The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints

[Mike Phillips]

Can we do this treatment every year? let's say in the winter. and with less applications than the very first time.

would be too much? ultimate goal is to keep the car shine.

#7 is non-abrasive. As long as you use a soft foam applicator pad you should be okay on soft single stage paint.

Before 1951 Meguiar's didn't make a wax and that was because Frank Meguiar Jr. didn't believe in wax. He believed in polishing often with a product like #7.

Point being if you polish often, and the key is "often" you don't need wax and he's right. The problem with this was two fold,

1. People are busy and don't have time to polish often. A water insoluble wax extends the time between needed re-application of a water soluble polish.

2. Since Meguiar's didn't have a car wax until 1951, (M16), after using Meguiar's cleaners and polishes to restore and maintain a car's paint if a person WANTED to use a wax they would have to use something like Blue Coral or Simonize and this probably didn't sit well with the people at Meguiars'. So they introduced their first wax.


Interesting stuff huh?


But to your question, "yes" you can polish often, just be careful around corners and any raised body line or panel edge as paint will tend to be thin in these areas.

[ren20]

Mike,

my car came out amazing, I used a whole bottle and was finally able to take some pictures after waxing. these were all done before machine polishing. You saved me hundreds if not thousand of dollars. And I can proudly say I made my car shine again!

currently, still need to be done. To machine polish the front and rear bumpers. as they have heavier spider webs than the rest of the body. the body panels actually have very minimal swirls. it's amazing consider the paint is 20yr old. and I think the bottom half of the front bumper still look matte vs other panels.

THANKS A LOT MIKE!

some pics. (will take better photos when the snow is gone)

[Mike Phillips]

Simply AMAZING!


Nice work! I would recommend creating a dedicated thread for this project you did, that is post a little write-up showing the before and after pictures and share the process.

It's good to have it here in this thread as this thread gets hit a LOT since it's really the only article like it in the world.

Thing is though, your before pictures are on page 13

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...paints-13.html


and your after pictures are on page 14


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...paints-14.html


And the results look so good that it would be nice to have a dedicated write-up to inspire others into the future. Up to you...


Again... excellent, excellent work....

[lawrenceSA]

Mike, I would greatly appreciate some advice please.

I have a customer who is planning on bringing me his '84 Golf MK1 for a makeover.

He claims it is still the original paint and I did a small test on an inconspicuous spot with a little finishing polish by hand, and there is definitely color transfer which supports the 'no clear coat' viewpoint.

What I am trying to understand is how do I tell if this is genuinely the original paint or if the car has been re-sprayed with no actual clear (perhaps 2K paint?)

a) is there a difference between the single stage paint this thread makes reference to and '2K' paint.

b) if there is, will number 7 still be the go-to product initially to 'nourish' the paint before attempting any sort of correction work

Here is the car in question




Thanks in advance

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, I would greatly appreciate some advice please.

Wow... what a bummer....

I typed out a detailed answer with some paint history and then clicked on the [Submit Reply] button and the forum crashed on me and I lost everything I typed.

So because I have to move onto a hot project the answer is,

Yes, apply and work the #7 into any single stage paint that's neglected it it will benefit the paint and the process.

[National Detail]

Lots of great input. Just plan on a lot of time to restore single stage paint thats oxidized!

[1959Vespa]

Mike,
Thank you (and everyone who contributed) for this great thread which is gold for anyone who's got the vintage vehicles bug!
I was wondering if you could help with a couple of questions I have about restoring the original single stage paint on my 1959 Vespa scooter. Most of the original paint is in more than fair conditions (which is one of the reasons why repainting is not an option), but there are also patches of rust here and there, and surface rust spots which I've noticed come off pretty easily.
I want to follow the process you outlined at the beginning of this thread but I'm not sure about the best way to address the rusty spots. Should I definitely avoid using the Meguiar's #7 (and the clay) on rust, or is it fine to just apply all products on both painted and rusty areas?
The 2 pictures below should hopefully clarify the situation.
The second question is about the saturation application which you explained in this thread - I've tried to follow your instructions, but I don't understand how I'm supposed to spread the product on the paint so that it can soak in overnight. I did pour the #7 on the towel as you demonstrated, and my test surface is very small (license plate holder, about 8" by 8") but the vast majority of the product was retained by the towel, and the paint appeared to be dry pretty much instantly (although looking already better than before) , so unless I pour half a bottle for every 5" square, I'm not sure how the #7 could actually soak in overnight.
Should I use a paint brush or something like that to spread the product for the saturation application?
Thank you very much once again and apologies for the newbie questions.
Gabri

[1959Vespa]

Reposting pictures properly this time, and a new one with the actual scooter.
Thank you.






Mike,
Thank you (and everyone who contributed) for this great thread which is gold for anyone who's got the vintage vehicles bug!
I was wondering if you could help with a couple of questions I have about restoring the original single stage paint on my 1959 Vespa scooter. Most of the original paint is in more than fair conditions (which is one of the reasons why repainting is not an option), but there are also patches of rust here and there, and surface rust spots which I've noticed come off pretty easily.
I want to follow the process you outlined at the beginning of this thread but I'm not sure about the best way to address the rusty spots. Should I definitely avoid using the Meguiar's #7 (and the clay) on rust, or is it fine to just apply all products on both painted and rusty areas?
The 2 pictures below should hopefully clarify the situation.
The second question is about the saturation application which you explained in this thread - I've tried to follow your instructions, but I don't understand how I'm supposed to spread the product on the paint so that it can soak in overnight. I did pour the #7 on the towel as you demonstrated, and my test surface is very small (license plate holder, about 8" by 8") but the vast majority of the product was retained by the towel, and the paint appeared to be dry pretty much instantly (although looking already better than before) , so unless I pour half a bottle for every 5" square, I'm not sure how the #7 could actually soak in overnight.
Should I use a paint brush or something like that to spread the product for the saturation application?
Thank you very much once again and apologies for the newbie questions.
Gabri[/QUOTE]

[ViGi]

Mike i`ve startet to read your book, verry helpfull, finished this thread and i still dont understand one thing, single stage paints before 1980 i`m not very intereset in this because in Macedonia we don`t have such old cars, but here cars after 1995 all look like single stage paint, people here dont take care of their cars, never polished, never waxed, non-stop in a direct contact with sun, non garaged. And i don`t know if they may be single stage or are wery oxidasied. some photos with what i need to deal, 70% of cars somwhere 12/15 year old look like this:

[addysdaddy]

bump for reference. thanks Mike!