Hey there! I'm pretty new here... just got a '96 Bonne SE a few days ago and everything is great with it... and it looks awesome... except for the sun spots from the oxidation. Here are some pics to show you guys:

Roof:




Hood:






Back:


Driver'* Side behind the rear seat:


Bird'* eye view of the damage:


Do you guys know anything that could help this? I really love this car and have been cleaning up the interior and exterior... but this is obviously the one big thing that has been bugging me and you can see why I've named it Gorbachev. lol. What are some solutions, what'* the difficulty level, and how much would it cost?

Thanks.

Looks like the previous owner never waxed that thing ever. If that'* clearcoat coming off, you will have to get the paint professionally serviced. You can try polishing it but I don't know...

Yeah its going to need the attention of a painter. You could try wet sanding it then cleaning it really well and applying some clear from a rattle can. But i don't know how that will hold up.

As sol mentioned above Do Not polish that paint you will end up removing it.

I would try polishing one of the spots on the edge and see what happens. It looks like clear coat failure, but you never know. I've seen some pictures on sites that looked like the clear was gone, but it turned out to just be oxidation.

Yeah, thats how mine looks. If you can't afford to have it professionally fixed, just make sure to keep a good coat of wax on the clearcoat you still have. Wash throughly, claybar, polish, wax. Don't use a sealant since you don't have a consistent clearcoat.

how much do you guys think it would cost to get it professionally done?

are you sitting down?.....






















for all 3 panels id guess around 500 give or take 100,

but i personaly would recomed donig the quarters at the same time...i say youd be looking at 700+

..... glad I was sitting down for that. :( urgh...

I guess he won't be having a name change anytime soon. blah.

Yes, that definitely looks like clear coat delamination to me. You are looking at the rough basecoat in those pictures. In a BC/CC(basecoat/clearcoat) paint the base is applied and looks flat. The clear is then applied on top and this is where the gloss comes from. The flat in the center is the basecoat. The white around the edges is delaminating clear and obviously the paint which still holds a gloss is what remains of the good clearcoat. If I were you I would get a quote from a reputable shop nearby to repaint the whole car. Often there was a problem with either the application process or the product used on the cars which did that. That means the rest of your clear has the same potential. You wouldn't want to paint three panels and then look at the rest of the car begin to fail. Luckily there wouldn't be a TON of labor involved like collision work would require so that would help keep the cost down a bit. You would be paying mostly for bc/cc materials, but they are expensive if you want the good stuff. Good luck with it. You could always attempt to wetsand and paint it yourself. Still probably have $500 in materials though.
Grant