No clear coat and polishing...

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imported_Ronin

New member
My father has a 1990 Ford Bronco XLT that was in immaculate condition. Up until a year ago, the car looked brand new in and out. Due to some health reasons and the fact that he is tackeling putting on an edition on his house (doing much of the work himself at age 67) the condition of his car has slipped. I want to help him out and get the paint looking new again. The only problem is this...he went to a wedding and parked the car in a garage for a couple days. Well it rained, and what he described to me as "lime deposits/stains" got on the car from where the rain water was pouring down from the concrete above onto his car. He got the car repainted a couple years ago with 2 coats of black paint, no clear coat. I have a PC and am wondering what pads and polishing products would be ok to use on paint without a clear coat. Thanks for any advice.



JD
 
In my dealings with single stage paint, most any product will do within reason. Just be sure that the paint isn't so thin that you'll go through it. Know your paint job!



Stick with a PC and a polishing pad to start.



Go from least abrasive and move up if need be.



Try #9 if there are slight swirls or scratches.



Do you have AIO? That works great on single stage paint in my opinion. You can follow up with that after the #9. Lay down 2 coats. Then you can top with a quality wax of your choice like s100, Mothers Carnuba etc... (trying to think of something to pick up locally).



If you don't have AIO then play around with a glaze after #9 and top off with a wax. A glaze on black looks sweet! I like #3 with a finishing pad, worked until dry then buff off. You can try #7 or Mother's Sealant Glaze or 3M IHG. They can be a pain to remove.



Don't freak out if you have paint transfer on the pad!



If the #9 is not enough, then try Meguiars Speed Glaze. It's a notch up and available from Meguiars website. Or you can try DACP with a white polishing pad or a cutting pad if that doesn't work. Again - go from least abrasive and move up if need be.



Just be a little more careful and don't go crazy abrasive with pad/product combo! Especially on a repainted vehicle.
 
The car should be fine to tackle with a yellow pad and DACP, mine is single stage and has seen the yellow pad with blue moose and it is just fine.
 
i'm kinda in the same boat. a buddy of mine is selling his 93 325is and he wants me to detail it so he can sell it. but i was looking over his car and there is no clear coat left. the roof is even a pinkish red color and the car was originally brillant red. he said the last time he hand waxed it the pad turned red. what should i do. thanks



Jeremy
 
Greg said:
The car should be fine to tackle with a yellow pad and DACP, mine is single stage and has seen the yellow pad with blue moose and it is just fine.
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OT: Interesting. My 1992 black 325i was clearcoated. Greg, was yours repainted?
 
BW- Not except for a rear panel that got keyed, the body shop clearcoated that part. Its flat jet black.



Jeremy- the car isn't clearcoated, so just take your normal detailing steps and the brilliant red should come back no problem.
 
Yeah, what the others have said. I really like working single stage. It usually cuts a bit easier than clearcoats, but cutting pads are usually NOT too aggressive. I often use wool/FCRC even. As Spilchy said, DON'T FREAK OUT about all the color that gets transferred to the pad! Keep repeating that to yourself, because it WILL take a little getting used to.
 
Accumulator said:
Yeah, what the others have said. I really like working single stage. It usually cuts a bit easier than clearcoats, but cutting pads are usually NOT too aggressive. I often use wool/FCRC even. As Spilchy said, DON'T FREAK OUT about all the color that gets transferred to the pad! Keep repeating that to yourself, because it WILL take a little getting used to.
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Yeah, that might freak me out a little :eek: Just have to tell myself its normal. Thanks.
 
And yes, you will get a pad-full of oxidized paint. Even though I never let mine get as bad as you've described, I have to rotate pads and wash them several times to finish the car because once they get a lot of oxidized paint on them, they don't work well. I usually start with DACP and a yellow pad and sometimes follow up with AIO and SG. Unfortunately, the car sits outside in the 100 degree sun and even with several layers of SG, the fading will come back within a few months. After 10 years of this ritual, you would think there wouldn't be any paint left but it is still holding up and looks good.
 
Hey, mike how is your 91 318 doing? I had a silver 91 318 before I got my E36. It was a great car, so damn slow, but I could still pull a wicked 2nd gear scratch.
 
My son drives it and it has about 140k miles on it. It's perfect for him because with a 5-speed, it's fast enough to be fun but not so fast to get him in too much trouble. It's got the same single stage red paint as my '93 325i so with all of the oxidation these two cars experience, polishing them is not much fun.
 
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