Newbie learning with PC, how far gone is this car, what would your plan of attack be?

S

Special K

New member
We got this car a few months ago, its pretty gone. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/335223/8 In the first picture, the white part is where I used meguiars step 1 and 2 on it by hand(yeah, I know, futile), and it turned that opaque color. The strip of blue surrounded by white is whats left of decent paint(like clearcoat cancer, except how you usually see the little spot starting, this is the little spot finishing), the rest is lacking clearcoat. After the meguiars 1 and 2, that area was glossy when looked at from an angle, while the rest is flat but still blue versus the white the meguiars made it. I'm thinking about picking up a PC and experimenting with this car since its going to be repainted anyway. I read someone's thread about bringing a car from 1 to an 8 on a gloss scale of 1-10. Does anyone know how to go about attacking this car? I'd probably buy the PC kit with pads from autopia, but I don't know what products to use since its just paint with no clear. In the picture of the entire car, the hood isnt even the original hood, or the same color, I'm not worried about it. Its a junkyard hood I got for 30$ to replace the hideous "SS" fiberglass hood the car came with. The sides look like they are in ALOT better shape, but need ALOT of work with a PC and swirl/scratch removers.



Anyway, to stop my babbling, I was wondering what your plan of attack would be on this car, or if its even worth it? I'm just looking to mess around and learn since its going to be repainted anyway. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
I remember those 80's Camaros. Loved the body style! Always wanted an IROC Z!



The paint looks pretty bad. I would have to say it is way out of my league. You probably need to use a rotary instead of a PC, but since I'm sure you already have a PC and you're planning on repainting it, you might as well play around!

Since you're using the PC, I would suggest you try using the yellow LC pad with a medium cut rubbing compound, like 3M's and then see how it looks. If it looks o.k. to you, you can start polishing with a orange or white LC pad with any polishing compound. I like the Menzerna line myself. Try Menzerna's Intensive Polish with the orange pad and then Final Polish with the white pad. You can then wax afterwards.

Of course, if you don't like what you see after the first pass with the medium compound, you can either do another pass or try a wool pad. I've never used a wool pad, but I heard it has heavy cutting action. If you're not careful, it'll cut through the clearcoat pretty fast (If you have a clearcoat that is. Did those camaros have clearcoats or were they single stage?).



Keep in mind, this is what I would try and those products I mentioned happen to be my favorites. Other equivalent products will work well also. I don't know what you have.:nixweiss



Good luck!:xyxthumbs
 
They had clearcoat... at least I know the newer ones did, my 87 does and this 91 does(although not much left except on the sides). I dont' have a PC yet, but I'm really planning on getting one. I have the money for the kit with pads on autopia, but I need a little more $ to buy some good products to try on the car. I've only got basic stuff at home right now, nothing abrasive enough. I'm thinking about trying the meguiars DACP or maybe the autoglym paint renovator.
 
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