Classic Car Detail

[AustrianOak82]

I am set to detail a 1970 Opel this weekend. I saw it the other day, it has been repainted and the paint seems to be in good condition. It is covered in dust and has been a little neglected recently but overall, pretty well cared for. The interior is white leather I believe, but that is something that I need to ask. I plan on doing a waterless wash on the entire thing. He is wanting my correction package, which includes a clay bar treatment-compound (as needed)-polish-sealant.

Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to tape the body lines and corners of each panel to prevent chipping even though it's been repainted?

2. Obviously starting with the least aggressive and going from there, but anything I need to be cautious of?

3. Any other advice/tips/thoughts on this project?

[Mike Phillips]

I am set to detail a 1970 Opal this weekend. I saw it the other day, it has been repainted and the paint seems to be in good condition. It is covered in dust and has been a little neglected recently but overall, pretty well cared for. The interior is white leather I believe, but that is something that I need to ask. I plan on doing a waterless wash on the entire thing. He is wanting my correction package, which includes a clay bar treatment-compound (as needed)-polish-sealant.

Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to tape the body lines and corners of each panel to prevent chipping even though it's been repainted?



No. But as normal, don't hammer on edges and body lines. Someone else may have buffed out this car before and it's completely possible they were NOT careful or did not use quality pads and chemicals. This includes the painter that painted it and may have sanded and buffed it.





2. Obviously starting with the least aggressive and going from there, but anything I need to be cautious of?



Unlike Hondas and Toyotas (and other new cars), that are computer designed and built by robots, classic cars have body panels that don't align perfectly.

This means the edge of the fender my sit higher or lower than the edge of the hood. So be careful of this as it can be very easy to be buffing on the higher or raised edge.

Again, someone else could have buffed on this car in the past and they were NOT careful around mis-aligned panels.

I use a term called,

Whisper thin

It means to your eyes the paint is all there. Then you make a SINGLE pass using a soft foam pad and a fine cut polish and burn through an edge. It's not that you did anything wrong it's just the paint in that location was whisper thin because some caveman buffed on it before you and removed too much paint.

Make sense?

If the Opal has a basecoat/clearcoat paint job it's really not that much of a concern I'm just covering all the bases.






3. Any other advice/tips/thoughts on this project?



Fill out your VIF with the owner present before "touching" the car.


Mike Phillips - Vehicle Inspection Form - Version 2 (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/85268-mike-phillips-vehicle-inspection-form-version-2-a.html)


:)

[AustrianOak82]

Well, the car ended up very nice. Although it turned out to be a major pain in the A. I need to stop quoting people before I get the car in there and washed. I saw it beforehand but it was pretty dirty. I did a waterless wash on this thing and afterwards noticed the paint was really rough. There was a lot of overspray that I noticed on the paint, especially on the white racing stripe. I clayed with Meguiar's mild clay and ended up throwing away the clay at the end and had to rotate it every 1/2 panel or so during. It was still very rough after that, so I ended up wet sanding the entire car with 2,000 to remove the overspray. I compounded with a MF pad and was left with very few swirls. I ended up calling him and letting him know it was going to be a little more. I was a little nervous though wet sanding this thing. I will get a few photos on here later on of my clay and the car as it turned out.

Anyone have input on whether the Meguiar's aggressive clay would have removed the overspray or would I have to had wet sanded either way.

Mike, thanks as always. When you get a second, can you e-mail me those VIS documents you had? E-mail is bbrock293@yahooDOTcom