'94 Bronco Paint Restoration Questions

deuce01

deuce01

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Hi Mike,
I recently purchased a '94 Bronco that had been sitting for many years in the Kansas City area. in addition to the rust underneath that is being fixed and future installation of fender flares, we need to correct the neglected paint. Here are some pics of the current condition:

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And, of course, it has some rash (clearcoat failure). Obviously I don't expect that to be corrected without a paint job. But if there's anything that can make it look better then I want to do it.

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We did make a test run with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish 'cause we had it on our shelf. You can see the before and after on the side pretty distinctly as the side panels are not in nearly as bad of shape. The hood is a bit harder to see. We made 4 passes with the compound and two with the polish just to get decent depth and shine. That makes me think I need to use something more aggressive.


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My question is what products to get to do this correctly. We (my son and I) aren't expecting a show car shine, but I think the paint that's not rashed can look pretty good. I read through the following post and am now curious about the Blackfire products.


Looks like its past the point of no return or just severely oxidized? Can it be fixed?


I've always been a Meguiar's Pro fan (tan bottles) and assumed I'd use an "M10-something" but am thinking there are probably better options out there now. I'm not a full-time detailer but my son does it occasionally for some people in the neighborhood.

We have a Porter Cable 7424XP but need to fully restock our arsenal of product. What pads should we get and what product options should we consider. I'm also buying for my other cars that have paint in much better shape (although the black SUV needs a bunch of spiderwebs removed).

Hopefully that's enough info to get started. Let me know if there's anything else you need to guide me down the right path.

Oh, almost forgot, need to restore the head and tail lights as well. Is there a specific product made for headlights that old? Or am I better off just buying new ones?

Thanks in advance!
Munsey
 
Wow...nothing? Did I post something wrong here?
 
No, you did nothing wrong...You did fine.

Just hold a bit---someone will chime in due time.

tom
 
What polisher do you have?
And pads?

I'll prolly go easy---A good quality One Step, ie; Blackfire One Step, 3D Speed or Pinnacle jeweling wax will work.

Go with softer pads---the next step up from polishing pads.
Rupes polishing pads are yellow and the finishing pads are white.

As for others not sure off top my head. Orange tends to be the polishing pads for many of the other brands. (you want something softer than polishing).

Tom
 
Polisher is a Porter Cable 7424XP and the pads are old CCS brand green (polishing/AIO), black (Finishing) and red (can't find. Maybe replaced by orange which is light cutting). It all came in a "package deal" when I bought the PC7424 from AG a many years ago. The red and black are in good shape, but dirty. The green one is well worn and probably needs to be replaced. My plan was to have 2 each of multiple pad types to allow for different needs. I'd also like to get "pad cleaner" as washing them in hot water and soap seems to make them break down quicker.

Based on the recommendation of going with softer pads, I'm guessing you're also suggesting to NOT use a compound more agressive than Meg Ultimate Compound I tested on the hood and side. My concern is that I won't be able to get much shine without doing so. While there is clear coat failure on the hood and roof, the rest of the clear appears to be in good shape and I'm betting that the PO never did anything other than a couple of hand wax jobs in the 26 years he owned it. If he even did that. Is there another product that is one step up from there or maybe use a different pad? I did use the worn out green pad on the test spots and it's beat up enough that it was probably the density of a finesse pad instead of it's designated polishing/AIO pad. I hit the hood with 4 times with Ult. Comp. with marginal results. But, y'all know more than I do, which is why I'm asking for advice. I'm just trying to reduce the amount of work if I can.
 
You're off to good start re polisher and pads.

Clear coat failure can not be saved. And the current clear coat you have now probably not far from failing in due time. It'll spread and spread...

Because of that...you want to go very easy as much as possible! A one step polish will be a good place to start.
And...get a wax or a sealant and lightly buzz over areas of no clear coat and wipe off gently. May get some time out of that process. But the bottom line is, it'll need a new paint job.

And great time to try things w/o feeling like you damaged the paint!

Tom
 
Thanks Tom, I can work with that. Looking through the AG site it appears that the Lake Country pads are a good match for the PC7424. I've used them before and they seem to do well. I figure I'll stick with the 5.5" pads since I'm used to that size, unless you think otherwise. Follow-up question: Do you use a pad cleaner or just a mild detergent and water?

I'll get the Blackfire One Step and use a white pad on the sides and maybe a green pad on the hood. Regarding the wax or sealant, I have a bottle of Meg's Ultimate Wax that seems to fit your recommendation for the failed areas. Will that product work and do I want to go over the whole vehicle with it once I'm done with the BF One Step?

Oh, and what are your thoughts on using an iron remover. I've done the baggie test and it failed quite badly. I plan to clay it before buffing it and was thinking an iron removal might make sense since there's so much rust under it and on the wheel wells.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I apologize if I came off like a tool with my earlier comments. Just anxious to get started.

Munsey
 
Iron remover be fine. (Only on the paint w/clear. Areas of clear coat failure---do not iron and clay those areas.)

The iron remover will react to the rusted edge of fenders. It be fine but it won't stop the rusting in those areas. Rust removers are very good at reacting to small
iron particles embedded in clear coat.

Megs Ultimate wax be fine.

1. Iron remover on truck's paint. Not on areas w/o clear coat.
2. Wash truck-remove dirt and remover.
3. After rinse---use new and clean soapy water and use as clay lube. Then clay/with soapy water. This shouldn't take too long--maybe 20-30 min.
4. Dry the paint.
5. Polish areas with clear coat. (you can try a small test area on areas w/o clear coat - remove polish and see what happens) (Pads and towels will turn red on areas w/o clear coat!)
6. Can stop here at this point.

7. OK...areas w/o paint. Take a towel, a dab of wax, rub in megs wax on very small area w/o clear coat and and remove. If it did not stain or discolor the base coat, you're probably be ok. Not sure thou so proceed those areas with caution!

8. Blackfire AIO has protection as well as abrasives - You can stop after using Blackfire.
9. You can go ahead and apply megs wax on top - wont hurt at all. It'll add longevity to the Blackfire One step. (I always add sealant or wax on top of AIO's)

Done...

Having pad cleaners helps. I use 2 types. The spray on and a powder form. I spray pads and work them in pad by hand. Then toss pads in bucket of water with powder pad cleaner mixed in the water.
Probably over kill...but helps when I wash them in machine!

Tom
 
Looks like Tom has covered everything really well.

The Meguiar's Ultimate Compound is more than enough to restore what can be restored. You just need to make more section passes with it instead of 4.

Also - you could use a more aggressive pad. If you feel you really need to do some cutting, get the new RUPES 6" blue foam cutting pads. They will fit the 5" backing plate on your Porter Cable.

Be sure to run this tool on the 6 speed setting - you need all the pad rotation you can get out of this tool to do heavy paint correction.

It's Saturday as I type. This is the first weekend I've had off since the 3-day class and I have a honey-do list to do. I'll keep an eye on this thread and the forum.

Will be better able to type once I'm'' back in the office and behind a full size keyboard and my arm holder uppers. I'm on a laptop right now. :)


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:)
 
Yo Duece01...

Keep us posted on how it went...!

Tom
 
Will do! I finally placed my order this morning (I'm slow when it comes to picking certain products. Too much research...) Hopefully it'll all come in this week and we can work on it next weekend. I'll definitely post pics.
 
Well, I'm finally getting the time to post the results of the Bronco project. For the most part, it went really well. I'm going to break this up into two sections: Paint and Wheels. I think that will make it easier to follow as there are lots of before and after shots.

Here are some images of what we were starting with on the paint.

The first hood shot is under my carport and the second is in the sun. As you can see, all sections seem to have a haze on it and there was zero depth to the paint. My guess is that the previous (and only) owner took very little care of the paint in the 26 years that he and his mom owned it. We had already done some testing on the left side of the hood just before I made the original post which is why it has a decent gloss to it:

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I followed the steps Tom recommended in his last post and started with iron removal using Iron-X. I guess it's a good thing that there didn't seem to be much iron to remove because we didn't see a bunch of red streaks. Although it did feel a bit anti-climatic. I will say it was worth doing though because the paint felt smoother to the touch (although it still failed the baggy test) and made the clay process go quicker. One thing we learned is that Iron-X dries quickly, so make sure you're focussed on what you're doing when you start or you'll use a ton trying to keep it "wet".

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The next step was to wash the entire vehicle using Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash and a microfiber mitt, then drying with "the absorber". Then, using Mother's Clay Kit, we clayed all sections that still had a good clear coat and avoiding places where the clear had failed. I don't have any pics of these steps because...well...I forgot... So, on to paint correction!

We taped off the hood and laid a beach towel over the right side for splatter protection:

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Following Mike's and Tom's recommendation of starting with the least aggressive product that will do the job, we started with Blackfire One Step on the hood. Using a Lake Country White pad on our Porter Cable 7424XP, we (my son ;)) made 8 passes per section. When he was done it looked like this (pic is from under the carport on left and in full sun on right):

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While it looked good, the depth was not what we thought it should be. So, we got a bit more aggressive and used the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with the LC white pad making 8 passes per section, and then followed up with BF One Step and an LC green pad making 8 passes with each product (note that I only had one white pad so there was probably a mix of the Meg's and BF OS in there).

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We might be biased because of the extra work, but we thought that process created much better depth and clarity.
The first set is in the carport (left is before as shown above and the right is after). The second set is the same but out in the sun:

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On the sides, we used a green pad with BF OneStep and the results were way better than what I'd hoped for!

In the first pic, the side left of the wheel has been corrected and the right side has not. In the second pic the quarter panel has been corrected and the door has not.

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I did notice that this color combo doesn't show contrast in pics as well as navy or black. But, the final look after all was done came out great!

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I used the Blackfire Pad Cleaner for the first time and really like it. Will definitely help keep the pads in good shape longer. Here's a pic of all the stuff I used on the paint:

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One thing we did confirm is something that Tom mentioned in an earlier post, and that is that the clear coat on the hood is deteriorating. If you look at it at just the right angle you can see what I call "micro-bubbles" which I'm guessing is the beginning of delamination. That's probably what was making it so hard to get good depth on the hood. The great thing is that there is NONE of that on the sides and those appear to be in great shape (aside from all the places that are rusting out). We also noticed what happens when you use a pad for too long. My son did the hood and the left side using the same green pad. In hindsight, he should have started on the side with a new pad. I did the right side with a new green pad and that side appears a bit clearer.

Up next, those old nasty aluminum rims.
 
Incredible job, and GREAT pics of the final product.

Thank you for sharing........ :)
 
The Bronco Rims

I wasn't really sure how these were going to turn out and had never had to work on rims in this condition:

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The first step was to clean them. After washing the Bronco I sprayed them liberally with Flitz Metal Pre Clean, let it sit for 30 seconds or so, scrubbed the rim with the Mother's wheel brush, let it sit for another 2-3 minutes and then rinsed them off. All the brake dust came off well, but the bullet holes still had a bunch of gunk on the hole's surface. So, I hit them with the Iron-X and let it sit. Then, I took a damp terry bonnet and scrubbed out each hole:

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It took some time, but they came out pretty clean and ready for restoration:

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I removed the center cap and was able to see my "goal"

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The I started out buffing the rim with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish using a cordless drill and a 3" fluffy wool pad. This did a pretty good job on the face of the rim but not so good on the "edges". So, I used the Mother's cone pad that came with the polish to hit the edges and the bullet holes. As I progressed, I realized that what I thought was bare unpolished aluminum was actually a completely faded and oxidized coating. I'm guessing it's a clear coat similar to what's on the paint, but it seems to be MUCH harder. I switched from the Mother's polish to the Meg's Ultimate Compound and tried both wool pads and foam pads (pad kit from Amazon due to $$). I had pretty decent success with the overall outcome:

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Here's the product pic (minus the Mother's Polish...it was late to the shoot)

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Now that I have a better idea of what I'm working on, I gotta believe there's a better way. It may be that my only option is the strip off the coating, buff and re-coat them. If anyone out there knows the best way to tackle this I'm all eyes!
 
Following up on the Wheel Resto post, does anyone have any thoughts on the best way to clean up the rims? The process I used did a decent job, but I'd love to know if there's a better way.

Thanks,
Munsey
 
deuce01 said:
then drying with "the absorber".
Click to expand...


The Absorber is a great drying towel. I still have my original Absorber from sometime in the 1990's I believe. I always kept it under the drive shaft in my Sanger Drag Boat to absorb water that got into the boat. Anytime I would be stopped on the lake, I could simply reach down, grab the Absorber, hold it over the side of the boat and wring it out, then put it back under the drive shaft. (this was the lowest point in the boat and where any water accumulated).

I've been friends with the Owner of the Absorber company for probably 30+ years.

A few years ago at SEMA I did the paint correction and coating on one of the cars in his SEMA booth. The paint was all screwed up from transporting.

Black Label PC on Fearless - John Mayer's 1935 Ford Cabriolet at SEMA in the Absorber Booth

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And I took a few pictures of Bill looking into the piant...

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Happy customer...
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deuce01 said:
Using a Lake Country White pad on our Porter Cable 7424XP,
Click to expand...


Just goes to show - the Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher is just as viable today as when it was first introduced from the wood sanding industry to the paint poising industry and over these decades MILLIONS of cars have been de-swirled.

The Free Floating Spindle Bearing Assembly - The Story Behind The Story...


The Porter Cable Dual Action Sander with Wood Dust Collecting Attachment for Sanding Wood

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Nice work.


:dblthumb2:
 
deuce01 said:
Following up on the Wheel Resto post, does anyone have any thoughts on the best way to clean up the rims?

The process I used did a decent job, but I'd love to know if there's a better way.

Thanks,
Munsey
Click to expand...


Here's where you started,

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Here's where you ended,

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Not bad. Sometimes, more and more time/energy and work won't result in better and better results.

You could try some other metal polishes and simply spend more time running the Mother's Power Ball over the wheels.


:)
 
Thanks for the feedback Mike! I got the Absorber by chance as I found it in the spare tire compartment when I brought home my used SUV. It was a very good find as I've always been impressed with how well it dries a surface using the drag method (or whatever you call laying the towel flat and dragging it across the panel). And I agree with your comments on the PC DA Polisher. That was one of the first things I bought from AG after finding this forum and have never regretted it. And I'll see what other polishes are out there to try out on the rims. I was actually thinking of trying Meg 101 or 105 and the Mother's Red Cone or the blue power ball. I'll update the post when I do. We've still got to tackle the inside and I bought some Sonax Multi-Purpose Interior Cleaner based on a video of yours (which I now can't seem to find ��). Will upload some pics of that too as this thing is pretty grungy inside.

Thanks again and have a great weekend!
 
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