1973 Camaro Z28 - Your chance to work on single stage paint!

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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1973 Camaro Z28 - Your chance to work on single stage paint!


We have a new forum member in Raleigh, North Carolina could use a helping hand...


Hey all Autogeek forum members... who do we have here in the Raleigh, North Carolina area that has some or a lot of experience using a DA Polisher that can give Brian a hand doing an extreme makeover to the original paint on his 1973 Camaro Z28


If I lived closer I would be there in a heartbeat for the chance to restore the original single stage metallic paint on this classic Camaro.

Barn Treasure like this with original paint still in good condition is becoming more and more rare and thus the opportunity to work on beauty like this is extremely rare.


So who do we have?


Come on... pony up to the table and flatten out the learning curve while helping to preserve the paint on Brian's new-to-him Z28 Camaro...


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:dblthumb2:
 
There are a few in that area

Sal329----AKA Sal
Bunky----AKA AL
A.P.A.D--AKA JON
Just off the top of my head


These guys are some very knowledgable folks who might be willing to help.


I would love to jump in here myself....but i'm several hours away and my time is becoming very limited......but that dosen't completely rule me out!
 
Thats gonna be a great turn around for sure :dblthumb2: Can't wait to see the afters!
 
Guys, here is some of the info I sent to Mike along with pictures of the car.

The Car: A 1973 all original Z28 camaro. It was my fathers and I got it when he passed away. This car means more to me then most things... if I had the money to ship it to mike I would :) It has 43,xxx miles and is near perfect... in my mind anyway. The question I have is what should I do to make it shine more? I am not sure if it even needs to be touched. The car has been in a garage most of its life and I remember my dad always washing and waxing it!! ;) I am going to attach some pictures and I was hoping to get a quick opinion from you.

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Maybe an opinion on this as well:
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All things considered, that paint doesn't look bad at all! Those wheels aren't supposed to be that color though, I don't think :p

Hope some local members can help you out!
 
The car is all swirled out... here's the skinny...

If that is in fact the original paint, then it's a single stage metallic finish. It's old and dry and as paint becomes old and dry it become more brittle, at least more brittle than the day it was sprayed if you want to go to extremes.

Any Caveman Detailer that takes a wool pad and a Caveman compound to it will peel the paint off like peeling a banana and leave it with Tiger Stripes.

If it were mine, (and I wish it were), I would use the techniques shared in the below article and then after the #7 treatment I would use Lake Country 5.5" foam flat pads with Menzerna or Meguiar's polishes to carefully abrade the paint to level it out and thus remove the swirls.

Then I would seal it with either a show car wax like Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax or Optimum Car Wax for the UV protection. Or even both, seal it with the OCW and then apply a coat of the Souveran.

As I posted before, the opportunity to work on ORIGINAL single stage, metallic paint on a garage kept iconic muscle car from the 1970's is becoming so RARE that for most of us, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Most of us will only get to work on modern cars with basecoat/clearcoat paints, or cars like this Camaro that have been repainted using a basecoat/clearcoat paint system.

Single stage paints, original single stage paints, and specifically metallic single stage paint still in good condition just don't exist after

39 years!


Whatever you do Brian... don't let anyone that isn't up to date via a detailing discussion forum like this, or a class like I teach, touch the paint on your baby.


Here's my article on restoring antique and original single stage paints and not what I say about "metallic" single stage paints, how they are the HARDEST older paints to restore because the aluminum flake usually oxidizes and since it's "in" the paint you can never remove the internal oxidation. I go into detail on this topic...


The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints


Copyright ©PBMA - AutogeekOnline.net® All Rights Reserved​


NOTE: You can also find this article in 7 parts on AutoTraderClassic.com here,

How to restore single stage paint



Excerpt...

Mike Phillips said:
Single Stage Metallic Paint = Difficult to Restore
Single stage, non-metallic paints like the above paint on the Ranchero are actually very easy to fix because the problem is for the most part just topical, that is the problem is just on the surface. All you have to do is remove the dead paint off the surface and if there's enough paint left then it's just a matter of polishing what's left to a high gloss. The most difficult paints to restore are single stage metallic paints.

The reason single stage metallic paints are the most difficult to restore is because not only does the paint itself oxidize, that is the resin used as the binder, (generally some type of seed oil like Flaxseed oil or Cottonseed oil), but also the aluminum flakes embodied inside the paint oxidize. This is where the problem lies.

It's a problem because the entire exterior surface of each individual aluminum flake oxidizes over time but you and I can only work on the surface of the paint and thus we can only work on the portion of the flake that is exposed at the surface level. Any portion of each aluminum flake that is below the surface and is surrounded by paint cannot be cleaned or polished so there's no way to remove the oxidation on the portions of the flakes inside the paint.

Oxidized Aluminum Turns Black
With metallic single stage paints, oxidation can show up as a darkening effect on medium to light colored paints because the aluminum metal flakes embodied inside the paint will stain or discolor the paint with a grayish black color.


If you’ve ever polished uncoated aluminum then you’ve seen this grayish black color coming off the aluminum and onto your polishing cloth as you work a metal polish over it. This same type of oxidation is taking place to the aluminum flake inside the paint.

Polishing Uncoated Aluminum
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Oxidized Aluminum Comes Off Black
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Wolfgang MetallWerk™ Aluminum Polishing System


In the same way you see the black residue coming off the aluminum wheel onto the piece of white cotton terry cloth material above, when working on metallic single stage paints you will see black residue coming off the paint and onto you applicator pads, buffing pads and wiping towels.


This darkening effect can take place even at the same time the surface of the paint itself is turning chalky white. This is because you have two different substances oxidizing, both the paint and the aluminum flake, which both are oxidizing at the same time. The paint oxidizes white and the aluminum flake oxidizes black.


Besides the oxidation issue, here are some other problems associated with restoring antique and/or old single stage paints...
Click to expand...





:xyxthumbs:
 
I agree with Mike 100%. He knows how rare a car, how rare an opportunity, and how important it is to find the right people who are as passionate about forums and "each one teach one" as they are about the cars themselves. Finding a detailer like that will show you they are up-to-date so to speak. He also knows exactly what technique and what products you'll need to take this paint to its fullest potential. Since it was your dad's ,and you care so much about it, it deserves nothing but the best care.

It's not like you have to hurry and do something to the car this very minute though. Please take heed to Mike's comments, suggestions, and technique in this article...study it over and over...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...w-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html

In post #8 the owner of this car said this, "I am not sure if it even needs to be touched."
I couldn't disagree more. A simple home waxing won't fix the swirls, and the wax won't put life back into the paint like #7 can.

Mike,
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, but would you agree that at the very least this car need the #7 treatment to put a little life back into the paint?

I'm not suggesting he stop there because I feel this car deserves to have its paint taken to its fullest potential, but I sense the owner is scared (a good thing imo...) of making the wrong decisions. At the least he could study your article like his life depended on it and do the #7 treatment himself following your example.

I wish I wasn't in school right now because I'd go get the car and owner and take them both to Autogeeks Showcar Garage to see Mike Phillips...
 
Hoytman said:
It's not like you have to hurry and do something to the car this very minute though.
Click to expand...

I agree. The car has been left alone for years and is still in stellar condition. Definitely don't rush to restore the paint if it means cutting corners.

Brian, the owner could get my how-to book and my brand new DVD on how to correctly use the Porter Cable DA Polisher, and then ANY one of the PC style DA Polishers, get a few premium quality polishes, waxes and some foam pads and then do it all himself and take pride in what he will accomplish with his own sweat and determination.

I've already suggested he do the above and first practice on some other cars.

This could all be done days, weeks even months down the road. The flip side of this scenario is after he does all of the above he'll have everything he needs, including some experience to start detailing cars on the weekend for other people and make some spare cash to put back into his Camaro.

He can even use the Camaro as a show piece to promote his business.


Hoytman said:
Mike,
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, but would you agree that at the very least this car need the #7 treatment to put a little life back into the paint?
Click to expand...

If it were mine, I would definitely give it the #7 treatment after wiping the paint clean and claying it.

I'm not sure I would wash it as washing introduces water to areas you cannot reach into and fully dry and water promotes rust and corrosion.

Many owners of classic cars do not introduce water to their cars, (wash them with a traditional car wash).


Then after wiping the paint clean and claying it, then do the #7 treatment. After the #7 treatment, follow the sage advice of,

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"



Realistically a person would likely start with a Medium Cut Polish, (Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover, Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover, Menzerna SI 4500), but if a surgeons carefulness was used a compound like UC, M105 or Optimum Compound II could be used also.


Just take your time, prepare and then execute with precision.


:xyxthumbs:
 
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