Paint Evaluation

[Brewmeister]

Can every car benefit from buffing?

I've got a 69 vette painted in 2000. The car gets maybe 1000 miles per summer. It's stored in a garage under a cotton flannel cover. If I look at the paint in the sunlight, I don't really see any scratches or swirl marks. I've got a PC 7424 but am hesitant to use it on this car. Do you think I can improve the appearance of this car and if so can you recommend the appropriate products to use.

Thanks from a neophyte detailer,

Bill

[Mike Phillips]

Can every car benefit from buffing?

I've got a 69 vette painted in 2000. The car gets maybe 1000 miles per summer. It's stored in a garage under a cotton flannel cover. If I look at the paint in the sunlight, I don't really see any scratches or swirl marks. I've got a PC 7424 but am hesitant to use it on this car. Do you think I can improve the appearance of this car and if so can you recommend the appropriate products to use.

Thanks from a neophyte detailer,

Bill

Sorry for the delay, I was on the phone with a detailing business and just couldn't' type and talk at the same time due to the depth of their questions...


If it looks GREAT to your eyes in the sun the it probably doesn't' need any correction work but...

Nothing looks as good as a fresh coat of wax

If you want your car to always look like it was just waxed... then just wax it!


Seriously, chances are with a cool car like a 1969 Corvette, the paint either came out of the paint booth perfect and needed nothing, or it needed to be sanded and buffed and you got LUCKY! By this I mean the people that sanded and buffed the paint knew what they were doing which believe it or not in the body shop industry is pretty rare.

It's not that the people in the body shop and custom paint business don't know what they're doing it's just they don't charge for their time and labor to the customer for the time and labor it takes to do Professional quality work and so they don't do professional quality work they slop and glop and kick it out the door.


A couple of suggestions...

Body shops are the most likely place to get over spray paint on a new paint job because after moving the car out of the paint booth the car usually doesn't leave the body shop for days or weeks or months depending upon th relationship the customer has with the owner.

They spray paint at body shops, sometimes the booth, sometimes out of the booth and once it gets into the air it can land anywhere...

So wash and dry the car or wipe the car clean with a spray detailer and a clean microfiber polishing towel. Next feel the paint for Above Surface Bonded Contaminants. If discovered, use detailing clay to remove them.

Watch this video...

How detailing clay works and how to use detailing clay to remove above surface bonded contaminants





Once you verify that paint is smooth and glassy to the touch, the apply a wax, paint sealant or hybrid and seal it up and maximize the gloss, clarity, richness of color, etc.

Take your car's paint to it's maximum potential

You can do that by hand or machine, I prefer to do everything by machine so if that Corvette were mine I would use th PC to apply a liquid wax or paint sealant.

I explain how in this video... towards the end...
How to Remove Swirls and Scratches using the Porter Cable 7424XP


And if you want to do it by hand I explain how in these vidoes...

How to Apply a Synthetic Paint Sealant by Hand using the Straightline Technique

How to Apply a Carnauba Finishing Wax by Hand using the Straightline Technique


1969 Corvette is a very cool car, I've never owned a Corvette but there was a time in my life where I had to choose between a 427 1967 Corvette or a 1970 Sanger Drag Boat and I chose the Sanger and owned it for 20 years. I thought of it as my Corvette on the water.


1970 Super Sanger Flat Bottom Drag Boat - V-Drive
National Title Holder - 1976 Super Modified Class 1/4 Mile in 9 seconds at 122 mph.
Owner/Driver: Rick Baker





I hope to buy another Sanger in the future, I'd like to find a Bubble Deck Runner Bottom, V-Drive or course and BBC of course too...

[Mike Phillips]

One more commment...

I don't know what's been done to the paint since leaving the body shop but it's pretty common for body shops to sand and buff the paint and in the process instill swirls from the rotary buffer step. A hand glaze is then typically applied to mask the swirls and give the paint a deep, wet shine so the customer will accept the vehicle.

Body shop glazes are generally water soluble, this means if you wash the car a few times the glaze will wash off and then the swirls will show up.

I know most knowledgeable owners of classic, antique and custom cars will avoid washing them so water won't get down into places that cannot be easily dried and cause rust so it's completely possible you might not have ever washed this car but instead only wiped it down with a spray detailer.

If that is the case, (and I don't know, just typing to type I guess), then it's possible the paint does have swirls, they're just masked.

Regardless, if you can't see them then just maintain with whatever you've been doing the last 10 years if it makes you happy. If you ever do run into paint issues we certainly will do our best to see you through to success when it comes to removing them and creating a show car finish.

[Mike Phillips]

Do you think I can improve the appearance of this car and if so can you recommend the appropriate products to use.

As to your specific question...


In most cases, choosing and using a high-end finishing wax will maximize the gloss, clarity and richness of color.

A very popular show car wax is Souveran Paste Wax but take a look through the waxes listed here as they are all finishing waxes, paint sealants or hybrids, that is they are all for paint in EXCELLENT condition.


Frosting on the cake

[Brewmeister]

Wow!!

Thanks for your extensive answer. Now I've got some direction.

A drag boat or a 67 427 vette huh. Any idea what that car would be worth today?

To each their own passion.

Thanks again.

[Mike Phillips]

A drag boat or a 67 427 vette huh. Any idea what that car would be worth today?

To each their own passion.

I made the choice when I was 21, at that time I probably would have wrapped that 67 Vette around a telephone pole in the first 24 hours after taking possession of it. 3 of my high school buddies had V-Drive, Big Block Chevy Drag boats at the time and I really liked the thrill of accelerating to over 100 miles per hour on water in seconds and jumping the boat into the air, touching down and then doing it again...

It was a Corvette on the water...

[Mike Phillips]

Can every car benefit from buffing?

I've got a 69 vette painted in 2000. The car gets maybe 1000 miles per summer. It's stored in a garage under a cotton flannel cover. If I look at the paint in the sunlight, I don't really see any scratches or swirl marks. I've got a PC 7424 but am hesitant to use it on this car. Do you think I can improve the appearance of this car and if so can you recommend the appropriate products to use.

Thanks from a neophyte detailer,

Bill

Bill,

Did you ever buff out your 1969 Corvette?

I'd sure love to hear the follow-up to this thread and see the pictures...

[Flash Gordon]

Bill,

Did you ever buff out your 1969 Corvette?

I'd sure love to hear the follow-up to this thread and see the pictures...

[Mike Phillips]

I also sent him an e-mail to see whatever happened...

I stumbled across this thread looking for a picture of my drag boat to share with another guy and realized he joined, made two posts and we never heard from him again.

That's pretty common on discussion forums and had he been working on some mundane daily driver I wouldn't have bothered... but a 1969 Corvette is cool.

I also sent him the link to this thread I just created documenting all the cars we've run through our Autogeek's Car of the Week program because it has a 1972 Corvette.



Along the lines of his original question... most people thought the Corvette looked pretty good before we worked on it and that's normal too, it just depends upon your frame of reference. I saw lots of room for improvement and that's what we did... some improving... all done by machine, again back to Bill's original inquiry...


Autogeek Eye Candy

Beauty Shots...















So I hope we hear from him!

[Flash Gordon]

had he been working on some mundane daily driver I wouldn't have bothered... but a 1969 Corvette is cool.

At least your honest! Thats Funny!!