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  1. #1
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    1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Hi there. I am new to this forum. I have a customer with a 1944 Chevy car with it's original blue metallic paint. It has been stored in a shed for many years. It has blotches on the paint surface from bird droppings. The car has never been polished, and the paint is severely oxidized, the customer is not looking for a showroom finish, he only wants to spend a max. of $500 on it. I read Mike Phillips article on restoring single stage metallic paints and it is very good but very involving, and I don't think I can do all that for $500. Would it work to clay it, then machine apply the Meguirs #7, and then give it a polish and wax? Or what are your words of advice for me to give this guy a nice finish but not going crazy on it.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 1944 Chevy car- Original paint-img_0133-jpg   1944 Chevy car- Original paint-img_0134-jpg  

  2. #2
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Quote Originally Posted by SODA CRACKER View Post
    Hi there. I am new to this forum. I have a customer with a 1944 Chevy car with it's original blue metallic paint. It has been stored in a shed for many years. It has blotches on the paint surface from bird droppings. The car has never been polished, and the paint is severely oxidized, the customer is not looking for a showroom finish, he only wants to spend a max. of $500 on it.

    I read Mike Phillips article on restoring single stage metallic paints and it is very good but very involving, and I don't think I can do all that for $500. Would it work to clay it, then machine apply the Meguiars #7, and then give it a polish and wax? Or what are your words of advice for me to give this guy a nice finish but not going crazy on it.

    Wow!

    Now this is an opportunity to showcase your talent and do a really nice extreme makeover!

    If it were me I would do the terry cloth rub down using the #7 wet or heavy like I explain in this article and then machine polish it.

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

    Removing Oxidation Without Abrasives
    Now that all the bonded contaminants have been removed off the top of the paint it's time to remove the dead oxidized paint off the surface and to some degree some of the embedded dirt and oxidation below the surface. To do this we're going to use a plush, microfiber polishing towel with some Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze.


    Always fold your microfiber towels 4 ways
    What you want to do is take your polishing towel and fold it 4 ways to create a working cloth that is large enough you can place you hand on it when working the #7 over the paint. Folding the cloth 4 ways will also provide plenty of cushion to spread out the pressure of your fingers and palm. This enables you to work gently and safely on antique, fragile paints and will also help you to avoid instilling fingermarks.





    Non-abrasive abrasives...
    Here's a close-up of the tufts of microfibers that make up the working face of this microfiber polishing towel. When used dry this microfiber polishing towel is soft and absorbent. The way we're going to use it however, it will still be soft and gentle to the paint except that I'm going to put a little passion behind my hand as I move this microfiber towel over the paint and the pressure I apply is going to engage the microfibers with the paint and provide a very gentle scrubbing and even abrading action.


    Tufts of microfiber threads... these are your abrasives...




    Shake well before using
    Shake your bottle of #7 up exceedingly well. One of the reasons #7 used to come in clear glass bottles and later clear plastic bottles was so that you could see that the product had separated out and the hope was that as a thinking human being you would see the product had separated in the bottle and thus shake the bottle till the product had a uniform color and consistency.

    After you shake the product up well you want to pour a generous amount of product out onto the face of just one side of your folded microfiber towel and note that you're going to use this one side for each panel over the entire car.

    The words or terms for how much product you use goes like this,

    Use the product heavy or wet

    Because this is important, let me repeat these instructions...

    Use the product heavy or wet!

    This means you use a lot of product, you want the surface wet with product as you're working a section. You're trying to saturate the paint to gorge it with the rich polishing oils found in the #7 but you're also trying to emulsify and loosen any embedded dirt or oxidation off and out of the paint. For this car I used one full bottle on just the hood and the top of the trunk lid and most of another bottle for the passenger and driver's sides. The horizontal surfaces are always the worst because they are exposed to direct sunlight, water from rain and air-borne pollution and contaminants and thus always require the most work to clean, revitalize and restore.




    Fold the cloth into itself to spread the product out and wet the face of the cloth.




    "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up" -Dizzy Dean

    Now comes the passion: Start working the #7 Show Car Glaze over and into the paint in a vigorous manner. I'm in pretty good shape as I work out at the local gym and lead an active lifestyle that includes rubbing out cars both by hand and by machine.

    I also dare say I'm pretty good at rubbing out cars by hand. I'm not bragging, just stating a fact that I can back up. It's more work than most people think and my point is this, rubbing this behemoth of a vehicle out by hand vigorously got me breathing hard and made my hands and arms tired.

    Here's the point I'm trying to make...

    If you're not breathing hard and you're not getting tired then you're not working the product over the paint vigorously enough.

    Out of all the steps, this is the hardest, most time-consuming and most important step there is to do and it is this step that will determine your end results. If you don't remove the topical oxidation and embedded dirt and oxidation during this step then it will still be there when you make the final wipe to remove the wax. So put your heart and soul into this step. If you need to, take a break in-between panels.


    It is vital that you work the #7 against the paint vigorously...




    Rub out one panel at a time
    After you work a small section, about 20" squarish or so, stop, re-apply fresh product and move onto a new section and be sure to overlap a little into the previous section.

    • Panel = a door, the hood, the roof, etc.
    • Section - a portion of a panel
    Note the color being transferred onto the cloth. Part of the color you see is the color of the #7. The other part of the color is the dirt coming off and out of the paint and part of the color is the oxidation coming off the aluminum flakes.





    Work a panel at a time, section by section
    Continue working your way around one major panel until you've worked the entire panel. In this example


    This is key...
    Saturation Application --> The First Application
    This is a mostly unknown technique and that is to let the first application penetrate and soak into the paint for up to 24 hours before wiping the product off. The idea being to really apply the product wet and work it in really well and the walk away.

    The idea is to allow the heavy concentration of oils to penetrate and seep into the paint for maximum saturation before removing the product and continuing with the process. In this case I finished applying the first application of #7 around 9:00 pm and then left the #7 to soak in until the next day. I started wiping the product off then next morning right about 10:00am.

    Some will argue if this works or not buy my experience is that with a porous single stage paint it does in fact help. One thing for sure it can't hurt.

    Paper Test for Capillary Action
    If you place a few drops of #7 onto a piece of paper and then monitor it over a few days you will see the oils in the #7 migrate or seep away from the actual drop of product. It does this through capillary action and the same thing can work to your car's paints' advantage if it's a single stage lacquer or enamel paint.

    I placed a few drops about the size of a nickel on a piece of standard printer paper around 3:00pm.



    The next day I took these pictures at approximately 10:00am, (19 hours later), note how the oils in the drops of #7 have migrated outward via capillary action.



    Feeder Oils penetrate or feed the paint
    This same effect can take place in a single stage paint but not only will the oils travel horizontally, they will also travel vertically, that they will penetrate downward "into" your car's paint and this is where the term feeder oils comes from as the oils penetrate into or feed the paint. The result is they will condition the paint restoring some level of workability as compared to just working on old dry paint, and they will also bring out the full richness of color, something that will showcase the beauty of your car's paint.



    37 Year Old Paint Soaking in Seven...



    The worse condition the paint, the more times you repeat the #7 conditioning step
    For this project I applied, worked and removed the #7 four times to the hood and tops of the fenders. After the initial saturation application I applied and worked in the #7 three more times the next day.

    I put as much energy into the last application as I did the first application and in order to do this right it takes the desire for excellent results as well as the human elements of care and passion to rub out a hood 6' long and almost 5' in width 4 times like your life depended upon it but the results will be worth it.



    After approximately 12 hours of soaking in #7 Show Car Glaze, we're ready to wipe off the first application off this 37-year old paint.





    Look at the paint surrounding the towel...
    In the picture below, note how after just one well-worked application of #7 the finish is now more smooth and clear and the color is more vibrant and even.




    Look at the color of the residue coming off the paint and onto the white terry cloth towel; it's black. The single stage paint is butterscotch gold.

    Question: Where's the blackness coming from?
    Answer: The aluminum flake.


    One of the benefits that we enjoy when car manufacturers switched over to basecoat/clearcoat paint technology is there's a clear layer of paint covering over the color coat of paint and this seals the paint and keeps it from oxidizing and deteriorating. This enables metallic finishes to last for a long time without oxidizing and this is why you no longer see any black residue coming off modern metallic finishes.





    The thorough rubbing down with the #7 will bring the paint back to life and make it more workable for the correction step.

    If you just start abrading it you'll be abrading very dry, brittle paint.

    Rubbing it down with a terry cloth towel and #7 will also act to remove the top layer of dead paint so it will be out of the way when you go to compound it.

    For that paint the Ultimate Compound after the #7 would be a good choice followed by a less aggressive polish like the Ultimate Polish and then seal it.



  3. #3
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Inserting pictures is so much better than attaching... I put these in your gallery here on AGO







    How to upload a photo into your Autogeek Photo Gallery

    How to insert an image from your photo gallery into your message




  4. #4
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Quote Originally Posted by SODA CRACKER View Post

    Hi there. I am new to this forum.

    Welcome to Autogeek Online!


    Where are you located?



  5. #5
    Super Member dad07's Avatar
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    to AGO!

    looks like a great project,can't wait to see your results!
    Tim
    "I have done so much with so little for so long.
    Now I can do anything with nothing"

  6. #6
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Here's something I've never tried but I think it would work, apply the #7 using a DA Polisher and either a Surbuf pad or a Microfiber pad. The fibers would act like rubbing the paint with terry cloth. Just use a nice slow arm speed and be ready to clean your pad often.

    The hit it with UC and polishing pad or cutting pad, I'd test the polishing pad just to be careful if it works go with it, if not using the cutting pad. Then polish and seal.



  7. #7
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    I am from the north country of Canada. I run a mobile one stop stop including, paint repairs, paint touch-ups, interior repairs, headlights, and Paintless Dent Removal.

  8. #8
    Mike Phillips
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    Also, isn't that a 1955 and not a 1944?

    During WWII they didn't build many cars and production didn't get going again till 1947

    That's why there's very few 1943 to 1946 American cars and trucks for sale...



  9. #9
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    That's most definitely a 4 door 1955 Chevy. I drove one when I was 16. Also, I don't remember any of those cars with metallic paint or even that color of blue, but, I could be wrong on that. The Chevy blues I remember were more of an aqua blue. None the less, that car is in great shape.

  10. #10
    Super Member BobbyG's Avatar
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    Re: 1944 Chevy car- Original paint

    To Autogeek Online!

    Mike has done a great job of showing how it's done and using a tried and trued favorite that many on the show car circuit relied on. Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze does a fantastic job of making the finish super glossy.

    If you have a dual action polisher I'd give it a try with a Microfiber pas as well. The action of a dual action polisher should really work the product into the pores of the paint well and save you some time and effort....

    Must be the day for 1955 Chevy's!

    BobbyG - 2004 Millennium Yellow Z06 Corvette

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