A Classic Opportunity!

[BobbyG]

Mike,

I have to opportunity to do a full detail on a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner.

The car is is great shape and was repainted about 14 years old with single stage enamel. The car is indoors most of the time but it has been driven. The color is the Performance Red which is the period color for this car.

The finish exhibits a moderate degree of oxidation over most of the exterior. I looked carefully at the finish and other than the owner applying store-bought wax I see no other signs of finish work. This said, I feel that even through the paint is 14 years old it can be brought back to life using the right polisher, pads, and products.

It also has the classic dull black stripes that have wax all along the edges due to not masking prior to waxing.

I think I know how to approach this but the car is a classic and I'd like to enlist your knowledge and experience and hear your recommended attack plan including products. Be as detailed as you like, any recommendations and pointers will be greatly appreciated!

If I had some photos I'd post them but I didn't have my camera with me when I looked at it.

When I do get started I'll definitely take allot of before and after photos and post the results.

Thanks in advance!

[Mike Phillips]

I'm so jealous....

Be sure to skim through this and plan out your shots before you bring your polisher down onto the paint... Maybe think about having a step stool or ladder to get some cool overhead shots that frame in the entire hood like I did here... of course how much you can fit into the shot will depend upon your camera...


The power in the after shots is created in the before shots (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/21216-power-after-shots-created-before-shots.html)


Have you thought about your process yet?


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Do you know if it has flat black paint on the hood?

There's a number of variations for the hood...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/1969RoadRunner.jpg

[BobbyG]

Do you know if it has flat black paint on the hood?

There's a number of variations for the hood...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/1969RoadRunner.jpg

The hood has the classic flat black strips as in the photo above. It's the 383 version of this style but the roof is red to match the rest of the body. Like I said there's wax all over the place because no taping was done prior to applying wax so I have to clean these up as well.

I will check out the info you posted!

Thanks Mike!

[Mike Phillips]

Like I said there's wax all over the place because no taping was done prior to applying wax so I have to clean these up as well.





LOL

I wrote an article for that...

TOGW = The Other Guy's Wax (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/21283-togw-other-guy-s-wax.html)


And this one is related...

"Polishing paint is polishing paint, detailing is getting the wax out of the cracks" (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/22285-polishing-paint-polishing-paint-detailing-getting-wax-out-cracks.html)


:D

[Shane731]

That's awesome! :props:


Daisy Duke's first car in The Dukes of Hazzard was a 1974 Plymouth Road Runner.

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/500/medium/P7030595.jpg

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/500/medium/P7030640.jpg


(Taken from this thread: The Dukes of Hazzard: Stars, cars, and other cool stuff (lots of pics) - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online (http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35647))

[BobbyG]

I'm so jealous....

Have you thought about your process yet?



I really want to do several test spots to see if I need to wet sand with 2500 - 3000 grit before I start polishing. I'll compare sanding vs just compounding and determine how aggressive I need to be.

Makita 9227

My thought is to start using my Makita rotary and a yellow Lake Country Kompressor pad and Menzerna Power Gloss compound. I like the way this combination cuts and if I need more aggression I can switch out to purple.

Flex 3401

Menzerna Power Finish PO203 and an orange pad
Menzerna Super Finish PO206 and a white pad
Menzerna Final Polish PO85RD and a gray pad

Seal

Menzerna Power Lock Paint Sealer
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant

Wax

Poorboy's World Natty's Red
Pinnacle Signature Series
DP Max Wax

Off the top of my head this is my attack plan but it'll more than likely change once I do some test spots.

Would you have any other recommendations Mike?

[BobbyG]

Bump

[Mike Phillips]

I really want to do several test spots to see if I need to wet sand with 2500 - 3000 grit before I start polishing. I'll compare sanding vs just compounding and determine how aggressive I need to be.

Makita 9227
My thought is to start using my Makita rotary and a yellow Lake Country Kompressor pad and Menzerna Power Gloss compound. I like the way this combination cuts and if I need more aggression I can switch out to purple.
d this is my attack plan but it'll more than likely change once I do some test spots.

Would you have any other recommendations Mike?



First lets recap through the magic of cut and paste, from your first post in this thread,



The car is is great shape and was repainted about 14 years old with single stage enamel. The car is indoors most of the time but it has been driven. The color is the Performance Red which is the period color for this car.

The finish exhibits a moderate degree of oxidation over most of the exterior. I looked carefully at the finish and other than the owner applying store-bought wax I see no other signs of finish work. This said, I feel that even through the paint is 14 years old it can be brought back to life using the right polisher, pads, and products.



The first thing I would do is find out specifically what the owner wants and this goes hand in hand with inspecting the finish quality of the paint.

If shows you orange peel and says I would really like to have the orange peel removed well then you know you need to wetsand and then the questions are,

How much paint do you have to work with
How easy or difficult are my sanding marks to remover --> Test Spot

If you are assured from the owner the car has plenty of paint on it and your sanding and then buffing shows the sanding marks buff out easy, then doing a complete wetsand, cut and buff would probably be the way to go.

If there's little orange peel and/or he doesn't care about the orange peel and all that is involved with making it disappear, then time-wise and risk-wise you might be better off just compounding and polishing to a show car finish.

As for your Makita steps...

If you end up sanding I would take a serious look at getting a really good 4-ply twisted wool cutting pad, Lake Country, Meguiar's, Schlegel, Buff-N-Shine etc., we care a number of these and they will remove sanding marks faster than a foam pad and keep the temperatures lower during the buffing process and wool pads will buff cooler than foam cutting pads on rotary buffers.

If all you need to do remove swirls and scratches then stick with the foam pads as you won't be introducing any fiber related swirls during the correction steps.


Sorry for the delay, in the background doing a lot of multi-tasking...


:)

[BobbyG]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the advise...:props:

I have a couple of those pads in stock....