New guy about to work on his WS6

[tipnitty]

Greetings everyone, figured I would introduce myself with my car and my intentions here.

Well my project car is a 1998 Pontiac WS.6, black/graphite, M6 with 107xxx. I've always dreamed of one of these cars since I saw it on the showroom floor in 2001 as a kid. The car has spend 15 years of its life outside and the paint sure shows it. It's in need of a good corrections and attention.

So here are my problem areas.

This is on the bottom of the car. I've washed, scrubbed and clay barred, but it still remains. Is this something I could get taken off with a cutting pad?

The whole car is covered in these fine swirls, none are terribly deep, but they are VERY obvious to me.

On the sail panel/roof. the clear coat is starting to peel a little bit. Should I tape over this area when I work this panel?

On the hood, there are these RAM AIR stickers. Should I tape over these or can I work right over them?

Finally, I have a line that runs the length of the driver door, where trim used to be. There is crap built up there. I'm not sure if it's still adhesive, or if the doors were painted with the trim on. But I have taken a 3M eraser wheel to them and it helped in some spots, and didn't in other. Would a cutting pad work here as well? Not sure if you guys can see it here.

I plan on purchasing the following, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
PC7242
5.5" Lake County Orange
5.5" Lake County White
5.5" Lake County Gray
Colinite 845
M105
M205

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Greetings everyone, figured I would introduce myself with my car and my intentions here.

Welcome to AGO! :welcome:

Just to note... you'll tend to get more and better answers if you introduce yourself in an introduction forum and then post your questions in a forum like Detailing 101.

So here are my problem areas.

This is on the bottom of the car. I've washed, scrubbed and clay barred, but it still remains. Is this something I could get taken off with a cutting pad?

The whole car is covered in these fine swirls, none are terribly deep, but they are VERY obvious to me.

After claying, compound and polish the entire car. This should make a dramatic difference and the majority of all the shallow defects will be gone and the clearcoat will be clear again making it easy for your eyes to see the black basecoat under it.

On the sail panel/roof. the clear coat is starting to peel a little bit. Should I tape over this area when I work this panel?

I don't think I would put tape on that paint, removing the tape might remove more of the paint. Just work around it.

If you do tape it off, be sure to burn your tape first.


Burning Tape

On the hood, there are these RAM AIR stickers. Should I tape over these or can I work right over them?

Same as above, just work around them...

Finally, I have a line that runs the length of the driver door, where trim used to be. There is crap built up there. I'm not sure if it's still adhesive, or if the doors were painted with the trim on. But I have taken a 3M eraser wheel to them and it helped in some spots, and didn't in other.

Would a cutting pad work here as well?

If it's paint that's raised on the surface surrounding where the trim used to be you'll probably have to sand it till it's level with the rest of the paint and then remove your sanding marks.

If it's adhesive, you should be able to remove it with enough rubbing.

 

[tipnitty]

Thanks for the prompt response! I'll have to look into those other sections as well. But I appreciate the help!

 

[jamesboyy]

Welcome to autogeek, excellent work on that Pontiac

 

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Great Trans Am! I have the same story, fell in love with the redesign in 1998, finally at a point in life where I could afford one. Not sure how to link from a tapatalk app, but search my old threads, I did a write up on my paint correction.

I think the products you plan to buy will work, except I would replace m105 with m101. The paint on these cars tends to be very hard, the 101 has a longer work time and less dusting. Google the "Kevin brown method" of pad priming, this technique makes all the difference when using these Meguiars products. Also, make sure you have plenty of pads available, I would go with at least 6 each of the white and orange.

The sail panels on these cars are notorious for having paint failure. Just do your best to work around it for now, there are write ups on ls1 specific forums on how to replace the panel.

Please keep us posted with your progress!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[damaged442]

Nice looking T/A! I always had a soft spot for F bodies! My brother in law had an 87 Formula 350, 95 Formula 6 spd, 2000 WS6 T/A 6 spd, and a 98 WS6 T/A Auto. They were always fun cars to drive!!

 

[Dark Shadow]

Welcome to AG. I'm really liking them wheels on there. Please post pics once it's all polished out.

 

[Charger12]

Nice ride

 

[mswerb]

That is one sexy machine, and has always been one of my favorites. The wheels look badass too!

 

[The Guz]

Welcome. Nice ride. Just to let you know that my 02 camaro and my dad's 02 camaro both have hard clear coat. Just giving you a heads up and it may take more passes with M105 to remove the defects. I'm assuming you have factory paint.

Hard to say if that is adhesive residue left from the door ding protectors. I should have asked this first. Do you know if this car has been repainted or is it still the factory paint?