Paint correction on these cars?

plethaus

Registered User
Has anyone ever tried a full paint correction on one of these cars (with original paint on it still) with an orbital polisher?

I have some experience with my PC 7424 and doing a couple older GMs with decent success, so I thought I'd have a go at my 93. It's got original paint but badly in need of cutting/polishing, so I got started tonight and immediately I can tell this car is going to be a whole different animal from the others I've done. I'm using Meguiar's M105 and orange pad, which for those who don't know is a pretty standard combo for machine polishing.

Here's where I'm at so far. I'm just working a part of the hood first to see what I'm up against on the rest of the car.

Before:

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After two passes:

azdKJuP.jpg


You can see it's a LOT better but I'm not happy with it.. I thought maybe I'd try the more aggressive yellow pad and see where that gets me. Anyone out there familiar with the process and maybe had better success on these old Ford OEM paint jobs? :eek:
 

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If it's OEM...how's the clearcoat holding up?

I'm not a paint expert but it seems OK aside from a few small spots on the front bumper cover. The car sat inside a storage garage for 9+ years so at least it was out of the sun/weather for a very long time. It's in better shape than the average SC by a long shot.
 
Also going to have to be very anal about keeping it waxed, it will fade back out again pretty quick if it doesn't have a good coat on it. If it gets to the point you have to be aggressive again, it's just that much more paint you r taking off

Looks pretty good. Need a pic from further away showing one area done next to another which was not to high light the change

Adam
 
I did my 89 this past weekend. I used an orange pad and miguiers ultimate compound and followed it up with turtle wax ice liquid wax. Its not perfect, but i think it turned out decent.


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Back to work.. someone wanted a half and half/before and after shot, here's one:

kC9ohur.jpg


You can see it's looking pretty good, about a 70% improvement I would say. Probably as good as this paint is ever going to look. There are a lot of little "pits" in the surface, but only really noticeable under the lamp. And here's a little beauty shot just cuz:

haHhII1.jpg
 
A little fender work (this vertical surface corrects SO much faster than the hood/roof)

WjzlLjO.jpg


And starting the bumper cover at the sides:

rZmbKSB.jpg
 
Wrapped up for the night.. the doors are taking a bit more time but looking good so far. Front passenger fender shot:

J2sdnCS.jpg
 
Looks great!! I might get one of those orange pads and the compound and do my 89 this weekend. My 89 has been garage kept its whole life and the paint is in decent shape, but the previous owner obviously wiped it down with dust and dirt still on it so it has a lot of swirl in the paint.
 
For those using Meguiars ultimate compound, you need to use one of there polishes before using any wax. The ultimate compund gets thecar smooth and ready for poilish which wil add the moist back into the clear coat before you wax it to seal in all the effort.

Do not skip the polish in between the compounding and wax, it is a neccessary step.

I used there system completely on my white 95 SC and it looks completely fantastic. The surface is smooth and slick and water beads right off for months (6+).

Any questions let me know.

Smitty
 
For those using Meguiars ultimate compound, you need to use one of there polishes before using any wax. The ultimate compund gets thecar smooth and ready for poilish which wil add the moist back into the clear coat before you wax it to seal in all the effort.

Do not skip the polish in between the compounding and wax, it is a neccessary step.

I used there system completely on my white 95 SC and it looks completely fantastic. The surface is smooth and slick and water beads right off for months (6+).

Any questions let me know.

Smitty



umm, yeah.... I didn't do that nor do the instructions on the bottle suggest using a polish after the ultimate compound.
 
umm, yeah.... I didn't do that nor do the instructions on the bottle suggest using a polish after the ultimate compound.

It makes a pretty big difference, you'd be surprised. I highly recommend going over it with the polish (Meguiar's "Mirror Glaze" / M205,) and the nice thing is you've already done all the work of compounding so now you just have to clean the wax off, a quick clay job, then the polish. The polish doesn't take nearly as long to work as the compound.

Anyway, yeah, I spent about 32 hours all told on my car from Friday to Sunday night, between initial wash, claying, taping off trim and lights, compounding, polishing, and waxing... :eek: Totally worth it though, as the car went from looking pretty rough to almost showroom shine (minus the 22 years of rock chips etc.) :cool: I'll try to get a few good overall pics tomorrow or something.
 
Looks like you need more cut, try a wool pad to get rid of the marks.

I'll have to give that a try on the next go-round! There is so much to learn about the whole process that I know I'll constantly be trying new things and suggestions.
 
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