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  1. #1
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    In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Hi all,

    Here's my initial thread on the forums about my 1986 Porsche 951. I purchased it about 10 years ago and haven't driven it over 500 miles in that whole time. It was my dream car when I was in high school, so I had to get one. :-) When I purchased it I just "knew" it needed a new paint job. So; I never really did anything to the paint, just let the car sit in the garage for 10 years. Well, recently I was asked to detail a car for sale and was surprised at how nice the newer detailing products were. I looked over at the Porsche and decided to give some paint restoration a try. The Internet directed me to Autogeek and Meguiars Online. I read thread after thread of other people having great success. Over time, we'll see if I can count myself as one of them! :-) Here are a few pics to show its current condition.

    The whole car... FLAT red/pink/orange


    A close-up of the paint's condition. FLAT pink, rough as 800 grit sandpaper, lots of defects


    The previous owners must have buffed through the paint on the gas flap. In this pic, you can see some of the original color in the hatch area


    A great example of the mismatched colors. Look at the flat-orange trim. Of course, the stone guards need to be replaced as well.


    Hope that gives a basic overview, thanks for reading. I look forward to any suggestions everyone may have to get it back into shape! My next post will explain what products and tools I currently have and my current test plan.

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  3. #2
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    My recent detailing of a sale car had me purchasing a few items. At the moment, I have a selectrion of washes, clay bars, interior cleaners, dressings, etc... But my "better" products are (All Meguiars): Cleaner Wax, Tech Wax 2.0, Mirror Bright Polishing Wax (use to polish my guitars!), M7 Show car glaze and Ultimate Polish. For tools, I have a Porter Cable DA, a AG white wax foam pad and a AG black polishing foam pad, standard foam applicators and many microfibers.

    As a start, my research taught me about the differences between single-stage (what the Porsche has), and Basecoat/clearcoat paint. This led me to some discussions on how best to restore single-stage paint. One of your members "Mike Phillips" (Who I've since learned is a big deal at AG!) has some amazing insight and experience on the topic and this convinced me to try his methods on a test panel.

    The left rear quarter-panel got a waterless wash and then a thorough pass with a clay bar using soapy water as a lubricant. Already, the 800-grit sandpaper feel was gone. :-) I then worked some M7 into the paint by hand using moderate pressure and was surprised to see the color starting to return. There was some mild paint (oxidation) transfer to my cloth, but not as much as I expected. In keeping with Mike's directions, I let the M7 sit on the paint overnight. (Of course, by this time I decided to start disassembling things to make this easier, so I took the sidemarker out, opened the hatch, pulled the turbo rear bumper trim, and removed the rear arch paint protection stripe.) The following day I did 3 more applications of the M7 by hand and was left with this:

    Click the pics to see them in Full size/resolution



    Not too bad for a single product applied by hand on 30+ year old neglected paint! Needless to say, I am shocked and excited. The paint's color is back and about 75% of the dull haze is gone. The M7 is really hard to remove properly and doesn't leave behind a nice smudge-free finish, so the pic shows lots of haze and product swirls. As you can see by the next pic though, I still have a LOT of correction to do to get that last 25% of shine and remove at least some of the defects.



    Now is where my questions come in: What should my next step be? I was always taught to start with the least aggressive technique and that would lead me to the Meguiars UP applied with the PC and the black pad. I just don't think that'll cut it though (pardon the pun). I'm open to purchasing something stronger like UC and trying that, but I'm a bit scared that may be too much in my inexperienced hands. All suggestions are welcomed and thanks for reading!

  4. #3
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Try using cotton towels with M7. You need the extra bite to remove it. Also try apply M7 several times. You can actual see the paint swell over that time period.

  5. #4
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Quote Originally Posted by DBAILEY View Post
    Try using cotton towels with M7. You need the extra bite to remove it. Also try apply M7 several times. You can actual see the paint swell over that time period.
    I'll try the cotton towels, I've been using microfibers. (You can see one on the trunk edge in the pic above) Look at the brownish/red oxidation transfer on it! I've applied the M7 "heavy" about 4 times so far and that's what got me to the results above. Thanks for the suggestions!

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  7. #5
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Sorry, I missed the part about you applying 3 times already. I see that blue towel now. That is some serious crud removal!

  8. #6
    Super Member Sizzle Chest's Avatar
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Welcome to the site and great first post/thread! This is an excellent project and it will come out fantastic when done! Can't wait to see the completed pics!
    Scott Harle
    Autodermatology
    #autodermatology


  9. #7
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Thanks for the replies! Today I was able to continue around the corner and onto the back left side of the car. I removed the ruined rubber trunk lock seal, then the back got a good wipedown and clay bar treatment. In Picture #1, you can see just how bad the oxidation is. On the turbo cars, the rear bumper is an amazingly smooth aluminium extrusion. I'm scared that the paint there will be so thin I can't do anything with it. Also, you may notice the bumper cap is a different color (more orange) than the rest of the car. I have no clue how to treat that.... When this was all done, I did a heavy wipedown of M7 and left it overnight.

    Click the pics to see them in full size/resolution

    Horrible oxidation before the M7.


    Found remnants of where it was purchased originally... :-) (before the M7)

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  11. #8
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    OK, on to something MORE exciting... Heh. I stopped after work and picked up some Ultimate Compound. After I treated the back of the car to another M7 wipedown I decided to try the compound on the original area I started on the left rear quarter panel. I was apprehensive, but tried to be careful and gentle. It turns out, you can be aggressive (without being straight stupid) and it's OK. I'm liking the product. After I finished the area, I went over it with the Ultimate Polish using the same process. Don't let anyone fool you; some people advocate skipping the polishing step. This step made a WORLD of difference in my case. Where the UC corrected much of the small scratches, etched stains, water spots, etc... The UP really cleaned up any micro scratches and brought the color up even more. Below are some pics of the finished product. No, the paint isn't perfect, but it's SO much better than where I started, I honestly never thought it possible.

    Click the pics to see them in full size/resolution

    Same shot of the top of the rear fender as before. Look, actual reflections!


    An overall view of the improvement. (and a little teaser of what the M7 did for the bumper)

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  13. #9
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Quote Originally Posted by Sizzle Chest View Post
    Welcome to the site and great first post/thread! This is an excellent project and it will come out fantastic when done! Can't wait to see the completed pics!
    BTW Scott, your work on the 86 911 (exact same paint) was one of the reasons I decided to give this a shot.
    Thanks!
    I may have a few questions I'll send over in PM if you approve. :-P

  14. #10
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    Re: In-Progress: 1986 Porsche 951 (Guards Red)

    Quote Originally Posted by Slowcorrado View Post
    BTW Scott, your work on the 86 911 (exact same paint) was one of the reasons I decided to give this a shot.
    Thanks!
    I may have a few questions I'll send over in PM if you approve. :-P
    Thanks! Absolutely. Feel free to contact me!
    Scott Harle
    Autodermatology
    #autodermatology


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