1975 Corvette Extreme Makeover - The importance of a Paint Cleaner
Tuesday night, starting at 5:00pm, we will be conducting an extreme makeover on this 1975 one-owner Corvette.
This car was brought to the
CorvetteForum at Meguiar's! detailing clinic this last Saturday and because of the extreme
Dirt in paint condition of the finish, we used it to demonstrate the purpose of a
Meguiar's paint cleaner.
You see, over time, without proper maintenance, paint can become dirty, not as in
dirt on the car, but as in
dirt in the paint, also known by the acronym,
DIP. Dirt in paint is also referred to as road stain, or just stained paint. The point is, dirt can build up below the surface of a car's paint in the microscopic surface imperfections, which normal washing will not remove.
When this car pulled in, we inspected it closely to find out that while the owners were washing and waxing the car regularly, the wax they were using did not have any cleaning ability and thus would merely coat over the dirt in the paint, and not remove it.
Also, two portions of the car have been repainted, the front valance, and the rear valance. Extraordinarily enough, the body shop that repainted these portions
did not afterwards buff out the rest of the car so that the old, stained and oxidized paint would match the new paint in color and gloss.
Often times, a body shop
will buff the entire car out as a courtesy to the customer and so that there isn't such a dramatic difference between new and old paint. Because a lot of times these types of buff-outs are done
quickly, the quality of the work and the chemicals used can be questionable. In a way, the owners of this Corvette are lucky that the rest of the panels were not buffed out, as we're going to do it the right way using premium quality products and professional techniques which will takes this Corvettes finish to its maximum potential!
Below are some
before pictures. Note the car was washed before it was driven to Saturday's detailing clinic. The dirt, or staining you see in the paint, not on the paint.
[b]Here is a close-up of the finish. The black or grayish looking area is actually dirt that has built-up
in the paint.
While the above photo's show some areas where the dirt is concentrated, the entire finish is stained with dirt in paint.
The below picture shows a circular area where we applied some
ScratchX, an advanced Meguiar's paint cleaner for use by hand.
Later, towards the end of the class, we polished out one half of the hood using some #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish on a W-8006 foam polishing pad on Meguiar’s G-100. The results between before and after are dramatic. The results also help to demonstrate the concept of dirt in paint and the importance of choosing the correct product for maintaining your car's finish.
Below you can see the new paint on the front valance, versus the old paint on the hood. Note how the old paint is dull and lifeless with no gloss whereas the new paint is vibrant in color with high gloss.
We will be using and demonstrating a wide variety of products for the extreme makeover of this one-owner 1975 Corvette. If you would like to be a part of the team that performs the dramatic transformation, the come on down to Meguiar’s Garage this coming Tuesday night.
Here's the address,
Meguiar’s address for
Mapquest Driving Directions
Meguiar’s Inc
17991 Mitchell South
Irvine, CA 92614
The transformation begins at 5:00pm, see you here!
Here's the thread to follow along for the results...
1975 Corvette Extreme Makeover - The importance of a Paint Cleaner
Mike
mphillips@meguiars.com Note: The acronym
DIP and the term dirt in paint is also used in the refinishing industry to describe dirt and dust that lands in fresh paint and becomes embedded in the top surface as the paint continues to dry. After the paint has dried, professional body shops will remove the dirt specs usually by sanding and buffing.
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