Book Review - The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine

[Mike Phillips]

Clear-coated black just doesn't seem to have the same crispness to it.

I agree. I get asked from time to time from guys getting cars painted, as to which style to go with, a basecoat/clearcoat paint system or single stage paint. I tell them if they want the blackest, deepest, darkest looking paint then go single stage.

When a clearcoat is sprayed over the color coat, it creates a plastic look - like putting a plastic wrap over the paint - think Saran Wrap.


Here's one of your pictures, very cool truck

[2black1s]

Wow! This is really cool!!! Is the number still good? This is absolutely amazing and thank you so much for sharing with us! I'll be back later and I'll leave some more comments!

Wow!!! That truck looks sharp!!! Nice write up too! You should write stuff like this as a Show N Shine Article! This makes for great reading!

The wool fibers in the wool pad are a form of abrasive so this is probably why you got some correcting ability with the Meguiar's #3 Machine Glaze. What type of wool pads were you using back then?

I believe I've seen the #3 Machine Glaze in O'Reilly Auto Parts. I remember wishing I could afford it and also wishing I could have a project to test it out on.

I was also wondering what the longevity of the #3 is based on your experience?

I sure hope they don't stop making the #7 or the #3 before I get the chance to experience them on a proper project. I may have to stow a car away one day just so my boys get the chance.

Thank you very much for sharing with us! I wouldn't get the opportunity to hear about this kind of stuff if it weren't for the forum!

Thanks Jacob.

And yes, the number is still active, but all calls are screened with very few actually being answered these days.

I have a little writing experience from my primary career in Aerospace Quality Assurance/Engineering... Drawing Notes, Product and Process Specifications, Procedures, too many "Reports", and the like.

Like Mike described earlier that he wants to be accurate and helpful when writing, I also have some primary objectives when writing.

My number one objective is to be clear. I'll read and re-read my stuff many times trying to assess whether it will be clear and make sense to as large an audience as possible. You don't know how many times I've read something and had to scratch my head, wondering, what the heck are they trying to say.

As for the longevity of #3 or #7, I really can't tell you. That was never a consideration. If the car was ever to see normal automotive environments it would get topped with some kind of wax for their protective qualities. #3 or #7 as a final product is only for garage queens and show cars.

I agree. I get asked from time to time from guys getting cars painted, as to which style to go with, a basecoat/clearcoat paint system or single stage paint. I tell them if they want the blackest, deepest, darkest looking paint then go single stage.

When a clearcoat is sprayed over the color coat, it creates a plastic look - like putting a plastic wrap over the paint - think Saran Wrap.

Thanks Mike for the larger image of the pic (and the Porsche too). I haven't been able to figure out how to do that.

And for anyone looking at the smaller size pics in my posts, you probably already know but just in case, you can click on them for a larger image.

As for the "clarity" of single-stage black vs. clear-coated black, the same can be said, although to a lesser degree, for any solid color.

[2black1s]

Here’s another Porsche, this time a 911.

This I believe is the last Acrylic Lacquer paint job I ever did. It’s a Dupont Lucite single-stage white.

There is still to this day something to be said for Acrylic Lacquer paint. It can be the most beautiful finishing of any paint type.

But it has a lot of drawbacks too.

First being that it’s a lot more work. Whereas Enamels and Urethanes are typically applied in 2-3 coats, Lacquers are a minimum of 6-8 coats.

Then the solvents used for Lacquers are much more aggressive than other paints and that can cause problems such as sand-scratch swelling, featheredge splitting, wrinkling, and the like. These kinds of issues are most prevalent when refinishing over an existing finish and any flaws buried within the existing finish will almost certainly telegraph into the final finish. For that reason, my standard practice was to never do a Lacquer paint job over anything but a factory finish, or a virgin, stripped surface like you see in the photos.

As important as preparation is for any type of paint, it is that important PLUS for Lacquer.

Next, Lacquer has to be compounded. With Enamels and Urethanes, one could spray the paint and be done. That’s not a realistic option with Lacquer… To give Lacquer its brilliant shine, it has to be compounded.

And finally, Lacquers are not nearly as robust durability-wise as other types of finishes. Today's Urethanes are infinitely more durable and even the Enamels of the past were more robust than Lacquer.

In spite of its shortcomings, Lacquer for years was the finish of choice if you wanted a really nice paint job. The introduction of Isocyanate Hardeners for Acrylic Enamel in the 1970s started to change that and get us to today’s Urethanes.

[2black1s]

Here’s the polisher I used for everything in this thread and all of my polishing until not that very long ago. It’s a beast that I bought in the 1970s and it still functions perfectly today, after a few brush changes, gear lubes, and a new power cord, although its usage has been relegated to some more crude grinding tasks, not polishing.

This beast has torque to die for. It’s a single speed, 12+ pound monster. Its RPM… I’m not even sure but it is extremely high by today’s standards. I’d guess in the 2500-3000 range. I remember rapidly triggering the switch to control the speed for “delicate” situations. That was my variable speed feature.

Soft starts… no such thing. Although I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. I sometimes wish my current polishers didn’t have that soft-start feature. Triggering the switch is a useful characteristic for a polisher that can't be done effectively with soft-start machines.

I don’t remember exactly what it cost back then but it was a major investment. Contrasting to today’s polishers it was way more expensive in 1970 dollars than today’s polishers. I want to say something like $150-$200 in 1970 dollars.

[mc2hill]

First off, thank you John for taking the time for the book review. I finally picked one up at MTE the year (and had Mike sign it).

As someone that got into detailing from the cleaning/polishing side I appreciate you sharing your knowledge from the paint side. I know that several of the manufactures reps (include Mike P.) come from that side, and it always interesting to hear their thoughts on what we do.

Just a quick question - it sounds like you are a perfectionist, and restorations take a long time (my clients 1912 race car took 14 years to build), but hopefully these are two different girls in these photos!

[Mike Phillips]

Here’s the polisher I used for everything in this thread and all of my polishing until not that very long ago.

It’s a beast that I bought in the 1970s and it still functions perfectly today, after a few brush changes and a new power cord, although its usage has been relegated to some more crude grinding tasks, not polishing.

Nice!




I'd like to have that here at the Geek for a picture together with an old GEM polisher I have access to and a Cyclo.

Why?

Because it was these early tools that made-up our tool choices for most of our car world history.

[2black1s]

First off, thank you John for taking the time for the book review. I finally picked one up at MTE the year (and had Mike sign it).

As someone that got into detailing from the cleaning/polishing side I appreciate you sharing your knowledge from the paint side. I know that several of the manufactures reps (include Mike P.) come from that side, and it always interesting to hear their thoughts on what we do.


Just a quick question - it sounds like you are a perfectionist, and restorations take a long time (my clients 1912 race car took 14 years to build), but hopefully these are two different girls in these photos!

LOL... Yes those are two different persons. The tiny one is my oldest daughter, she's 36 now. The other, I can't tell. I'm not even sure it's a girl. It may be a neighborhood kid hanging out. When you work on cars from a home garage your place becomes a magnet for a certain segment of the neighborhood kids.

[2black1s]

Nice!




I'd like to have that here at the Geek for a picture together with an old GEM polisher I have access to and a Cyclo.

Why?

Because it was these early tools that made-up our tool choices for most of our car world history.

Seeing pictures of your old Makita is what made me think to post this.

[2black1s]

Pics of random of stuff I painted...

'67 Ford Galaxy Convertible. Acrylic Lacquer w/Clear. I did the body and paint work for the owner who was restoring this car. Unfortunately the picture quality isn't nearly that of the actual car. It was beautiful.




'60 Ford Thunderbird. Acrylic Enamel w/Hardener, Single-Stage.




Malibu Grand Prix Race Car Bodies. Single-Stage Acrylic Enamel w/Hardener. My neighbor was a Regional Director for the company and he sent me about a dozen of these for paint. These were not perfection by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, just some quick, easy money.





Some motorcycles. Some of these designs may look very dated today but they were actually "in" back in the day. These are some of my earliest paint works while I was in my teens and early twenties. It was a time for experimentation with colors and designs (amongst other things hehe). When I see them today, I actually don't even like them all. There's many more but these are the only photos I have.

The "Lightning Bolt" paint scheme was inspired by David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover. I still like that one

This type of paint work comprised only a limited time span in the overall scheme of things. As I matured I found my preferences to be for simpler paint schemes (like the Kawasaki, 1st row, far right) with the primary emphasis being that of a "perfect" finish. Going forward, that's the direction in which my focus was applied.

Note the assembly of one of those motorcycle's in my apartment living room.

[2black1s]

And my final photos for this thread…

This is my personal Corvette from the 1970s. It’s a ’69, 427 CI, 390 HP, 4-speed. I bought the car from a friend who was notorious for destroying cars and this one was no exception. It was beat!

I’ve included a few as-purchased shots to show its transformation.

The color is a Cadillac offering from the mid-70s called 'Cerise Firemist' with some extra metallic added to the paint formula. The paint is Acrylic Lacquer w/Clear.

I did a few custom body modifications…
- Slightly extended the wheel well flares and rear deck spoiler
- Removed the concealed headlight doors
- Removed the front fender vents
- Inset 2 clear plexiglass panels into the hood to reveal the engine

I also painted the red Cadillac Eldorado. The gray Cadillac is an original.