5. Exterior Related
When you get your new car, you might want to wait before polishing/waxing. The main reason is a clear coat needs time to "harden". This can take between 60 and 90 days after application. So check your build date and then wait a little while. You may want the car to be as shiny as possible, but sometimes you're better safe than sorry. You may even want to tell your dealer not to prep the car or touch the paint before delivery. Dealers always deny that a clear coat requires time to harden, but most body shop guys will tell you otherwise.
Note that this is not an advertisement for Meguiar's products. It's simply based on experience. And just like religion, someone will always feel theirs is better. But this info is for education purposes only. Use whatever wax you like. As for Meguiar's, it markets it's products in three lines:
1. Regular line
The Swirl Remover (#9) is the second step. If your car is new, you probably don't need this quite yet. Even if you wash, (step 1), polish (step 3) and wax (step 4) often, you probably only need to use the #9 once a year. The Swirl Remover is actually a "cleanser" which will remove any old wax and polish on the car as well as any contaminants from the weather/road. It will also work on removing swirls caused by regular washing and drying. It works on the clear coat by "softening" it up and refilling the swirls. Whether or not it actually does this, it still does a great job on swirls. Also, it should only be applied with an orbital/dual-action (DA) buffer. The high RPMs are required to work the #9 into the paint. Applying it by hand will yield little or no results other than removing some of the contaminants. You may even want to repeat the process if you still see swirls after the first time. If this doesn't get you results, then try the next aggressive cleaner in the Mirror Glaze line: Fine Cut and Scratch Remover (#2). With either product, it should be removed by hand with clean terry cloth towels. A lot of residue will come off, so be sure to keep turning the towel to a clean part as you wipe. And as with washing and drying, wipe it off in straight lines to avoid swirls.
The third step (assuming you used the #9, although it's not a pre-requisite for this step) is the Show Car Polish/Glaze (#7). Even though it's called "Show Car", it's fine for use on your regular car. You don't have to use this, but it will give your car the shine (and "wet look") that detailers get. Even though it looks good, its main purpose is to feed oils into the clearcoat and paint to make it last and prevent oxidation. The polish is meant to be put on by hand. It has to be gently worked into the paint. Because it's mostly oil based, a buffer will just smear it all over and you won't get a good coat on. Removal is the same as with the #9, using a soft terry cloth towel (again - straight lines).
The fourth and final step is the Yellow Carnauba Wax (#26). You can get this in either liquid or paste form. Use whichever you prefer. But, if you use the liquid, make sure you shake the bottle every 10 mins as the carnauba (little yellow bits) settles to the bottom quickly. There's no reason to put on thick and heavy coat as only a 10th of a millimeter is going to stick to the paint. Putting on a thick coat is just going to waste it and make it difficult to remove. Use a terry cloth applicator to apply it and a terry cloth (bath) towel to remove it. Also - make sure you put it on and wipe it off in straight lines. While you can put the wax on with a buffer, it's not a good idea especially if you polished beforehand, as the buffer will end up removing the polish. And there's no need to put it on in little circles. It won't make the wax stick better, and it will increase the chance of swirls in the paint (from the circular motion). The wax just has to lay on top of the paint and polish.
Thanks to John Wolf (jwolf@ms.com).
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The base moves around the first oval and then second oval, perpendicular to
the first. This is also while the buffer pad itself is spinning around, hence
"dual-action" (DA). But because the orbital pad spins at much lower RPMs than
a rotary buffer and the orbital motion covers more surface area, it doesn't
let the buffer sit in one place on the paint. Thus, there's less of a chance
for the buffer to actually burn (blemish) the clear coat/paint. The rotary
buffer on the other hand, if left in one place too long, will burn the paint
because it's not moving any place other than in circles.When using the DA buffer, use a soft foam bonnet (feels like a fine sponge). NEVER use wool as it will scratch the clear coat. Apply a large amount of liquid cleaner or wax all over the bonnet. Then use an old paintbrush (or even a piece of cardboard) to smear the product around bonnet. Otherwise, if you use it directly on the car without working it into the bonnet first, the liquid will just get absorbed into the bonnet and then there's nothing between your bonnet and the paint. And that means SWIRLS! Keep applying more product to the bonnet until it seems to have absorbed enough so it looks and feels wet (but not saturated).
Next put some more product onto the bonnet (but not a lot since it should have enough already absorbed enough into it). Spread it around the bonnet evenly. Then start buffing the car one section at a time. Don't put a lot of pressure on the buffer. Just press enough to keep it moving smoothly across the paint in a straight line. Also move the buffer lengthwise along the car. Don't move in circles as that's what the buffer is doing. Move at a rate of 6 inches per second. You'll probably have to run the buffer over a section 2 or 3 times or until the product is worked into a haze/powder. With a 9" buffer, you can do 2-3 square feet at a time before needing to put more product onto the bonnet.
If what you just put on isn't dry to the touch, let it dry some more while you move onto another section. Once dry, wipe off the residue with a terry cloth towel. Remember to wipe off with lengthwise strokes to avoid swirls. And remember to keep turning the towel to a clean part. As the residue is absorbed into the towel, you don't want it in turn to scratch the paint because it builds on the towel.
Repeat these steps with the whole car. Work on one section at a time (i.e. fender, roof, hood, trunk, door, etc). As a rule of thumb, keep the buffer moving at all times. Don't let it sit in one spot for any long period of time.
As for removing cleaner or wax with the buffer - don't do it. This will only cause swirls as you need to be sure to wipe off the residue with a clean part of the towel/cloth. The bonnet of the buffer will quickly become clogged with residue and cause swirls and scratches.
Thanks to John Wolf (jwolf@ms.com).
Use a terry cloth wax applicator (Turtle Wax makes some nice soft ones which you can find in many auto stores). Apply the polish to the applicator in small amounts. You don't want to put it on in a thick layer because only a very thin layer is going to actually adhere to the paint, and it will just be that much harder to get off. As you're applying it, you want to rub it in using a circular motion (just as if you were rubbing skin lotion onto your face). Because polish is oil based, you're really only pushing around the polish, so a little goes a long way. After the circular motions, finish up with final strokes which go lengthwise on the car (front to back). This results in a uniform drying pattern which is much easier to remove. When you first start out with a new applicator, you'll need to add polish frequently at first since you'll find the applicator absorbs a lot of the polish. But as you go along, the applicator gets to the point where it doesn't absorb any more polish.
After you apply it to one section, move on to another. Then go back and wipe down the first section. Now, the polish here is going to seem dry, but it has really only formed a skin. The polish under the top skin is still wet. So what you want to do is wipe off this top layer of polish. Don't try to get all of the polish off because it probably won't come off entirely. What you wind up doing is pushing around the polish that's still wet and it seems just to smear all over. So wipe off what you can, then go apply polish to a 3rd section of the car. As you're doing this, the 2nd section will continue to dry and the 1st will form another skin. After applying to the 3rd section, do an initial wipe down of the 2nd area (as you did with the 1st), and then wipe off the rest of the 1st section. Don't worry if you don't get it all off here as you can do a final wipe down after you finish the entire car. Plus any which you don't get off will be removed when you wax. Then just keep moving between sections until the entire car is done. These multiple wipings might seem like too much work. But , it will take much less time than if you try to get all the polish off in one shot. It goes pretty quick and you're going to be really satisfied by the results.
Some pointers on removing the polish: use terry cloth towels. As the towel starts to feel slick and oily, turn to a clean part of the towel or use a new one. If it seems like it's smearing, let it dry more. Work in circles and then in straight lines (just as when you applied it). In your second and final wipe downs, the towel will start to sound "squeaky" when you're wiping (like the old dish soap commercials where they rub a finger against plate and it sounds "squeaky clean"). This is the oil in the polish which is going to make the car shine. Don't worry, the squeaking isn't causing harm to the paint, but you should stop wiping at this point as most of the polish residue should be gone.
Finally, wait 1/2 hour (or even a day) before you put on the wax. This will allow the polish to cure. It might haze up a little more at this point. If so, just wipe it down again. Don't wait too long between the polish and the wax (and try not to drive too much). Dust and dirt stick very easily to the polish. You want to get that coat of wax over the polish to protect it.
Thanks to John Wolf (jwolf@ms.com).
When you come across that classic car you've always desired or dreamed of owning, chances are good, (unless you've got plenty of cash to buy a "clean" or restored vehicle) that it is full of rust, has had butcher bodywork done, is peeling or is an a ugly crudball unsuitable for restoration without a ton of work. The price is usually right for suchpotential jewels and that is why we buy them. Usually, they are old convertibles or rare cars that do not deserve to be stripped or go to the crusher. We usually either have a donor parts car or have access to one or several to rob parts from.
The only way to properly resurrect a car in this condition is to strip the body bare and acid-dip it. Acid-dipping removes paint, bodyfiller, caulking, undercoating, rust, etc. Basically, everything that is not steel will be eaten away by the caustic solution. Contrary to what you may have heard, the sheet-metal is not etched thinner, or damaged in any way after dipping, even leaded seams will survive although they must be re-leaded or filled with plastic. The worst task you will face from dipping is removing the scale left behind after the phosphate coating has dried, but more on that later. One thing to keep in mind, acid-dipping is a *BIG* decision. You will add $3000+ to the cost of restoring a car by dipping it, you will not put a part (any part) on unless it is worthy, and I mean either new or restored. Before taking on the project make absolutely sure you are committed to finishing it or you will lose big time. Take plenty of pictures so others can appreciate your efforts.
Three tools you *must* buy or have access to is a bead blaster, a Mig (wire) welder and a good air compressor. You can restore most small parts to new- looking by simply blasting them with fine glass-beads and coating them with a light coat of clear lacquer. You will be amazed at the money and labor you will save. It even works on wiring, plastic, aluminum, nuts, bolts, clips. A bead blaster is a must. You will use the Mig welder when replacing rusted metal, reinforcing crappy factory spot-welding and generally any other mods to the car's body. A Mig welder is a good investment. Your air compressor will be your best friend.
Disassembly and Planning:
To get your body ready for dipping you must completely disassemble the car in sections (sub-assemblies) and carefully place related bolts, fasteners and small pieces in plastic bags and label them for future reference (this is very important since it might be a year or more until you start restoring each sub-assembly), you may want to label some parts with masking tape and keep all this stuff in boxes, you will come to know each box well. I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping things organized and documenting things with notes and/or pictures. Otherwise you will end up with a pile of stray parts you no longer recognize. Make sure you remove rubber plugs, chaulked in metal plates, brake/gas lines, etc. You may have to scrape off some undercoating to find them, if you leave them in they will be destroyed or fall off in the tank. Do not destroy any pieces during disassembly figuring "well, I'm gonna replace that", you might not be able to find them years later, suddenly these small parts become very valuable. Remember, do not leave *anything* on the body. A good rule is to remove parts from your donor car, restore them and install them immediately on the project car. You will be suprised how memory fades over time.
Fabricating A Mobile Dolly:
If your car needs *major* rust work, measure the underside of your car and inspect it for the best resting points. Fabricate two large rectangles from 2" thin wall steel tubing, place one directly above the other connected with vertical tubes about 12"-18" long at the corners. Weld 2 fixed wheels at one end and 2 casters at the other. This will serve as your mobile dolly to set the car on. Any helpful brackets, etc. that will stabilize the body on the dolly are advised as they tend to be "tail-heavy."
Note, there will be a lot of manual scraping, cleaning and pressure washing by the stripping shop so don't get carried away with trying to get the crud off yourself. Acid-dipping is more than just dipping a body into a tank, it has to be removed and "worked" by a crew until it is clean.
Start by removing all body trim, including handles, emblems, bumpers, etc. Disassemble in the reverse order that you will rebuild the car, gradually getting deeper into it. Continue to each separate area. For example, if you are removing the dash you would label a bag "radio" and put all knobs, screws, brackets and clips in it. When removing a clutch pedal you would keep the Z-bar, springs, brackets, bolts, retainer clips, etc. in one bag labeled "clutch", you get the idea.
Stripping shops generally charge a flat fee for a complete body, including doors, hood and trunk provided it is assembled. Leaving these parts on after gutting them is a good idea. If you dip these parts separately it will cost you more. As a general rule, figure on $1000-1500 for a complete body in one piece. If you include more bits and pieces it can get very expensive, best to get it all done at the same time and negotiate the best deal. The fender liners, core-support, etc. and related parts will usually be a greasy mess and unpaintable regardless of the preparation so they *must* be dipped. If you are using an engine that has had rust-water flowing through it, dip it to prevent overheating, remember, you are building a jewel. If you weren't, you wouldn't be dipping it in the first place. A dipped part is *perfect* when you get it back. Later, as you are rebuilding, again you will find that you won't put any part on the car unless it is first class, its just not worth it since you have worked your arse off to get to this point. That is why most restorations of this caliber take several years to complete.
IMPORTANT: Unless you have a spare, keep your subframe, steering column and rear-end intact for now. You will need to degrease them and re-bolt them to the body until after painting when you are ready to do the bottom of the car. While this is being done your rear-end/springs and subframe/suspension can be dipped as explained later.
Dipping The Parts and Starting The Project:
When the stripping shop tells you to come inspect your finished body one area to check is under the rear wheel wells. Factory undercoating is very hard to get off and sometimes the crew will get lazy here, make sure it is all gone.
Have an acetylene torch ready. Have the flatbed driver slide your aciddipped body onto the dolly, you are ready to begin. If your body has been freshly dipped it may still be sticky and glossy. This is a phosphate solution that protects the bare metal against rust. I have had parts sit around for 5 yrs this way and never rust. You will have to wait for the coating to completely dry and turn a white-ish dull gray before starting bodywork. In the mean time a *very* important step must be done. You must get *all* the acid out from between the seams and overlapping panels or it will "seep" out later and foul any work you do.
Light your acetylene torch and heat all the seams and cracks to evaporate the liquid. Make sure you cover the entire body. Do not, however heat the sheet metal panels, doing so will warp them. From this point forward I will assume you have the basics down as far as bodywork goes. If your body shell has cured it is time to start on it.
Start by removing doors, etc. and marking any rusted out areas that need new metal. A donor car will provide the panels you need (if your car needs floors or large panels, pre-cut them and have them dipped at the same time as the body). Cut out the minimum metal necessary to do the repair, no more. Always cut repair pieces larger and trim them down to fit after forming. If you are replacing rusted out floor panels it may be necessary to drill out the spotwelds of attached parts (seat mounts, x-members, etc.) to remove them for later reassembly. Once you have done your metal patch-work take a DA sander and go over the entire body surface and jambs with a 80 grit disk, this is a tiresome, painstaking, filthy task, but exciting as you watch the dull gray powder give way to brand new shiny metal. Get the hard to reach areas by hand, make sure you remove the scaly-black streaks (soap and water work well with rough Scotchbrite). Also do metal interior panels (dash) that will be exposed after painting and the underside of the hood and decklid. Extra effort here will give you a good base. At this point the bottom is not important. Dust the panels with a guide coat of paint, any dark color will do. Go over the panels with a file or block sander to find any low spots, mark them. When you're done do your body repair-work and straightening as usual. Blow the entire body free of dust and debris, wipe it down with lacquer thinner until clean.
You will now have to coat the entire body (except bottom) with a good 2-part etching primer inside and out. You *must* cover all bare metal! Etching primer contains phosphoric acid that will actually "bite" into the metal to give a solid base for primer and paint, it is usually a pea-green color. A good brand is Dupont Vari-Prime. Add a small amount of slow thinner, or retarder to prevent powdering in tight places. You will discover methods for reaching tight areas. Go easy on this stuff and only apply transparent coats without building, it does not sand easily and clogs paper. Let this coating cure thoroughly for a couple days. Since you have done your bodywork the car should be straight enough for primer. Always use a good catalyzed acrylic "high-build" primer. Sikkens and Glasurit are good brands but expensive. Start inside with just a light coat (includes firewall). Give the outside panels that will be blocked extra coats.
Note to have a small amount of your final color choice or something close available at this point for applying to the jambs and hinges. Wet sand the jambs around the hinge-attaching areas and paint them. I prefer acrylic lacquer as a base with Urethane clear over it. It is much easier to work with and "melts" in. Do *not* clear coat it yet. Paint your hinges and door- mounting areas and assemble them.
After drying you can now permenantly reinstall the doors and decklid without fear of rust later. Align and fit everything perfect and bolt securely, degrease and install the door latches and *new* striker pins, don't worry, you can clean the overspray off them later with lacquer thinner. The body is ready for guide-coating and blocking. I dont have to tell you that patience here will make or break your restoration. Before starting buy 4 large door sound deadener pads and stick them onto the back-side of each door and quarter panel in the window well area.
Note, on F-Bodies it is especially important to correctly align the doors at this point if they are in too close to the hinge pillar the consequence will be a narrow front end and the hood won't fit between the fenders at the end of the restoration. I have seen this happen! You will then have to destroy your beautifully-painted jambs or cut and narrow your hood, I don't know which is worse.
Now you are ready to install the subframe, steering column and rear axle so you will have a rolling chassis. Next, move on to the fenders, hood, cowl grille and other small body parts that need primer and paint. Once you get the body panels perfect you can start prepping the dash and exposed panels.
After wet-sanding and washing but before final painting you must replace the factory seam-sealer along overlapping sheet-metal joints on the firewall and elsewhere, 3M Brushable Seam-Sealer works excellent and looks original, it comes in quart cans and is applied with an acid-brush. Apply heavily as it shrinks while drying. You must replace the bead of caulking in the decklid gutters, door sill-plate areas, door-skin, hood and decklid seams. I usually run a bead around the hinges where they mate to the door/pillar also to keep water out. 3M Heavy Drip-Check sealer works great here, it comes in tubes. It also shrinks while drying. As for the rear body panel-to-quarter joints, I prefer paintable silicone as it doesn't shrink and is workable. Everything else will shrink too much or crack.
A Word On 2-Stage Painting:
A word here on the Lacquer base color / Urethane clear-coat method of painting. A very good reason for using acrylic lacquer as a base before Urethane clear-coating is this: I prefer to paint the car twice, here's why, I give the body 8-10 full-wet coats of lacquer base color using slow thinner with a small amount of retarder to prevent blushing and enhance penetration. Since lacquer flashes fairly quick (dry to the touch) you can do this outside if you're careful and wet the ground around the car but make sure you have a sharp pair of tweezers handy just in case. I then let the car sit for a couple days and wet-sand it with 600 grit paper being careful not to break through the color and wipe it clean. I let it sit another 2-3 weeks. This method first; allows the solvents to fully penetrate, second; after sanding, allows the solvents to "gas," or evaporate completely. Since lacquer penetrates very deep, any thin areas of primer over body-filler, very rough grinding marks or sand scratches will actually appear to "swell" long after you think the paint has dried. You will see where the bodywork or sanding was done. This "swelling" also happens with acrylic enamels and urethanes but at a slower rate.
By painting the car once and allowing this cycle to take place, sanding it, then painting it again you virtually eliminate the problem later. You won't have to "tune up" the paint down the road. Plus, the second time you paint it you already have a nice dry base color. You simply wet-sand the surface again with 1000 grit and "dust" the color on using retarder for slow drying, this is especially effective in keeping metallic nice and even preventing "mottling." The second application of lacquer "melts" into the base color, you then apply your urethane clearcoat over it. I prefer using Dupont Lucite acrylic lacquer with Glasurit urethane clear.
When restoring F-Bodies I prefer to paint them with the decklid and doors on. With the fenders off you can paint the hinges, bolts and jambs. Carefully open the doors and decklid and paint the inside of them at the same time. This method gives the jambs a beautifully finished and impressive factory "wet look." I prefer to put the painted fenders on later during assembly after the subframe, etc. is done.
For the dash and black interior trim parts I recommend using Dupont Lucite Semi-Gloss acrylic lacquer.
Bottom and Suspension:
Assuming you now have the body painted it is time to do the bottom. I must tell you that this part is a real hassle. The subframe, column and rear axle must be removed and the car placed back on the dolly. Now is a good time to strip the subframe and gut the rearend housing to take to the stripping shop for dipping. You can also clean up the steering box and paint it now. Take your control arms, spindles, springs and all related parts down also. When they are done follow the same procedure with the torch to dry up the liquid acid residue. Unless you enjoy punishment I suggest taking your subframe, x- member, springs, control arms, core-support, fender-skirts, misc. brackets, pulleys and *all* the parts that need to be painted black down to a good powder-coating facility. Again, do everything at the same time to get a better deal. Have all these parts done in *semi-gloss*. They will take the clean parts and sandblast them before powder-coating. The finish will be chip-proof and very durable. It is well worth the price of around $750 and you can smile while they do *all* the work. The rear-end housing I recommend painting yourself. You might want to take a trip to the boneyard and pick up a pair of aluminum brake drums from an Olds or Buick to use and paint them at the same time after bead-blasting.
For the bottom, you need to prop the rear of the car up as high as you can safely. Get under it with some Scotchbrite chances are there is some surface rust forming from the wet-sanding. If you replaced the floors, you need to do the body-filler work now. After scuffing everything down, mask the whole car off and spray the bottom with the 2-part etching primer, make sure to get everything.
After the primer drys, get your seam-sealer and several tubes of automotive chaulking (you'll need a cheap chaulking gun) and do the whole bottom. It is very important to get all the overlapping seams, don't worry at this point about the rockers, x-members and frame rails, you will wax them later.
It is time to undercoat the bottom. You need to make a choice now what you want to coat the bottom with. You can use waterbased Zolotone speckled paint as used inside the trunk area, semi-gloss paint, or undercoating. I prefer coating the whole bottom with a very high quality undercoating similar to what is used on the German cars. I use a product by Wurth Co. or one called "Rocker Schutz" from 3M. The Wurth product goes on blue and turns black as it drys. Rocker Schutz is yellow so you have to add black paint to it and end up with a gray color. Do *not* use that cheap spray can stuff! It is only good for touch up. You will need to purchase a special gun that screws on top of the container to apply the undercoating. Adjust the air-pressure until you get the desired smooth-texture. This stuff goes on real nice and looks great. Make sure you avoid spraying it on the floor or surrounding area, it is very hard to get off and dries rock-hard, wear old clothes.
Trunk Area:
The product to use here is "Zolotone." You can buy the color-correct stuff in spray-cans or buy a "close" color in quarts and gallons, 2 quarts will do a trunk. It is water based and very high build (goes on thick). Zolotone drys hard as a rock.
Rustproofing:
Once the undercoating has dryed you will begin feeling warm and fuzzy as you un-mask the car, the grunt work is almost done (you still need to color-sand and buff the paint, arrgh!). You now need to rust-proof the inner-structure. The best product to use is that thick yellow wax used on the German cars. You can use your undercoating-gun to apply it, however you must put a 4 foot piece of 1/4" plastic tubing into a fitting and screw it into the end of the gun. Plug the end with a screw and cut small "flutes" all around the tube about 1/2" back from the end, this is so it sprays a 360 degree "fan" of wax. Shove your tube up into the frame rails as far as it will go, squeeze the trigger and slowly pull the tube out as it sprays, this will coat the whole inside with wax. Do the same with the rockers, x-members and cowl drain gutters from the bottom of the windshield to the rockers. Do the quarter panel window wells and inside of the doors. You will have to mask off some large openings to contain the spraying wax. You will notice that the wax seeps and drips out of the cracks. Wipe it off while it is still runny, it will dry to a thick paste. For touch-up and small parts, use 3M's Rustproofing wax in a spray-can, it is very thin but works well.
Final Assembly:
You are now ready to assemble your powder-coated subframe and related parts. You will by now hopefully have your new tires mounted on your restored wheels and all your new suspension bushings, ball-joints, shackles, body- bisquits, etc. and have your rear-end re-assembled. Once you get it back to a rolling chassis with all the new and restored parts installed you will then realize that all your late-night, tedious, painstaking labor was well worth it. You now have a "new" car.
Thanks to Rick Ciaccio (mesa2@ix.netcom.com).