over

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

It sounds a bit like the clear lacquer coat of the metallic finish might have little chips in it? If that is the case I’d avoid clay for fear of making it worse?

My 4x4 looks great when dirty

 

[Motorcyclist Colin]

Thanks everyone for the info. I have never used a clay bar before

 

[WitleyPanda]

Don’t wax, till you dissolved and displaced all the salt. Even if it takes several cycles. Else you just encapsulated the residue.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Thanks everyone for the info. I have never used a clay bar before

Its a bit like plasticine which collects all the ingrained dirt as you work over the paint. You use a small amount and lots of lubricant. When the clay looks really dirty throw it away. Work from the top down (saves collecting grit from the low levels and rubbing it on the top panels) and make sure you wash the car thoroughy before starting to remove as much grit and dirt as possible. It will bring paintwork back to such a shine it will look and act as if polished. It will remove small tar spots as well.

 

[jrkitching]

When the clay looks really dirty throw it away

Also keep refolding it regularly.

As you remove the embedded particles from the surface, you'll notice how much more smoothly it glides over the paint.

And if you ever drop it on the ground, put it straight in the bin. Even a small amount of grit in a claybar can cause serious paintwork damage.

 

[There all puntos]

I would be more worried about what you can't see. Like your suspension and subframes and floor on a Fiat. Or any car.

My pop was told once 'after the freeze has ended, drive your car during the rain'. He was a bus driver, and buses have to be washed, body, floor, windows, roof. But mostly the floor and engine compartment (The front) when my pop drove routemasters or the back in today's money

As that's where all the crud gathers.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I use a power washer and under floor nozzleweekly if they are gritting
That mud trap on the front chassis legs worries me so I keep it spotless

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I use a power washer and under floor nozzleweekly if they are gritting
That mud trap on the front chassis legs worries me so I keep it spotless

I agree. The shiny painted bits are fine, and the body shell is galvanised anyway. It's always much better to use the time to thoroughly hose out under the car, the wheelarches, in and around the subframes etc. It won't look any different to folk walking past, but will add years of life to the car, and save expensive bits breaking (owing to rust) quite so soon. (Although I'd suggest a hose with just a fan spray is all it needs: pressure washing can force water in where it shouldn't be, such as into wheel bearings or the 4x4 transmission system)

As it happens, I've just done that to mine today. Huge amounts of brown salty muck washed out after a few back and forth trips between Hertfordshire and Brancaster in Norfolk over recent weeks.