[s-cars] 93 S4 - Red paint problems

[Bruce]

My red '93 spent some time in Texas before I got it in 2000, and '93 (or at
least part of that year) was before Audi was using clearcoat on red.

So, to make a long story short, any damage from environmental issues goes
right into the paint, as opposed to the clearcoat. The only way to remove it
is to cut the paint down with a wheel to the point where you are past the
damage. Of course, there are two problems with this method: one, the damage
may be down to the primer and "under" the paint, and two, it may be deep
enough that you do not want to thin the paint out so much in removing it.

With mine, it would look awesome for a day or two after a good polish and
wax, but then streaks and oxidation would show up in the paint and cloud it
over. No matter what, wash, wipe, keeping in garage, etc., 48-72 hours later
it would need wax again. Needless to say, this was a bit extreme, and when I
would wax it, the buffer and removal towels would be completely red
afterwards (did I mention there was no clearcoat?). Plus it was REALLY
difficult to remove the wax from the car and have no clouds or wipe marks,
especially on the horizontal surfaces (hood, trunk, roof).

Eventually, some bonehead at Newark airport did me the favor of keying my
car, forcing me to get it repainted, and yippee!, now it's got clearcoat
too. Now no more oxidation, and wax goes on easily, comes off easily, and
the paint stays looking good until it gets hit with chunks of rubber at the
track, which leads me to my next post........

Bruce
'93 S4, mit clearcoat in this post and mechanical problems in the next post


----- Original Message -----
From: <GreenBugeye at aol.com>
To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 5:25 PM
Subject: [s-cars] 93 S4 - Red paint problems


> I've been having greater and greater difficulty with the original red
paint
> on my 93 S4 (no, not all of them were green!).  When I bought the car in
99
> from Euro Car Service (my local guys), it had what appeared to be acid
rain
> damage on the roof -- the entire roof was covered with splotchy pink spots
> that were clearly in the pattern of water that had been sitting on the
roof
> at some point.  I used 3M Imperial Hand Glaze to buff it out, and it came
> right back to the original color, so I coated it with wax and figured I
was
> done.
>
> Wrong.  The spots returned within a week or two.  So I buffed and waxed
> again, yadda yadda yadda, here we are two years later, and I have a new
> issue.  I buffed and waxed the roof as usual last week (didn't get much
red
> on the rag this time), and the rain this week appears to have stained up
the
> roof with the same pink splotches, only this time in the pattern of neat
> little beads of water.  And it's also starting to splotch up the freshly
> buffed and waxed roof and hood.  I used Maguire's Gold Class Professional
> paste wax, and have been using it for some time on a number of cars and
> motorcycles with no problems.  This wax is only available at an autobody
> supply place.
>
> So, does anyone else have these issues with their red S4s (or other red
> Audis)?  Was this a common problem?  Any FAQ I can look at?  Any action by
> AoA to remedy it?  My guess is that, since the car has been on the road
for
> nine years, Audi is none to anxious to get involved, and frankly, my
> suspicion all along has been that it's an environmental issue, anyway.
Just
> looking for tips/ideas/solutions before heading to the body shop for a wet
> sanding or potential respray (which is definitely not in the budget this
> summer).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Chris Eck
> Akron, Ohio
> 93 S4 TQ (Stage 1, H&R, ECS camber plates, etc.)
> 59 Bugeye  (British and running without catching fire!)
> 91 CB 750 (reliable Jap bike)
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