I recently bought an NC2 and now that whatever the dealer put on it has worn off, there are quite a few scratches. I took it to a detailer and he said the paint is very thin overall, I have since learnt that they were like that from the factory.
Does that mean that it’s too risky to machine polish it and there’s nothing that can be done with scratches? Are all NCs and older just covered in small scratches then?
Did the detailer provide any evidence for this, with some paint depth guage readings? We’re talking about the depth of the clear coat here.
In my view, there’s nothing to prevent you machine polishing an NC. I would go with a medium cut pad and something like Menzerna Intensive Polish on a test area, inspect your work and take it from there.
If you’re not planning on doing the work yourself, I’d go and visit another detailer.
Yes he took readings all around and was mostly around 45-50 (microns?). This was even on the door jambs where the stickers are which can’t have been resprayed or polished much, so seems to be that thin from the factory. He said most modern cars are over twice that thickness (he read a nearby 4x4 and it was 110).
Another detailer looked at it before and he didn’t take any thickness readings, so looks like this guy is more thorough.
That does seem thin. Generally you can expect to remove 2-3 microns when machine polishing.
So I would still think you’d be able to proceed, taking a gentle and methodical approach to defect removal. As is recommended anyway.
A good few years ago I had my NC1 machine polished and detailed. The bonnet and boot lids especially were heavily swirled, nothing I could do to it myself to improve the look. Getting a pro in to do it, he was used to MX-5 body paints and used a depth meter before starting and continually checking as he worked on it. Most swirls came out with the exception one on the boot, too deep and not enough paint depth left for him to go further. It was probably the lacquer finish he was cutting into TBH.
He did a brilliant job on the True Red paint, a shame, I don’t think he’s still detailing these days.
OK I guess it’s more limited, but can still be done. I take it you have machines polished MX5s before? Apparently they came from the factory with very thin paint so did you have any problems getting scratches out because of that?
Yes, I’ve been machine polishing my own cars for about 20 years.
In terms of MX-5s, my last one was an NC2 and was a doddle compared to the NA I had before. Which was a single stage paint with no clear coat. So great care was needed not to remove too much paint.
But when you’re polishing a ‘modern’ car (circa 2000 onwards, but does differ between manufacturers) you’re polishing the clearcoat on top of the paint, not the paint itself.
Whereabouts in the country are you?
Cheers,
Steve
On the Isle of Wight. I definitely won’t be doing it myself with such tight margins of error, there are quite a few detailers down here and the same guy does Lanoguard treatment which it certainly will need living 300m from the sea.
Good to know that it is still possible to improve the lighter scratches with the thin paint.