1988 944 - looking for FB on ext paint restoration plan

[ancosta]

I just picked up an 88 944 from FL. Car is white, original paint unsure what kind of paint it is, appears to be a single stage. Will research that w/the Porsche guys.



Horizontal surfaces have some level of light oxidation, and the paint appears to have acid rain/water spots.



The black plastic trim is loaded with wax, and in some cases, faded.



The adhesive stone guards that come on the car are cracked, and the chip guard painted rocker panels have a layer of crud built up that a clay bar simply cannot reach. (I clayed the roof on Sunday, and the paint already looks less ruddy, i.e. less greyness from contaminants).



The wheels are quite clean, with limited scratching.



My game plan is as follows:



1) Wash using ONR and clay entire car

2) One pass of Meguiars 105 (new "DA" ready mix) using 6" PC DA & CCS 6.5" white foam polishing pad

3) One pass of Duragloss 105 Polish using 6" PC DA & CCS 6.5 grey finishing pad

4) One pass of caranuba paste wax, hand applied



I ordered 4 white pads along with some pad cleaning agent, so I don`t run out of pads while doing the 1st cut. I ordered a couple grey pads as well just in case I need an extra for the polish.



The PC is a friends, I don`t know the model, only that its a 6". I will get it tomorrow to confirm he has a DA and not a rotary.



For the black trim, I have picked up some Wax Blaster Wax Remover & some Black Again. I`m planning to do the wax remover before I do the wash, and to do the Black Again after I do the wax. (suggestions on alternate order welcome)



Any suggestions on my game plan would be very helpful to me. Understand I am not striving for show car quality, but if it can look 95% from 5` or at 5mph, I`ll be happy as a novice detailer.



Any tips on how to get the chip guard rockers cleaned out would be helpful.



Also I haven`t decided if I`ll try to pull the adhesive stone guard up front, or do the car, see how it comes out, then take my time with the stone guard later and cut/polish/wax those areas later. I say this because I have read that removing these parts are a royal PITA.



Also the door ding strips are mangled, and I am so tempted to remove them with a heat gun, but afraid there will be a line left from the difference in paint hue. I figure if there is, no big deal, I just buy some new ding strips, and put them on over.



I am giving myself about 20 working hours to do the car end to end, plus whatever time it takes to remove the ding strips and adhesive stone guards.



Any advise on what I`ve laid out would be great. Thanks again...

[imported_themightytimmah]

I would probably replace the strips and guard - you won`t be happy unless they`re perfect.



For the rest of the paint, your plan sounds pretty good, but I would recommend adding a medium polish in between M105 and DG105 - something like M205 would fit the bill perfectly and really amp up the gloss. DG105 just isn`t aggressive enough to remove the hazing/dullness from M105.

[ancosta]

I would probably replace the strips and guard - you won`t be happy unless they`re perfect.



For the rest of the paint, your plan sounds pretty good, but I would recommend adding a medium polish in between M105 and DG105 - something like M205 would fit the bill perfectly and really amp up the gloss. DG105 just isn`t aggressive enough to remove the hazing/dullness from M105.



Thanks for the feedback. I have researched the removal of the door strips, apparently they are secured with not only 2-sided tape, but urethane, and I`m told they will leave chunks of urethane on the door. So, I`m going to hold on doing the door strips, and perhaps try to touch them up.



I asked the same question re: 105 to polish from the salesman at autogeek, he insisted that it would be an OK transition. If I find that there is simply too much haze, I will either run out and get something from the local auto supply, or I`ll give it a polish, see how it looks, and I can always go back later.

[Cleaning Fool]

http://www.autopia.org/auto-parts-ac...rim_Black.html Use this to restore the black trim. Great product.

[ancosta]

So about 20 hours later, the exterior paint has been cleaned up. It simply looks like a whole other car. The m105 product is completely amazing.



My technique (if I could call it that) was using a PC and CCS white foam pads - wash, clay, m105, re-clay to pick up any remaining contaminants, and then use Duragloss 105.



A few highlights:



When I started the car the paint was oxidized to the point that dragging fingernails on the paint sounded like a chalkboard.



The m105 did a great job, but I found myself often having build-up that would not come off the paint. My choice was to run the pad on it a bit dry, which took it up, or hit it with the clay bar.





I found the DG to be very difficult to get removed fully if it dried up beyond a light haze, but perhaps that was my technique.



I used CCS 6.5 white pads for both the m105 and the DG105. The white pads with the m105 worked very well in this application. I opted to go with white pads with the polish also as I wanted a bit of cut given I was transitioning from a strong cutting compound.



I simply ran out of time to get the work done this weekend, so I will need to clean up the rest of the trim and remove the massive accumulation of wax on all of the rubber/seals from the previous owners. There is so much wax and crap everywhere - the lights, the gaskets/seals, every crevice, etc.



My plan is to run this car for about a week, remove the wax buildup around the trim, wash it by hand, look for signs of streaking, hazing, etc. where the polish may not have been fully removed (it was hard to see w/this white paint), give it a QD, then follow up with 2 light coats of hand-applied wax.



Any advice or comments on how I approached this work or my outstanding plan would be greatly helpful. I know the sequence is a bit jacked up with the finish work then removing the old wax, but I was both anxious to see some results and I needed to drive the car to work on Monday.



Pics: View the Slideshow: Porsche 944 Detail | http://andrewcosta.com (http://andrewcosta.com/portal/node/14/photos/view/flash)



http://andrewcosta.com/portal/sites/default/files/photos/image_1/DSC_0535.jpg

[HappyWax]

Looks great! Always loved the 944 body style and white looks pretty crisp-

I wonder if you use trim-dye for the tail tail -rather than just use a Black WOW type product...



The big question: Is it a turbo model? (doesn`t appear to be but some like the stealth look now...)

[ancosta]

Looks great! Always loved the 944 body style and white looks pretty crisp-

I wonder if you use trim-dye for the tail tail -rather than just use a Black WOW type product...



The big question: Is it a turbo model? (doesn`t appear to be but some like the stealth look now...)



Thanks for the compliment - the car is not a turbo, it is the basic 2.5 motor, which works for the $3700 I paid for the car.



The tail is not in bad shape in terms of color & flexibility, although its flaked up quite a bit. It is the many rubber gaskets & seals, all encrusted in ancient wax, that are going to be a headache.

[MarcHarris]

looks beautiful! i`m a fan of these since i worked on one. sorry i didn`t see your thread earlier as i would have chimed in with my little advice, though it looks like the other guy`s handled things.



http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/111493-1989-porsche-944-turbo-first-c-b.html



nice work!