What to do on Concours Car? Help....

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Stevie Wonder

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I have a 69 Z28 RS that's Concours restored that spends a lot of time in the garage. I have never used wax on the car because its never out in the environment. I have only used a 3M glaze. My question it gets dusty even under the cover, but I really didn't want to wash it before the glaze. What can I use and is there anything I should use to protect the paint. The stripes on the car are like the originals single stage and on top of the other paint. This is where most of the scratches happen when you drag the cover on and off.

Thanks Stevie Wonder .....in
 
What kind of cover are you using that it gets dusty under the cover? Isn't it more likely that dust is settling on it when you have the cover off and are doing other things on the car? Do you have an unsealed concrete floor? What are the walls and ceiling of the garage made of?

At any rate, if you want to clean the dust without "washing" the car, there are rinseless washes which will get the car sort-of wet, and waterless washes which are spray on, wipe off. Some of the waterless washes have additional additives--here's a couple of options:

Ultima Waterless Wash Plus+, Ultima waterless car wash, waterless auto wash, spray wash
Pinnacle Liquid Crystal Waterless Wash with Carnauba, waterless car wash, eco friendly car wash products

If you want to do a separate protection step with the least amount of wiping use a Wipe-On, Walk-Away (WOWA) sealant:

BLACKFIRE Crystal Seal Paint Sealant 8 oz.
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Liquid Seal, paint sealant
Optimum Opti-Seal 8 oz. Free Bonus! New & Improved!
Ultima Paint Guard Plus 4oz., paint sealant, liquid wax, car wax, paint sealer

Make sure whatever toweling you use is high quality.
 
Thanks for all of you comments. The garage has drywall painted walls and ceiling. The floor is sealed concrete that's been epoxied and a rubber mat under each car. Never thought of it but the dust could be getting on there when I remove the cover. The garage is heated. Before ... I used baby blankets and a screened bucket to remove the dust before glazing. Does everyone think the glaze is Ok or should i put some protection on the stripes?

Thanks View attachment 18131
 
Setec Astronomy said:
What kind of cover are you using that it gets dusty under the cover? Isn't it more likely that dust is settling on it when you have the cover off and are doing other things on the car? Do you have an unsealed concrete floor? What are the walls and ceiling of the garage made of?

At any rate, if you want to clean the dust without "washing" the car, there are rinseless washes which will get the car sort-of wet, and waterless washes which are spray on, wipe off. Some of the waterless washes have additional additives--here's a couple of options:

Ultima Waterless Wash Plus+, Ultima waterless car wash, waterless auto wash, spray wash
Pinnacle Liquid Crystal Waterless Wash with Carnauba, waterless car wash, eco friendly car wash products

If you want to do a separate protection step with the least amount of wiping use a Wipe-On, Walk-Away (WOWA) sealant:

BLACKFIRE Crystal Seal Paint Sealant 8 oz.
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Liquid Seal, paint sealant
Optimum Opti-Seal 8 oz. Free Bonus! New & Improved!
Ultima Paint Guard Plus 4oz., paint sealant, liquid wax, car wax, paint sealer

Make sure whatever toweling you use is high quality.
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Cotton car covers do allow some dust through. They stop most dust, but there is always some after a few months. I've had a car with a cotton cover on it for 32 years. It is always in the garage, and the cover is clean, and the car is always clean before the cover goes on. There is a very fine dust that gets through though.


This is a Concours car, so I wouldn't use a sealant. I would only use a high quality wax. That goes for the stripes, as well. I know it's matte paint, but the fact is that all paint needs a layer of protection or it will oxidize, and so wax needs to be used. It will still look more matte than the glass paint on the rest. On the matte paint, I would use a wax that you wipe on, and wipe off quickly, lest it be difficult to remove and it requires some rubbing which might make the matte shinier. Souveran, Zymol, and perhaps Chemical Guys E-Zyme would fit in that category. I know Fuzion applies like that, but it is part sealant, and I don't like a sealant on Concours. I like Fuzion and have a few jars.
 
Blackthorn One said:
Cotton car covers do allow some dust through. They stop most dust, but there is always some after a few months. I've had a car with a cotton cover on it for 32 years. It is always in the garage, and the cover is clean, and the car is always clean before the cover goes on. There is a very fine dust that gets through though.
Click to expand...

I'm familiar with car covers outside filtering out the larger stuff and leaving silt on the finish, but I thought that was being forced through by rain, and hey, that's outside, I didn't really think much would penetrate inside. I never get any dust through my "outside" cover when the car is in the garage, but I don't leave it on for extended periods really.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I'm familiar with car covers outside filtering out the larger stuff and leaving silt on the finish, but I thought that was being forced through by rain, and hey, that's outside, I didn't really think much would penetrate inside. I never get any dust through my "outside" cover when the car is in the garage, but I don't leave it on for extended periods really.
Click to expand...
This is an indoor cover I am talking about.
 
My El Camino is a well-massaged 'survivor" with the original fragile paint, not a true concours car, but I'll pass along what I've learned about care from years of reading and searching this and other detailing forums.
Any act of wiping or touching can induce fine scratches, so every effort should be made to reduce the possibility. I've used covers before on other vehicles, but since I store my Camino in my home garage, it often needs to be backed outside to make room for another vehicle that is in the bay. The mere act of installing or removing a cover has the potential for damage, so unless it's going to sit for months at a time and gets thoroughly cleaned first, I don't use one. I do drape a soft blanket over the hood and roof since I can remove and install without any sliding of the material over the paint.
Except for the very rare occasion when it gets really dirty, I don't do a conventional hose and bucket wash, as there's too much water running into places where I cannot dry it. If there's just a few days worth of dust, I'll use a waterless wash such as Opti Clean. I'll use a bunch of good MF cloths (my favorites are these:Super Soft Deluxe Blue Microfiber Towels, microfiber detailing towels, buffing towels, micro fiber towel, detail cloth) so that dirty cloths make a minimum of contact with the paint.
Most often, my cleaning involves a rinseless wash.At home in the garage or driveway, I can do a rinseless just as quick as a waterless and I feel there's far less potential for any marring or scratching.
In any event, I highly recommend protecting your baby with a coat of wax. The microscopic layer of wax will reduce the tendency of dust or contaminants to stick to the paint and the reduced friction afforded by a slick surface will mimimize marring by a cover or any other wiping. in order to reduce the amount of rubbing, I prefer an easy-on, easy-off product. I've used a number of waxes, but my current favorite is Meguiar's #26 Hi-Tech wax since it needs less rubbing than most and doesn't change the appearance of the well-polished paint except for adding some depth, gloss and slickness. Despite my efforts at brevity, I've gotten quite wordy here, but I hope you at least have some answers to your questions.

Bill
 
This is how I take car of my collector vehicles. The garage is much like yours heated and cooled, plaster walls and ceiling , sealed concrete. I do not use any car covers because they will scratch your finish sooner or later. I did however ALMOST buy a dustop cover after reading that the Peterson auto museum uses them to block airborne dust. But after thinking about the marring and scratching I have seen on museum and even collector cars I decided against it. I have found that no matter how often you change the HVAC filter dust is still going to get on the finish.

So I recommend using a good rinse less product like Pinnacle rinsless with carnauba to wipe down the car and dry with a good waffle weave towel. I won't go into the proper technique because its on this forum more than 100 times in posts. You should be using a good wax like Pinnacle Souveran paste and protecting anything that's not painted with 303 aerospace protecting. Lastly throw your cover away, if you see dust after you removed it you just ground it in to the paint as you removed it. The cars I do this regiment to are a Pierre Cardin AMX that is 1 of 16 produced and a Shelby GT500 that is 1 of 3 produced. I know where your coming from, I understand why you want to achieve. I'm old and don't buy into the majority of these designer, scented car care products. I do believe in the one I mentioned in addition to those read Mikes techniques. 2 buckets with grit guards are a must, excellent quality microfibers are essential. Think of your investment, isn't a few hundred dollars worth it to maintain a flawless finish. Without seeing your car I would have to believe it has scratches from what you described, the glaze is filling and hiding them. A flex3401 and some good products could easily correct this, proper handling will help prevent a lot of new induced marring.

Hope this helps.
 
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Ecrissman said:
Does look good but what about the when its laying on the paint before its inflated?
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As long as the car and cover are clean, I think the vinyl cover would be soft enough not to mar. The main problem is dirt between a plastic cover, which can be blown under it,and then be between the cover and the paint and mar not the plastic cover itself.
This cover is designed for long term storage, though.
 
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