I ran into a bit of a snag that i had never experienced before and wanted to know if some of you veterans could shed some light on this for me. I did an external detail on a Black 1981 Chevy Silverado a few days ago and found it a very difficult, tedious process. The paint looked like it had not been cared for in years and had hard water spots all over it. I started off with a 6" Lake a Country cutting pad and 3D HD Speed. It worked very well but after only 3 passes it had already seemed to dry, so I turned of the DA polisher and tried to wipe it off. I used the same amount of product I normally would use and the temperature was about 65 outside and I was in the shade (so I wasn't worried about the paint being too hot). When I went to wipe it off, I found it almost impossible. I decided to add a bit more product to the pad and try again to get the other product off and do a second round. After 3 passes I had the same result and this time it took almost 5 minutes to wipe the dried polish off. The paint looked great, but I couldn't do the whole truck like that. It was almost impossible to get the product off.
I cleaned the pad (on the fly as Mike puts it) and decided to try Megs Ultimate Compound since it seems to have a bit more fluidity to it (to me anyway). It did work better but I ended up only doing two passes per section and then having to wipe the compound off as quickly as possible to keep it from drying to the paint. That seemed to do the trick and was all that was really needed to correct most of the panels. I still had a lot of trouble getting all of the product wiped off each time; however, as it seemed to almost be adhering to the paint.
With all that said, my questions are was this experience due to a thin clear coat, the type of paint or something else that I am missing? Beyond that, should I have gone with maybe a finishing pad and a less abrasive polish perhaps? I'm still fairly new to the buffing/polishing side of things and was wondering if you lot would suggest a book, guide or thread with useful information about how to treat and approach older paint in the future when it comes to paint correction. Also, it looked as if it was the original paint and he said the previous owner said it had never been repainted.
Thank you!
p.s. I've attached a photo of the truck. There were a few etchings from bird droppings that I didn't fully get out (as you can see on the front right of the hood) but he didn't want to pay for or worry about me wet sanding those spots to reduce said etchings.
I am no expert on 1980s trucks, but I don't think they were using clear coat/base coat type finishes back then. They were mostly acrylic/urethane enamel single stage.
You may have had more success wiping off the compound/polishes by spraying them with detail spray just before trying to wipe them off.
I am no expert on 1980s trucks, but I don't think they were using clear coat/base coat type finishes back then. They were mostly acrylic/urethane enamel single stage.
You may have had more success wiping off the compound/polishes by spraying them with detail spray just before trying to wipe them off.
Ahh... that would make a lot of sense actually. I was having to clean the pad after every small area done because of the higher than normal amount of paint residue left on the pad with only a pass or two. That helps as well recommending the quick Detailer as in the end I had to use that to get the few spots off that I either missed or couldn't get off and wondered it was the best option or not.
Try starting with your polishing pad already damp from just water or a rinseless wash solution. Then after applying the polish onto the pad, give it a spritz of distilled water, gives you longer working time. Leaving megs number 7 on overnight before hand will also work. Of that doesn't help and it's single stage paint, take a pad and saturate it with product, then at a high buffer speed move the pad over the paint quickly all over the panel to get rid of a lot of oxidized old paint and then after that, you should have a "cleaner" panel to work with.
The first GM clearcoats were on Corvettes starting in 1980, see my how-to book, The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine where I share and document this when I was the guest speaker at the National Corvette Restoration Society and I worked on a one-owner, untouched clearcoated 1980 Corvette. It's on page 5.
If you're not pulling black paint or more technically correct, if you're not pulling black pigment then you are working on a clearcoat.
If it is a clearcoat then the question is...
Is it the ORIGINAL clearcoat?
IF it is then this is ANTIQUE clearcoat paint by any definition of the word antique in the context of paint in the automotive world I would tread vary carefully as to how much correction you try to do. More and more correction means removing more and more of the already precious thin clear layer of paint. All the UV protection for the basecoat and actually the entire matrix of paint is in the clear layer. The UV inhibitors have a half-like of 5 years. So when if this is the original 1981 clearcoat paint then the UV inhibitors were half spent by 1986.
Don't park this truck in the sun as a way of like as the sun will take it's toll. Just look at what the sun will do you your skin in one day if your outside in full sun. Multiple that by all the time ANY car spends in full sun and it's easy to see and understand the kind of damage UV rays can do.
I'd baby this paint job if it's original clearcoat.
Here's the full size image using a trick for attachments that's real easy to figure out...
Hummm...I'm just a rookie but I believe if you're using any type of AIO, the polish material should be applied "wet" or a heavy with a polishing pad.
What you want is the lubrication with abrasives to do the work.
Tom
That's correct Tom.
Interesting enough, I shared this in the first episode of the second season of Competition Ready as a Tech Tip with my co-host AJ when working with SONAX Speed Shine on a classic Duesnburg.
Here's a screenshot from this new episode that will start airing in April
To answer your question, Mike, yes there was black pigment on the pad after each pass. When I noticed this I suspected it was a single stage but was not entirely sure. I appreciate you clearing that up. I was very careful to only get the oxidization off the paint and stop there with the paint correction. I then put Menzerna Power Lock (sealer) on after as I figured it would offer the most protection for the older paint and have had a lot of success with it on black paint so far. Is there anything else that you would recommend? The owner also keeps it ina garage when it is not being driven so I'm confident it won't be out in the sun too often. That's certainly an extra important factor here in The Valley of the Sun!
I've been meaning to pick up your book and am most definitely going to do so now. Every time I think I've got a bit of it figured out, a whole new can of worms is opened up - informationally speaking of course . Loving it, though, and am really enjoying use a DA polisher for paint correction. Shineitus is certainly real and a hard habit to kick!
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Originally Posted by kkritsilas
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