1973 Lotus Europa oxidized original paint

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike, I have followed your advice with the #7 Show Car Glaze. Three applications.

I tried Meguiar's 105 and it dulled down the shine.

Then I tried Meguiar's Ultimate Polish on the hood and at first it looked good. The next day it looked dull

Sometime in the last week or two, I had this same conversation - that is - AFTER the #7 Rub Down - IF you try to abrade the paint - that is, use a

Compound
Polish
AIO

The paint don't like it and the abrading dulls the paint down.

But - you won't and don't know what's going to happen until like you did - you do some testing.

so I went over it again with #7 and got my shine back.

Yep - That will tend to fix it.

I am about ready to wax but under my garage florescent light, if I move my head, I can see the different areas where I stopped and started. How can I connect or smooth over these areas so it looks good before applying the wax?

Thank you again

Re-apply the #7 using a MICROFIBER applicator pad by hand. The microfiber is the abrasive and the #7 is the lubricant. This will "affect" the paint and create a uniform appearance but remember - FIBERS are ABRASIVES.


Next - re-polish with a FOAM applicator pad by hand. This will SMOOTH over the paint and undo any hazing from the fibers.

Next - wax.

BUT - be sure to test the wax. Most waxes will dull down #7 polished single stage paint.

[rjbaren]

The foam applicator by hand really helped. It is not perfect by a longshot buy then again, neither is the body. I still used terry cloth to remove the #7 as the microfiber cloth didn't help at all.

[Mike Phillips]

The foam applicator by hand really helped.

Ha ha... vindicated.

[rjbaren]

Now here may be a tough one. My Lagoon Blue Lotus has gold pinstripe tape all over the place and 99% of it is in good shape. I scrapped a tiny spot with a razor blade and it is a brighter gold under there but I am sure I will go outside the line and scratch up the nearby paint. Now that I have wiped a blue slurry of polish all over the pinstripe tape, is there a way of getting ae brighter gold color back on the pinstripe tape?

[Mike Phillips]

Now here may be a tough one. My Lagoon Blue Lotus has gold pinstripe tape all over the place and 99% of it is in good shape. I scrapped a tiny spot with a razor blade and it is a brighter gold under there but I am sure I will go outside the line and scratch up the nearby paint. Now that I have wiped a blue slurry of polish all over the pinstripe tape, is there a way of getting ae brighter gold color back on the pinstripe tape?

I usually buff over most pinstripes - painted or vinyl - using whatever polish i"m using or AIO I'm using. I normally don't do this with compounds as they can be too aggressive.

As long as you use a light touch when hand polishing or machine polishing - you'll tend to remove years of oxidation off the stripes and also road film and any other surface contamination and the result is a brighter, more clear stripes.


At the end of the day, whatever you get is what you get.


Where's the pictures?

[rjbaren]

Not done yet. I still have half the car to go with the foam and then test out the wax. Plus, I want to find a good place to take the photos.

[Mike Phillips]

Not done yet. I still have half the car to go with the foam and then test out the wax.

Plus, I want to find a good place to take the photos.

Copy that.

[rjbaren]

Today I drove my Lotus to show the gentleman who rebuilt my engine my car. He has only seen the engine so far. He thought the body looked pretty good and this was without wax. He is restoring an MG TF for himself. In the shop where he is working, next to his engine shop, is a Lamborghini Countach, a 289 Cobra, an XKE convertible, and Aston martin DB5 coupe, a real GT40 and a Lola T70 plus two old jeeps. I feel as though he know his British cars.

anyway, I have finally finished with the #7 Show Car Glaze and I am testing waxes. I have tried Zymol cleaner wax and it doesn't look so good. Next, I tried Meguiar's Polymer sealant and it looks OK, but not great. Lastly, I tried Johnson's paste wax for wood, metal, and plastic and it seems to be the best so far. It's not even a car wax. My wife uses it for a wooden table.
Is this possible?

[Mike Phillips]

Today I drove my Lotus to show the gentleman who rebuilt my engine my car. He has only seen the engine so far. He thought the body looked pretty good and this was without wax. He is restoring an MG TF for himself. In the shop where he is working, next to his engine shop, is a Lamborghini Countach, a 289 Cobra, an XKE convertible, and Aston martin DB5 coupe, a real GT40 and a Lola T70 plus two old jeeps.

I feel as though he know his British cars.

I's say he knows his British cars.

For what it's worth, like others before me, I went through my British car faze.

2 - MGAs - 1959 and a 1962
2 - Triumph Spitfires - a 1974 and a 1975
2 - MG Midgets - a 1964 and a 1965

Was fun at the time but at heart, I'm a big block Chevy guy. Here's just one thing I owned with a Big Block Chevy

1966 Milk Truck

anyway, I have finally finished with the #7 Show Car Glaze and I am testing waxes.

A lot of work but my guess is, if your goal was to preserve the original paint - then it was worth it.

I have tried Zymol cleaner wax and it doesn't look so good.
Next, I tried Meguiar's Polymer sealant and it looks OK, but not great.
Lastly, I tried Johnson's paste wax for wood, metal, and plastic and it seems to be the best so far. It's not even a car wax. My wife uses it for a wooden table.

Is this possible?

Yep. Completely possible.


Let me see if I can get into the DETAILS. Or go DEEP on this topic.


The reason most waxes will DULL DOWN the results created by #7 on antique single stage paint is due to the fact that the paint is porous and you've just painstakingly massaged and loaded it up with an oil that brings out the full richness of color in the pigments.

Most waxes, both liquid and paste, have some level of solvent in them as a carrying agent to suspend the other ingredients. Back to the single stage paint being porous - because it's porous, when you apply a wax or sealant, the solvents tend to soak into the paint, dissolve the #7 oils and then when you wipe off the wax or sealant, you take with it some portion of the oils and this plus solvents tend to dull surfaces anyways, the paint will look LESS vibrant and rich and even dull.

It's a tough nut to crack.

[Mike Phillips]

More....


Recently, I hand-rubbed the original paint on a 1937 Packard. We turned this into a LIVE detailing class to show others how to do this type of thing.


LIVE Detailing Class - Restoring original paint with Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze


I tested 3 non-cleaning waxes - hoping one of them would either maintain the richness of color and clarity the #7 restored and also created but each one of them absolutly DULLED the paint down. I figured this would happen. These are all great products and one of them included Meguiar's M26 - which did kind of surprise me.

So I went back to what I knew or at least had a hunch would work.

Meguiar's #16 Professional Paste Wax








And I'm happy and relieved to say it worked. It didn't add anything to the results created by the #7 but it didn't take anything away from the results created by the #7 and that's all I was hoping and dreaming for.








I have a few cans of this in my antique wax collection. If you would like to try it - send me your shipping address and I'll send you a can as a free gift to show my appreciation to you. I appreciate that you trusted my name and the Autogeek name enough to

A: Join this forum where there are so many other social media touch point and gurus out there you could have went to.

B: Take my advice and do the #7 Rub Down Technique to a car that is apparently important enough to you that you want to get it right the first time and avoid repainting it.

C: Stuck through the process from start to where you're at now - still coming back looking for help.



So PM me your shipping address or shoot me an e-mail and I'll get it out today. I will also open the can and make sure it's good because it's at least 15 years old.

I'll also "Break-in" the can of wax and make a short video explaining how to break-in a can of a REAL traditional heavy wax. This way I can,

A: Show how to break-in a can of wax.

B: Send you a can of wax that's ready to use.


How's that?


PM or here's my e-mail

Mike.Phillips@autogeek.net