Stone chips and stormforce cover

[Milz4y]

Hi,

No doubt I've been enjoying the M in country roads around Leicestershire b-roads and there's bound to be new stone chips in the bumper.

What I don't understand is lots of finer chips that I'm noticing above the headlights on the bonnet?

Not sure if it's my mind playing tricks - I don't think these fine chips were there (nor as much swirling) before I put on the stormforce cover a couple of months ago. I always make sure the car is cleaned and dried before putting on the cover.

Any evidence to suggest stormforce covers introduce fine chips/swirls? Do they really do need fleece blankets first in order to stop scratching?

And any advice on repairing stone chips, including finer ones?
Or is the only suggestion a respray and maybe a PPF for prevention?

Thanks!

 

[DMike]

With the wind moving the cover I guess it’s inevitable to get some marring, especially at edges. Front of bonnet and chips sounds like ordinary chips from driving.

When I prepped my sterling grey for ceramics, I did some some 50 chips, most on the bumber, with a paint stick & tooth pick. Had only noticed a few to begin with, but while doing them noticed some minor ones, then some more and… They came out fine and, after polish, only a few could be spotted even from near distance.

Also did my daily, a 6er in mediterranean blue, which is close to interlagos. Compered to the zed, the blue was more forgiving when it came to matching the colour, but levelling the right amount of layers took longer. Overfilling, spot wet sanding & polishing gave the best result, but I guess one could manage wih less ocd methods .The sills were quite bad and had to respray them — nordic winter tyres on a 4wd is a true sand blaster.

 

[mr.tourette]

Honestly its not something Ive ever noticed in 6 years of using a stormforce, possibly it could introduce some fine swirl type marks with moving around in the wind but chips in the paint I don't think so.. Ive only ever took the cover off every year and been happy with how good the car looked

 

[Zedebee]

One thing I have noticed about the storm force cover is that it collects dust over time. In wet weather, condensation seems to get in and leach dust on to the car. This can lead to light abrasion on the contact points which may be the cause of your swirling.

I also find that the appearance of swirls and micro-chips is heavily dependent on the light conditions, so if you polished and put your car away on a twilit summer evening it might look quite different when you uncover it on a bright autumn morning.

Finally, washing your car can reveal chips and scratches which have previously been hidden by dusty/dirt (obviously), or filled by previous wax/polish treatments.

 

[Chris_D]

Mine spends most of its' life undercover, including a Stormforce during the winter months and a lightweight nylon cover in summer.
I do notice microswirls now and again and some hazing on it's offside rear flank due to the slight rubbing from the prevailing wind direction, but these are easily taken care of with the D/A, Megs Ultimate and 20 minutes.

 

[Milz4y]

Thanks everyone.

I am noticing more and more scratches (either swirls, marring at edges, or stone chips on the bonnet) so a respray may be in order sometime soon

The question is whether a ceramic coating would be worth it then or a ppf