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On my 93. The paint has light swirls, scratches, and "love marks" The paint is very nice for a 24 year old car with 81k miles. But what can I do to make it nicer? Currently, I just wash it, and wax it every two months using Blalckfire Midnight sun. A pic just because. With that said, I don't really want to buff it. Why? Because I have 24 year old paint.
Not trying to be a smart-***, but how do you think the swirls and scratches and marks will come out if you don't buff them? There is no magic wand that makes them go away. There are certain types of waxes that contain fillers, but they will wash out. One doesn't "touch-up" swirls and your car doesn't need to be repainted. So you polish " it.
As it sounds like you don't have any experience removing swirls and scratches, I would suggest you bring it to a reputable detailer. Find a good one that is familiar with "old" paint/clear coat and what to do that is safe. They will start by examining the defects. If the defects have penetrated the clear coat and have exposed the actual color layer of paint, then they can't really help with those. You will need a partial respray.
But many swirls and scratches can be safely removed. They will start by washing the car properly, cleaning the paint very well and applying clay bar to it to remove contaminants. They then start with the lightest compound and pad to begin the correction process, and work their way up depending on how bad the swirls are, how deep the scratches go and the general willingness of the paint and clear coat to tolerate the correction process. The hardness of the paint also plays a big role here. You can typically safely remove about 25% of the thickness of the clearcoat.
Ultimately, the success of a good polishing will depend on the nature of the scratches and how good the person doing it is. If they are good, and the clear coat and paint can tolerate it, the process can be very successful in making the car look ALOT better. It will likely never be perfect again, but you can get a long way with a good correction process.
I bet it could tolerate a mild buffing and probably come out great. Bring it into a few detail shops and get an opinion. The buffing/polishing industry has come A LONG LONG way and it is pretty well understood at this point. The machines they use now are lightyears ahead of 10 or even 5 years ago...same with the compounds used. The paint is almost begging for it.
Thanks man! I know how to wash a car correctly, unlike most people. But correcting the paint, different story. My dad had a 98 XJR Jaguar that was completely oxidized. Guy that buffed the paint made it look amazing, almost like new paint.
Thanks man! I know how to wash a car correctly, unlike most people. But correcting the paint, different story. My dad had a 98 XJR Jaguar that was completely oxidized. Guy that buffed the paint made it look amazing, almost like new paint.
Polishing is pretty damn easy, follow Mordeth's recommendation
I just spent about $500 getting caught up with the times, but the last 10+ years served me well with Poorboys/Klasse polishes and Zaino finishes.
Looking to do 4-5 cars in the next few months, should be entertaining
This car most likely is a single stage paint and not with a clear coat.
Most manufacturers did not start using a 2 stage paint until the late 90's.
Before you do anything to it, find out what you have. I always approach single stage paints a little different than the cars with a clear coat. Your paint may not be as hard as the paints now used on the corvette.
GM can give you info about the paint and talk to a professional detailer first and get their advise.
You can polish 25 year old clear coat just as well as newer paint. If it hasn't ever been compounded, you probably have the entire original thickness of clear to work with. The idea is to compound once then just keep it nice with proper care and maintenance polishing after that. Polishing hardly does anything to remove material, just smooths over the edges of swirls so it doesn't refract light.
I learned from online tutorials and from various information online. You can buy Meguires polishes at Harbor Freight, Pep Boys and of course, from professional detail supply houses. You have to weigh the $200-ish investment into equipment to do your own foam polishing vs. Paying that $200-ish to get somebody to do it for you.
This car most likely is a single stage paint and not with a clear coat.
Most manufacturers did not start using a 2 stage paint until the late 90's.
Before you do anything to it, find out what you have. I always approach single stage paints a little different than the cars with a clear coat. Your paint may not be as hard as the paints now used on the corvette.
GM can give you info about the paint and talk to a professional detailer first and get their advise.
Actually clear coat development was in the 70's and manufacturers started using them in the early 80's and a few before that and a few waited longer but most 80's model cars have clear coat. Ferrari and Porsche used SS paint on there Red colors till the 90's though but otherwise most colors were clear coated.
This 93 Vette in particular has clear coat no question. I've personally polished a 1991 white corvette with original paint and it was clear coated.
This car most likely is a single stage paint and not with a clear coat.
Most manufacturers did not start using a 2 stage paint until the late 90's.
Before you do anything to it, find out what you have. I always approach single stage paints a little different than the cars with a clear coat. Your paint may not be as hard as the paints now used on the corvette.
GM can give you info about the paint and talk to a professional detailer first and get their advise.
GM has been using clear coat on Corvettes since the 1981 in Bowling Green. No idea why you would suggest that he doesn't have a clear coat. His 1993 100% without exception has a factory applied clear coat. In fact, they were machined surfaced with a clear coat from 1993-1996.
02-09-2017, 07:54 PM
What to use?
