1958 Kharmin Ghia

[Pats300zx]

This is a detail of a 1958 Kharmin Ghia that I did recently. The theme of this detail is "Expect The Unexpected". When I initially received the call from the client and saw pics of the car I thought this would be a fun detail to do. Although the car was small and black it did have a lot of small curves and angles that could be a pain when polishing. All and all this was the most difficult car I have ever worked on.

Upon arrival I met with the client and went over the car with him as he pulled the car out of the garage. I was completely shocked at what I saw. The car was black and looked like someone has washed it with a brillo pad. Swirls were everywhere and I knew I had my work cut out for me. After foaming, washing, and claying, I had a chance to break out my PTG to see how much paint I had to work with. The client said the car had been restored so I wanted to be extra careful and be sure I had plenty of clear to work with. I was shocked at the readings. I was getting 16 mils to 24 mils across the car !!!! I even calibrated by PTG twice to make sure.

I brought this to the client's attention and he stated that "yes they used a special German clear that is supposed to be scratch resistant". After hearing this I knew the day was going to be difficult. I threw everything I had at this car and was still able to remove about 90% of the swirls. Even with using 105 and PFW I was still getting serious holograms. Thankfully Ultra Fina on a 3M pad cleared them up.

Process: 8.5 hours (Exterior Only)

Foam with ## CWG and NXT in Foam Gun
Wash with 2 BM
Clay with Meguiars Clay
Tires Cleaned with Eagle One Tire and Rubber Cleaner
Polish via Makita and Purple Foamed Wool and 105
Poilsh via Makita and Menzernza SIP via Sonus SFX White Pad
Polish via Makita with 3M black waffle weave and 3M Ultra Fina
Interior wiped down and vac'd (Client requested exterior only)
LSP=Zaino Z2 ZFC'd x2
Engine wiped down and dressed with Sonus Total Eclipse and CD2
Glass cleaned with Zep Glass Cleaner
All metal work polished with Meguiars Hot Rims Chrome Polish
Tires dressed with Meguiars Hot Shine Tire Spray

[Meghan]

Great work at usual Pat! I am sure that clear coat was a PITA to work on but looks great! I love the white walls!

[cwcad]

Nice looking little VW!! Man am I out of the new product loop. Had to look up the products that you used. I still have a lot of Menzerna and Poorboy's products left to use. I am wondering why ZPC Fusion was not used with the Z2?

I know I am going to sound obtuse when I ask this but.... what thickness is a good paint thickness and what is considered thin?

[matt@autogeek.net]

Originally Posted by cwcad

Nice looking little VW!! Man am I out of the new product loop. Had to look up the products that you used. I still have a lot of Menzerna and Poorboy's products left to use. I am wondering why ZPC Fusion was not used with the Z2?

I know I am going to sound obtuse when I ask this but.... what thickness is a good paint thickness and what is considered thin?

100+ mils is around average normally; paint usually ranges anywhere from 100-200.

[cwcad]

Originally Posted by matt@autogeek.net

100+ mils is around average normally; paint usually ranges anywhere from 100-200.

Thanks, Matt!! Now I know.

[Pats300zx]

Originally Posted by matt@autogeek.net

100+ mils is around average normally; paint usually ranges anywhere from 100-200.

I think you mean micros. This was measured in mils. The average paint should be 4-6 mils.

[sal329]

Great job on a BEAUTIFUL car

[cwcad]

Originally Posted by matt@autogeek.net

100+ mils is around average normally; paint usually ranges anywhere from 100-200.

Thanks, Matt!! Now I know.

[cwcad]

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

I think you mean micros. This was measured in mils. The average paint should be 4-6 mils.

Thank you , Pat! Now I know better!!

[killrflake]

What a beautiful little VW. I've driven several of those in my younger years (they were plentiful then). Like Megan said, love those whitewalls and those Ghias get good milage too