Gloss black rear decklid panel - Defects after light polishing!

Hey guys, working on the gloss black decklid on a 2015 Mustang GT, noticed some defects after polishing, actually looks like the beginning of some paint cracking. Used Griot's Garage Perfecting Cream which is a finishing polish, black Buff and Shine finishing pad on speed 4 down to 3 on the Griot's Garage 6" DA, no heat build up. In the picture it looks like standard marring, but you zoom in close and this is clearly not normal for a finishing polish, it does look like some cracking is occuring.

Anyone else had issues polishing these rear decklids? Just did one pass, 3-4 overlaps to break the polish down, don't want to do anything else until we pinpoint what exactly we're working with for the paint on this type of decklid. The panel has never been polished before prior to this session. Anyone have a recommendation for possible replacement panel? This has the 50th anniversary badge in the middle for reference.

Thank you!



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The decklids are very hard to remove micro scratches from.

I made a try at correcting a panel using a similar technique to you, with similar results. I don't think it is a painted surface, it is simply gloss black plastic.

I replaced the panel in my case. For your panel, since you have the 50h anniversary editon,
You can buy a regular GT decklid, drill out the tabs on the back of the GT emblem that secure it to the panel, and then simply insert the 50th emblem into the existing holes. (It uses the same fixing points). Some blobs of 2 Part epoxy on the tabs should make it rock solid.

Hope that info helps.

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SoCalTim said:

The decklids are very hard to remove micro scratches from.

I made a try at correcting a panel using a similar technique to you, with similar results. I don't think it is a painted surface, it is simply gloss black plastic.

I replaced the panel in my case. For your panel, since you have the 50h anniversary editon,
You can buy a regular GT decklid, drill out the tabs on the back of the GT emblem that secure it to the panel, and then simply insert the 50th emblem into the existing holes. (It uses the same fixing points). Some blobs of 2 Part epoxy on the tabs should make it rock solid.

Hope that info helps.

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Thanks for the feedback. Usually when starting on a plastic surface I'll start with the lightest pad and polish combo I have and so it was just a surprise to find this combination cause this type of defect after one session. It really felt safe to polish after going over it with the autoscrub pad to decontaminate it, didn't notice any significant marring left behind. I've been polishing paint for a long time, this is one of the first instances I've seen a fracture type defect caused by such a light combination, would definitely caution other guys working on this decklid.

maybe you could try something like PlastX? I think im gonna give that a go for mine next time I I give my girl a good cleaning.