08-12-2017, 09:19 PM | #1 |
Drives: 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
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1LE Hood Vinyl Hard Water Spots - Gone!
Hey Folks!
I have just joined camaro6.com, after taking delivery of a brand new, '18 Nightfall Grey 1LE (1SS) two Thursdays ago. Needless to say, I'm wicked excited to be in the club. What a marvel of engineering... and the $42k price tag is just... ridiculously low for such an amazing machine. So needless to say, you can imagine my horror when two days later, before I had a chance to clear out space in the garage (I bought it sooner than expected because a local dealer just happened to get the exact one I was looking for before I tried to order one)... our neighborhood irrigation system, which was broken for weeks - kicked on in the middle of the night. The next morning, the hot, NC sun absolutely BAKED the hard water spots into the vinyl hood and surrounding paint, windshield, etc.! Shame on me to some extent, but still... just, UGH. Anyway, I was scouring Google and also, this forum for a solution - and tried a few things... 1) Ducky's Basic Water Spot Remover, recommended on another forum - did NOTHING... 2) Glass cleaner? (recommended by dealer's own detail department saying that's what they use - yikes) - did NOTHING, no surprise there... and 3) Adam's Matte Detailer... which was also recommended for water spots on vinyl? - did NOTHING, at least for the spots. So tonight, here we are a couple weeks later... and I decided I would take one for the team... There is an awesome product called "3D Eraser" (made by 3D Professional, http://www.3dproducts.com/). I've used it before on my other cars, but they didn't have a vinyl hood wrap. I was uber-nervous to try it, despite knowing vinyl is a plastic and thus, most likely - fine to apply a mild acid to. After trying a couple (very) small test spots... I took a deep breath and went for it. Using a microfiber brick sponge, I divided the hood into 3 sections and applied one at a time, ensuring the gel was not on there more than the recommended minute, before rinsing off thoroughly and moving onto the next section. You'll want to work it in sort of like you're scrubbing the surface... and make sure you rinse it well. Oddly, it actually smells like cucumbers (try it, and tell me I'm wrong). Then, go over it with some good wash (I used Adam's Car Shampoo in this instance, but Griot's or any good soap will do... this just helps neutralize any remaining product, but the vinyl will already be clean). All that, and I am relieved to say, the vinyl wrap was restored to absolute perfection - and it even took out a couple of weird smudges that were there from the dealership, after it was detailed (go figure). Sweet! Anyway, since I had trouble finding any really helpful threads via Google or even camaro6, I figured I'd make this first post it's own thread and hopefully, informative. You can buy it on Amazon, here's a link that works as of right now: https://www.amazon.com/Eraser-Water-...ords=3d+eraser Oh - and no, I'm not selling the stuff (though I probably should be)... I'm just a normal guy who's abnormally particular about car care, and I'm forever in these guy's debt for making such a great product. Make sure you follow the directions on the bottle but if you do, have no fear - and hopefully it's another tool in your toolkit to take care of the vinyl on your 1LE, should you ever find yourself in the same situation. If they don't all come off at first, just re-apply and re-rinse until they're all gone (I promise, it works as advertised, you will be glad you bought it). Feel free to post any questions if needed, I'll do my best to answer. Follow the directions, it's acid! Also - I have the infamous NPP muffler "rattle"... started only 50 mi into it. the only reason I didn't freak out is because I knew about it from this forum (thank you!), before I was a member and before I bought the car. The dealer is fully replacing it - thankfully. I hope that works. If not, I'll share another post about that experience. Last edited by Ironhide; 08-13-2017 at 08:22 PM. |
08-12-2017, 09:34 PM | #2 |
Drives: 2017 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 134
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Good to hear you found something that works. I'm going to try it as i have some ghosted hard water spots on mine. Nothing has worked so far.
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2009 Pontiac G8 GT (Sold)
2017 Hyper Blue SS 1LE |
08-12-2017, 09:37 PM | #3 |
Drives: 2017 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 134
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You can kind of see it here. Had to use a light to get it to show up since it's a little dark outside. Must have happened during a wash because you can tell it pools together and runs off.
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2009 Pontiac G8 GT (Sold)
2017 Hyper Blue SS 1LE |
08-12-2017, 09:40 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
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Based on the picture, it looks like mine did... so good luck. Just make sure you don't leave it on for > 60 seconds with each application.
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08-12-2017, 10:44 PM | #5 |
IG @HOST1LE_gen6
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I honestly got fed up with the matte wrap. I removed and got it rewrapped in satin black to match the side mirrors and spoiler!
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08-12-2017, 10:48 PM | #6 | |
Drives: 2017 Camaro SS 1LE Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 134
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Quote:
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
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2009 Pontiac G8 GT (Sold)
2017 Hyper Blue SS 1LE |
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08-12-2017, 10:51 PM | #7 |
IG @HOST1LE_gen6
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Matte is just a headache
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08-12-2017, 10:58 PM | #8 |
Drives: 2017 Hyper Blue 1LE Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Tampa
Posts: 579
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I applied Blackfire Wet Diamond and it made no difference in appearance, but beaded rain really well. I'll continue to use this on the paint (which is f-ing awesome) and the wrapped hood.
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08-13-2017, 12:03 AM | #9 |
Drives: 22 ZL1, 18 RS3, 22 M3P Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Walnut Creek, CA
Posts: 936
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LOL, great post. I hate hard water spots. Where I live, we have crappy water. My parents (where I grew up, 20 years ago) have great water...so, to this day, I wash all of my vehicles at their house. I can let the water dry out in the sun a bit and it still doesnt leave spots. It's great. I may have to move just to have access to that water.
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2022 ZL1 - M6, Wrapped, Tinted, Rotofab intake, MBRP AxleBack, Lots of BMR rear suspension components
2022 Tesla Model 3 Performance 2018 Audi RS3 - Many mods & e85 Instagram - @JBsCars |
08-13-2017, 06:13 AM | #10 |
Drives: 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
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I guess for me, I really fell in love with that matte OEM look from day one. But that satin wrap you put on there looks great. Thanks for sharing.
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08-13-2017, 09:57 AM | #11 |
IG @HOST1LE_gen6
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08-13-2017, 11:36 AM | #12 |
Drives: 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
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08-13-2017, 12:43 PM | #13 |
2017 1SS 1LE
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Adams matte finish kept me from peeling my wrap off. Works really well.
http://adamspolishes.com/shop/exteri...-detailer.html
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Tulsa SS
2017 1LE |
08-13-2017, 08:18 PM | #14 | |
Drives: 2018 SS 1LE Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
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Tags |
1le, hood, vinyl wrap, water spot remover, water spots |
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