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Super Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Yo Duece01...
Keep us posted on how it went...!
Tom
Mr Tommy's
Wash, Buff, Wax
Website: mrtommyshine.com
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Newbie Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Will do! I finally placed my order this morning (I'm slow when it comes to picking certain products. Too much research...) Hopefully it'll all come in this week and we can work on it next weekend. I'll definitely post pics.
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Newbie Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Well, I'm finally getting the time to post the results of the Bronco project. For the most part, it went really well. I'm going to break this up into two sections: Paint and Wheels. I think that will make it easier to follow as there are lots of before and after shots.
Here are some images of what we were starting with on the paint.
The first hood shot is under my carport and the second is in the sun. As you can see, all sections seem to have a haze on it and there was zero depth to the paint. My guess is that the previous (and only) owner took very little care of the paint in the 26 years that he and his mom owned it. We had already done some testing on the left side of the hood just before I made the original post which is why it has a decent gloss to it:
I followed the steps Tom recommended in his last post and started with iron removal using Iron-X. I guess it's a good thing that there didn't seem to be much iron to remove because we didn't see a bunch of red streaks. Although it did feel a bit anti-climatic. I will say it was worth doing though because the paint felt smoother to the touch (although it still failed the baggy test) and made the clay process go quicker. One thing we learned is that Iron-X dries quickly, so make sure you're focussed on what you're doing when you start or you'll use a ton trying to keep it "wet".
The next step was to wash the entire vehicle using Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash and a microfiber mitt, then drying with "the absorber". Then, using Mother's Clay Kit, we clayed all sections that still had a good clear coat and avoiding places where the clear had failed. I don't have any pics of these steps because...well...I forgot... So, on to paint correction!
We taped off the hood and laid a beach towel over the right side for splatter protection:
Following Mike's and Tom's recommendation of starting with the least aggressive product that will do the job, we started with Blackfire One Step on the hood. Using a Lake Country White pad on our Porter Cable 7424XP, we (my son ) made 8 passes per section. When he was done it looked like this (pic is from under the carport on left and in full sun on right):
While it looked good, the depth was not what we thought it should be. So, we got a bit more aggressive and used the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with the LC white pad making 8 passes per section, and then followed up with BF One Step and an LC green pad making 8 passes with each product (note that I only had one white pad so there was probably a mix of the Meg's and BF OS in there).
We might be biased because of the extra work, but we thought that process created much better depth and clarity.
The first set is in the carport (left is before as shown above and the right is after). The second set is the same but out in the sun:
On the sides, we used a green pad with BF OneStep and the results were way better than what I'd hoped for!
In the first pic, the side left of the wheel has been corrected and the right side has not. In the second pic the quarter panel has been corrected and the door has not.
I did notice that this color combo doesn't show contrast in pics as well as navy or black. But, the final look after all was done came out great!
I used the Blackfire Pad Cleaner for the first time and really like it. Will definitely help keep the pads in good shape longer. Here's a pic of all the stuff I used on the paint:
One thing we did confirm is something that Tom mentioned in an earlier post, and that is that the clear coat on the hood is deteriorating. If you look at it at just the right angle you can see what I call "micro-bubbles" which I'm guessing is the beginning of delamination. That's probably what was making it so hard to get good depth on the hood. The great thing is that there is NONE of that on the sides and those appear to be in great shape (aside from all the places that are rusting out). We also noticed what happens when you use a pad for too long. My son did the hood and the left side using the same green pad. In hindsight, he should have started on the side with a new pad. I did the right side with a new green pad and that side appears a bit clearer.
Up next, those old nasty aluminum rims.
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Super Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Incredible job, and GREAT pics of the final product.
Thank you for sharing........
It is no coincidence that man's best friend cannot talk.
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Newbie Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
The Bronco Rims
I wasn't really sure how these were going to turn out and had never had to work on rims in this condition:
The first step was to clean them. After washing the Bronco I sprayed them liberally with Flitz Metal Pre Clean, let it sit for 30 seconds or so, scrubbed the rim with the Mother's wheel brush, let it sit for another 2-3 minutes and then rinsed them off. All the brake dust came off well, but the bullet holes still had a bunch of gunk on the hole's surface. So, I hit them with the Iron-X and let it sit. Then, I took a damp terry bonnet and scrubbed out each hole:
It took some time, but they came out pretty clean and ready for restoration:
I removed the center cap and was able to see my "goal"
The I started out buffing the rim with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish using a cordless drill and a 3" fluffy wool pad. This did a pretty good job on the face of the rim but not so good on the "edges". So, I used the Mother's cone pad that came with the polish to hit the edges and the bullet holes. As I progressed, I realized that what I thought was bare unpolished aluminum was actually a completely faded and oxidized coating. I'm guessing it's a clear coat similar to what's on the paint, but it seems to be MUCH harder. I switched from the Mother's polish to the Meg's Ultimate Compound and tried both wool pads and foam pads (pad kit from Amazon due to $$). I had pretty decent success with the overall outcome:
Here's the product pic (minus the Mother's Polish...it was late to the shoot)
Now that I have a better idea of what I'm working on, I gotta believe there's a better way. It may be that my only option is the strip off the coating, buff and re-coat them. If anyone out there knows the best way to tackle this I'm all eyes!
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Newbie Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Following up on the Wheel Resto post, does anyone have any thoughts on the best way to clean up the rims? The process I used did a decent job, but I'd love to know if there's a better way.
Thanks,
Munsey
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Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
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Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
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Newbie Member
Re: '94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions
Thanks for the feedback Mike! I got the Absorber by chance as I found it in the spare tire compartment when I brought home my used SUV. It was a very good find as I've always been impressed with how well it dries a surface using the drag method (or whatever you call laying the towel flat and dragging it across the panel). And I agree with your comments on the PC DA Polisher. That was one of the first things I bought from AG after finding this forum and have never regretted it. And I'll see what other polishes are out there to try out on the rims. I was actually thinking of trying Meg 101 or 105 and the Mother's Red Cone or the blue power ball. I'll update the post when I do. We've still got to tackle the inside and I bought some Sonax Multi-Purpose Interior Cleaner based on a video of yours (which I now can't seem to find ). Will upload some pics of that too as this thing is pretty grungy inside.
Thanks again and have a great weekend!
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