hi all


have noticed this on my doors for the last couple of weeks

http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o544/johnvirus_01/20120611_083421.jpg

i think it may be a clear coat fade, but though i would ask if anyone has had this before

Yeah clear coat fade... You'd have to get it resprayed I'd say. Best bet is to just keep the car waxed from the start of ownership then you should avoid this.

clear coat peel was a factory option with mitsubishi.

Pretty sure 90% of magna owners would know exactly what that is! A representation of mitsu's wonderful paint quality. I'm yet to see a 15 year old magna without paint fade.

If you plan to keep the car and don't want to spend $100's on respraying a door and the surround area then I'd fix that asap. You've got a pearl paint so all the shiny flakes you see in the sun are in the clear coat. If the area that is being painted is too large then it gets very difficult to do a repair without it being noticable. Usually the professionals paint a large area around the damage and blend it against the current paintwork/clear as it's likely faded slight. Yours would be able to be done as a DIY as it's only a small spot. You could use a off the shelf clear spray and you'd be fine.

Follow this vid and you'll be fine. Just ignore the parts of sanding down to the metal. You don't need to wet sand down the metal - just the clear coat. Don't sand too big of an area and use quality 3M sandpaper or similar. Remember to get finer and finer as you go. Acyrlic paint for such a small spot will be fine. At the end of the day it's not a brand new car.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw3SEiCf2UY

Yeah clear coat fade... You'd have to get it resprayed I'd say. Best bet is to just keep the car waxed from the start of ownership then you should avoid this.

well i dont know whether the grandfather waxed the car but i think i may learn how to!


clear coat peel was a factory option with mitsubishi.

hahahalol lol lol


Pretty sure 90% of magna owners would know exactly what that is! A representation of mitsu's wonderful paint quality. I'm yet to see a 15 year old magna without paint fade.

If you plan to keep the car and don't want to spend $100's on respraying a door and the surround area then I'd fix that asap. You've got a pearl paint so all the shiny flakes you see in the sun are in the clear coat. If the area that is being painted is too large then it gets very difficult to do a repair without it being noticable. Usually the professionals paint a large area around the damage and blend it against the current paintwork/clear as it's likely faded slight. Yours would be able to be done as a DIY as it's only a small spot. You could use a off the shelf clear spray and you'd be fine.

thats what i thought, clear coat fade

if i end up getting the car fixed,i am getting the handles sprayed so i may get that spot done where the handle is, and that section where the door is get that fixed up!

thanks for the advice

clear coat peel was a factory option with mitsubishi.
Factory option? You mean factory standard lol


Pretty sure 90% of magna owners would know exactly what that is! A representation of mitsu's wonderful paint quality. I'm yet to see a 15 year old magna without paint fade.
Our TR doesn't have any paint issues, it's 19 years old now. Never seen TUFFTR's 2nd gen either then I assume? That thing is immaculate and albeit has had some respray work now with the modifications he's done, but it's never faded in the first 16 years or so before he started changing body work. I've seen plenty of 3rd gens that are perfectly okay too with no respraying done. It's all about how well it's cared for from day one, the problem with Magna's being 90% of their owners don't care anymore after the first few years.

Factory option? You mean factory standard lol


Our TR doesn't have any paint issues, it's 19 years old now. Never seen TUFFTR's 2nd gen either then I assume? That thing is immaculate and albeit has had some respray work now with the modifications he's done, but it's never faded in the first 16 years or so before he started changing body work. I've seen plenty of 3rd gens that are perfectly okay too with no respraying done. It's all about how well it's cared for from day one, the problem with Magna's being 90% of their owners don't care anymore after the first few years.

well the old owner did care but his way of fixing things is diffrent to everyone elses lol
thats why part of the splashguard is held up by wire lol

Our TR doesn't have any paint issues, it's 19 years old now. Never seen TUFFTR's 2nd gen either then I assume? That thing is immaculate and albeit has had some respray work now with the modifications he's done, but it's never faded in the first 16 years or so before he started changing body work. I've seen plenty of 3rd gens that are perfectly okay too with no respraying done. It's all about how well it's cared for from day one, the problem with Magna's being 90% of their owners don't care anymore after the first few years.

I did make mention that 90% of magna's end up having problems! Not ALL of them. I know of Tuffy's and a few other magna's that have held up pretty well. Just saying that in general, it's not uncommon to find the clear coat peel and this is far from an isolated case.

Fixing the clear coat isn't that difficult if its detected early and then the car is properly maintained with quality products from them on out.

Magnas that have clear coat fading usually have it on the top panels. The spot in the OP is quite unusual - maybe it's from someone rubbing their hand over the paintwork every time they've opened the door? It's the only thing I can think of, since it's such a small spot in an unusual location. But yes, your only option is to have it repainted.

And to chime in on the paint fade debate - my car's 11 years old and I've had it for 6.5 years. I've taken good care of it (i.e. never been to a car wash) and I've detailed it properly using good quality products every 3 to 6 months (depending on how much time I have and how often it's been left in the elements). The paint looks as new. You don't need to go overboard to keep your car in good nick long-term.

Magnas that have clear coat fading usually have it on the top panels. The spot in the OP is quite unusual - maybe it's from someone rubbing their hand over the paintwork every time they've opened the door? It's the only thing I can think of, since it's such a small spot in an unusual location. But yes, your only option is to have it repainted.

And to chime in on the paint fade debate - my car's 11 years old and I've had it for 6.5 years. I've taken good care of it (i.e. never been to a car wash) and I've detailed it properly using good quality products every 3 to 6 months (depending on how much time I have and how often it's been left in the elements). The paint looks as new. You don't need to go overboard to keep your car in good nick long-term.

i dont know about the one near the handle but the one on the edge im guessing as the old owner has grabbed the door there for the last 14 years

Pretty sure 90% of magna owners would know exactly what that is! A representation of mitsu's wonderful paint quality. I'm yet to see a 15 year old magna without paint fade...

My brother's '99 TH wagon hasn't got an issue with paint fade- it has seen the other end of a paint gun, but for repairs not a respray (mainly on the front end too). Oh and my old '94 TS wagon, before it saw its unfortunate end, didn't have any issues with paint fade.. Can't say the same for my car though, it's been in the booth to get the boot lid and roof redone...

i dont know about the one near the handle but the one on the edge im guessing as the old owner has grabbed the door there for the last 14 years
that would be it owt . i think paint fade there only is unlikely

if you come out next thursday john ill show you my car its getting pretty bad

if you come out next thursday john ill show you my car its getting pretty bad

hopefully i will, im 90% certain i am but parents suggested i shouldnt go and the last time they said that , the car was the meat in the sandwich

but anyway...i guess im lucky that its only those small spots or so on my car

hopefully i will, im 90% certain i am but parents suggested i shouldnt go and the last time they said that , the car was the meat in the sandwich

but anyway...i guess im lucky that its only those small spots or so on my car

I think its time you retired my quote now. It's been said several times.

You should wash your car properly and give it a good polish. Then you can go over it and spot the marks

the movie karate kid has a section on how to wax a car. wax on wax off

I think its time you retired my quote now. It's been said several times...
:yeahthat:

I think its time you retired my quote now. It's been said several times

????????


the movie karate kid has a section on how to wax a car. wax on wax off


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PycZtfns_U

Couple of minor points:

Clear coat doesn't fade, it lifts off the colour base coat and then takes on a hazy appearance.

Clear coat contains no metal flakes, those are in the colour coat.

Whether or not clear coat disintegrates after 10 to 15 years depends greatly on the colour of the base colour coat, and less on how well the owner looked after it. Darker colours seem to be worse. It's not just Mitsubishis, a lot of other makes from the same era have the same problem. Blame the paint technology of the time.

Rubbing back the clear coat spots is a waste of time. There will be areas where the clear coat adhesion is poor but not visible, and fresh paint will just cause those areas to lift. Also, the clear coat is fairly hard, and rubbing through it will damage the much softer colour coat underneath. Pretty much impossible to remove the clearcoat without rubbing right through to the primer.

Spray cans or rattle cans are useless in trying to do small patch repairs. Despite what is says on the can, you won't get a match to the rest of the older paint. Too many variables at work, like spray thickness, time for the metal flakes to settle, temperature, etc.

Best solution? Hit it with UV protecting waxes and polishes. It will slow the problem down.

Yeah clear coat fade... You'd have to get it resprayed I'd say. Best bet is to just keep the car waxed from the start of ownership then you should avoid this.

No amount of waxing will stop this

No amount of waxing will stop this

May slow the disintegrating process down a bit. Would be most effective if done from new, as the post suggests. So would parking out of the Sun, driving it only on cloudy days. lol

That's exactly right. Clear coat deterioration is exacerbated by your paint 'drying out' - i.e. exposed to the elements and/or not detailed enough. Your clear coat may not last forever, but you may as well drag out it's useful life by keeping it in good nick....

Believe it or not Mitsubishi especially during this era actually was one of the best manufactures for paint quality and finish. I agree with Mad Max, it was the technology from back in those days which presents issues now. My TE shows no signs of paint problems that were caused be irregular wear, and ive seen many more clean examples. Caring for the paint work from the get go is the key to prevention of possible future issues.

If you think this is bad buy an older car where nitrocellulose coatings were used.

Best solution? Hit it with UV protecting waxes and polishes. It will slow the problem down.
This. My car is detailed professionally every 12 months and has full UV block out products applied. It's the best way to protect the paint.

That's exactly right. Clear coat deterioration is exacerbated by your paint 'drying out' - i.e. exposed to the elements and/or not detailed enough. Your clear coat may not last forever, but you may as well drag out it's useful life by keeping it in good nick....

thats funny as this car was 85 percent of the time kept in a garage for 14 years of its life before i owned it

so eitherway its an age problem and once its fixed, use UV block out wax to keep it that way??

thats funny as this car was 85 percent of the time kept in a garage for 14 years of its life before i owned it
Yeah, but re-read what I wrote - exposure to the elements exacerbates the problem (as sun light is pretty harsh on paint), but failing to detail regularly means the oils in the paints dry up, which can contribute to deterioration. And as has been pointed out, even regularly detailing won't completely remove the possibility of clear coat failure.


so eitherway its an age problem and once its fixed, use UV block out wax to keep it that way??
Polish every ~6 months, apply a sealant (a synthetic wax) afterwards, then top up the sealant once or twice before you polish again (depending on how exposed to the elements it is).

No need for a "UV block out" wax - by keeping your paint in good condition, you are counterbalancing the exposure to the elements.

That's exactly right. Clear coat deterioration is exacerbated by your paint 'drying out' - i.e. exposed to the elements and/or not detailed enough. Your clear coat may not last forever, but you may as well drag out it's useful life by keeping it in good nick....

I was told by a smash repair shop that its the paint under the clear coat that deteriorates then the clear has nothing to hang on to so it comes away.

so basically its an age problem

I was told by a smash repair shop that its the paint under the clear coat that deteriorates then the clear has nothing to hang on to so it comes away.

Not likely in my book. I scraped the dead clear coat off a spoiler, it came off in sheets and looked like cellophane, except it was hard and brittle. (Did this on the front lawn, the lawn mower shredded it nicely lol). The paint underneath looked ok, so I applied a couple of coats of clear and it came up like new.