1980 trans am project

[Bigpat]

Cool car! Nice job so far on the clean up. What else can you tell us about the car? Tranny, rear......etc. The hood is from a Turbo TA, was this car a Turbo 4.9?

Do you plan on restoring the car with the exception of the driven train? Year One has a ton of stuff for these cars, plus I am sure Ebay would be your best friend.

Im not sure what was in it to begin with but im pretty sure its original hood so i guess 4.9 turbo, a full resto really depends on my father, he needs a hip replacement and has a really bad back, before i started the other day i wasnt sure if he would be able to enjoy the fruits of ny labor but my mother told me when they had left the house just before i started she told my father "damnit i should have told Patrick to wash my car" (she calls ne her personal detailer lol) anyway... my father said to hell with your car tell him to start on the one down stairs (the.TA) so je was actually hoping to have this done and now i feel even better about doing it!.. so if he gets the new hip and decides we should rebuild it that would be awesome... now i just need to convince my motger that im not cleaning it so she can sell it lmao!!

 

[opie_7afe]

nice project, seems like the center console was painted at one time, might need some work to restore that, over all paint don't look too bad its not heavily oxidized, so seems like you wont have much trouble at all polishing it up and make it shine, one thing i do not like is that mural and the "carribiean queen" on the back, i don't think your dad is a queen! lol great color blue however. it is starting out to be a looker thats for sure! cant wait to see when its finished. wish your dad some luck with the hip replacement, my dad had a double hip replacement that was not fun for him hope he heals well and tell him he needs to exerscise after the new hip, if not(like my dad) he will walk better but pain will still be there..the worst thing my dad hated more then the surgery itself was the once or twice a day shots i had to give him in the gut, i hate needles and was not fun.so good luck to you with the project and good luck to your dad!

 

[Bigpat]

A few close ups of the paint, i know it looks good from far... but its far from good, i hope #7 is a miracle worker lol glazing starts tomm night

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Just to note... nothing you pour out of a bottle or scoop out of a can is going to fix this...

These look like cracks in the paint, sometimes called lacquer cracking or lacquer checking.

I've buffed out a lot of cars with paint that's cracked and you can still create a clear, glossy surface but the cracks run deep into the paint. The oils in the #7 will help to revitalize the paint and make it more workable versus just abrading the paint at the very start plus they'll help to bring out the full richness of color.

It's still going to look a million times better and good enough that a lot of people would put off a new paint job due to the cost.


Can't wait to see your prgress...


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Bigpat]

Yea i wasnt expecting it to be repaired just want to make it as good as i can..... it has become very apparent to me that even though these defects stick out like a sore thumb to people that care enough to notice..... most people dont see 1/2 of what we do.... and when they do see the horrific truth is cut in 1/2 because it only looks 1/2 as bad to them as it does to us.... so i will do my best and not day a word just to see if anyone else notices all the issues that i will know about

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Yea i wasn't expecting it to be repaired just want to make it as good as i can.....

Completely understand, in fact years ago I wrote an article to express my similar sentiments about working on cars with less than perfect paint to start with...

"Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential"



It's all good and in your example it's going to get a lot better...


:dblthumb2:

 

[opie_7afe]

man that sucks the paint is cracking, atleast it will still look great after polishing, be lucky its not clearcoated and has clear coat micro-fractures and cloudyness...had that issue on my buick even though i took good care of it, kinda depressing knowing something that you took care of ended up failing, but that car is in the middle of georgia some where and probably has some 24" rims and a loud stereo lol...

 

[Shawnw]

Really looking forward to this restoration....I'm "upstate" in Rochester, how far away are you?

 

[Bigpat]

Finally started the miracle #7.... i mean meguiars #7 soak bath process last night.... after about 2 hours i couldnt wait and had to see what it looked like underneath so i removed 1/2 the hood and hot this before and after... then recoated that 1/2 ... well worth the work, shes still soaking i will put up more pics as i get them... the center console is a 50/50 with M40.... simply amazing products i am floored by the results so far.

Those2 are the ridge of the hood facing the car

 

[opie_7afe]

wow that paint must have been dry, cant see as much cracking, guessing the #7 rejuvinated the paint and made it "swell" to fill in the gaps between the cracks, sort of like if you dry something out it will get smaller. looks great though that #7 really does work great on single stage, glad i used some on mine when i got it really helped when i went to polish it made things so much easier compared to the testspot i did without #7. cant wait to see her after shes had a machine to her!. interior is coming out great was it that dirty it looked like the console was peeling from a dye job or is it actually dyed?

 

[Meticulous-Detail]

Looking good! Just and FYI, so your not killing yourself. Megs # 7 Glaze was designed to be used sparingly and in multiple applications. Your not suppose to do the "whole car" process with Megs # 7 as it can be very difficult to remove.

Megs #7 is an oil rich pure polish and should be applied to a small section at a time and then wiped off while still wet.

You can try using a cheap hand held wax spreader to work it in and then remove by hand.

I remember the first time I used #7 and let it dry like a wax, my arms were killing me for days are removing it.

 

[Bigpat]

wow that paint must have been dry, cant see as much cracking, guessing the #7 rejuvinated the paint and made it "swell" to fill in the gaps between the cracks, sort of like if you dry something out it will get smaller. looks great though that #7 really does work great on single stage, glad i used some on mine when i got it really helped when i went to polish it made things so much easier compared to the testspot i did without #7. cant wait to see her after shes had a machine to her!. interior is coming out great was it that dirty it looked like the console was peeling from a dye job or is it actually dyed?

Thanks alot, shes looking alot better than 2 weeks ago thats for sure, the interior was actually that dirty/moldy so it got APC+ @ 4:1 then megs 39 now megs 40 worked well, i looked and the registration expired may of 07 so it hasnt moved since before then

 

[Bigpat]

Looking good! Just and FYI, so your not killing yourself. Megs # 7 Glaze was designed to be used sparingly and in multiple applications. Your not suppose to do the "whole car" process with Megs # 7 as it can be very difficult to remove.

Megs #7 is an oil rich pure polish and should be applied to a small section at a time and then wiped off while still wet.

You can try using a cheap hand held wax spreader to work it in and then remove by hand.

I remember the first time I used #7 and let it dry like a wax, my arms were killing me for days are removing it.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, im trying to follow Mikes method of rejuvenating single stage paints.... i noticed it was hard to take off last night and it is still in the garage soaking now so i know its gonna be a PITA to remove tonight.... maybe ill break out my bonnets on the PC hopefully that will help... i dont mind putting in the hard work if the results will he worth while... but in the future for a maintenance regiment i will keep your advice in play

 

[Bigpat]

I took the glaze off with my PC and bonnet then hand wipe down.. Its looking great!!!

 

[Meticulous-Detail]

WOW................Looks great!

 

[14automobiles]

Keep the pictures coming.....awesome to see for any car lover!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

maybe ill break out my bonnets on the PC hopefully that will help...

Try terry cloth... use a 100% cotton terry cloth towel like I show in my article.

While I wouldn't use an average terry cloth towel for finishing work it's perfect for an initial step like this.

The large loop of fiber called the nap will slice into the layer of oily #7 and break it up making it easier to wipe off.

Also, anytime you're working with a product that's hard to wipe off, try taking smaller bites with your wipes.

Use an overlapping circular motion and creep into the layer or film you're trying to remove with small swipes, not huge swipes and any product will become a lot easier to wipe off.

 

[14automobiles]

Try terry cloth... use a 100% cotton terry cloth towel like I show in my article.

While I wouldn't use an average terry cloth towel for finishing work it's perfect for an initial step like this.

The large loop of fiber called the nap will slice into the layer of oily #7 and break it up making it easier to wipe off.

Also, anytime you're working with a product that's hard to wipe off, try taking smaller bites with your wipes.

Use an overlapping circular motion and creep into the layer or film you're trying to remove with small swipes, not huge swipes and any product will become a lot easier to wipe off.

MIke,

I could start another thread but I thought it was applicable to this thread since it is discussing #7...and its benefits for single stage.
Are there any other glazes by another manufacture that will add oils back to the paint? Such as Menz glaze or similar?

 

[Bigpat]

Just about all finished, going to polish again (i plugged up all my pads)

 

[rwright]

This is an awesome thread! rops: