My black eky has water spots problem. I live in SW Florida so I have tons of humidity on my car every morning, then the sun comes out and dries car leaving spots. I have many coats of carnuba wax on surface but the water spots seem to grab hold of the paint and I have to polish and wax every time to remove spots. What is a system that works without drying car every morning too busy for that.

Try Zaino http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc
My local Corvette club members swear by it.

The easiest polish I've ever used is Hot Flash polish. It is the consistancy of milk, and a little goes a long way. The company does not yet have a web site, but I usually find someone at larger rod runs selling the stuff. It's in a black plastic bottle. The company is out of Brandon, FL. 1-800-535-5053. It's really amazing, it can be used on paint, chrome or glass. Try other polishes or waxes on your windshield and see what happens. This product actually cleans windows, and I've found nothing better for dark color paint. You can even use it in the sun and leave it sitting as long as you want before wiping it off. It's only drawback, in my opinion, is that because it is a polish (and not a wax), it doesn't last that long. On the other hand it's perfect for show cars and other vehicles that are not driven often.

-dan

Are you really too busy to do a quick dry of the car? If you take a very absorbent towel and do a quick wipedown it should take no more than a couple of minutes. The car doesn't have to be bone dry, the idea is to remove most of the water which has the contaminants in it.

The easiest way to remove really stubborn water spots is with a clay bar, then a few layers of polish or wax and you should find things easier to handle.

Another option is to invest in a car cover, just pull it off and off you go.

I think your best bet is to keep the sun from baking the paint thru the water droplets. And ElkySS, I've been using polish (not wax) on the glass for over 40 years; really helps to keep them clean and smooth and you don't need to use the wipers because the rain water just runs off.

On my black 81' i have the same problem, but i usually keep it in a garge at night. i live out in the country and have hard water, so when i wash it and dont dry it within like 2 minutes it gets all spotted up. it also get really dusty because i live on a gravel road. i bought one of those auto dry carwash things and it works great!!!

For those of you with hard water (and those without for that matter) I highly recommend this filter http://www.pwgazette.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

This will give you the same results as the Mr. Clean device, you can literaly wash the car and let it air dry totally spotless.

Agree with everything stated above and recommend you follow their good advice, but I lived in Tampa for a while and I know it's tough to deal with. You'd have to be in Texas or similar to match it.

If I had to do it again, I would immediately go to Sam's, Costco's, etc. and buy one of their car shelters. You'll be glad you did. Your paint will love you, your vinyl will love you, the stray cats will love you, ...

Take care.

Thanks guys for the ideas and info. i purchased a car cover and that has helped except for the afternoon rain hear in sw florida, it seems to rain right at quitting time from work of course. I have been trying several types of waxes, I hope to soon find one that will fight off or slow down the water spots on black paint. My elky has no clear coat which makes the problem worse. The water spots will form within several minutes when my car is wet and the sun is out (very common). Any other ideas would be great espicially wax or sealant.

Find a good paint shop and get their input.

John 8)

Rod123 wrote: My elky has no clear coat which makes the problem worse.

I didn't have any clear coat on my previous El Camino. It was a '72. I use Zaino, as Dan pointed out, and it came out great. The base product I used was Zaino Z-3 Show Car Polish for Regular Paint. But they also have a few new products that I'm dying to try. Anyway, below is a picture after removed all the old wax, clayed the entire vehicle, and applied 3 coats of Zaino. Sidenote: the proper micro fiber towel makes all the difference. Check out Leo's DF Towel's (http://www.dftowel.com/)

John's suggestion of taking it to a body shop for their opinion is very wise also. Sometimes a real professional can wet sand and buff out the paint for a reasonable fee.

http://elcaminocentral.com/albums/albun45/a72elky_072403_1.jpg

Are you really too busy to do a quick dry of the car?

I agree. I've had several black cars over the years. I always dry them with a chamois. If you've never tried it, it's worth the $10 to give it a shot.

http://www.chamois.co.nz/images/chamois_skin_b2.jpg

thanks for everyons input. I will try some of the suggestions.

Are you really too busy to do a quick dry of the car? If you take a very absorbent towel and do a quick wipe down it should take no more than a couple of minutes.

YES! It takes more than a few minutes on a black car.

Be very careful with this quick dry wipe down on any black painted car. If you try to quick wipe it down in the morning you are wiping little water with DUST still on your paint. You WILL have scratches in the black paint.

Any black car MUST be fully rinsed off or washed before drying. That's life with owning a black car.

I love that my '70 El Camino is white, my all black Buick Grand National is a pain in the ass with all the extra attention to detail of owning a black car, but I would not have it in any other color! :cool: