My first attempt at single stage paint

[Knozzmoeking]

First Show N' Shine and an intro for me.

I'm in NE Ohio and have been lurking/reading for quite a while now.
We have a 1983 Mercedes 240D which I could never get to "pop" in the 3 years we have owned it.
Come to find out from reading Mike Phillip's thread on Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #7 that I have simply been attempting to polish/was over the oxidation.
I will attempt to post a few pictures here showing the car and the oxidation that came off during the process.


A couple pics of the car. Bought it on eBay from a lady in Portland who apparently drove it about 3.000 miles per year.

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Apparently, my lack of skills at posting will cause me to post a reply to get pics of the work I did.

Be right back..............

 

[Knozzmoeking]

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This is a pic of the Mirror Glaze sitting on the roof.
I left it there overnight. You'll have to trust me that the amount of oxidation that came off was impressive. Can't seem to get the pic of that to upload.
I promise to try to get better at this.

 

[oldmodman]

If the paint was very chalky it would be worth it to give the paint two applications of the #7. It's surprising how much of it the paint seem to be able to "drink up".

 

[Knozzmoeking]

Funny you should mention that. When I started using Essence on the trunk, I noticed the Gloss Pad was still picking up oxidation. I went back and applied #7 again to all of the horizontal surfaces. Made a big difference.

 

[JeffM]

A pad washer with optimum hyper polish will allow you to use 1 pad, keep it clean and polish the car without stopping. Couple that with a waffle pad so the old paint has somewhere to go and youll have great results.

 

[GSKR]

That car will shine like crazy,if you did a correction the older merc has really good paint.#7 is just a process to nourish the paint prior to polishing .after that polish with a mild cleaner wax then polish then wax.ive done totally trashed ss paint on cars from that era with outstanding results.Tape off that molding once you get any polish on that its very hard to remove.Hd polish and speed will make that pop.

 

[GSKR]

You won't benefit from essence on paint like that ,it may look good for you but I think a 2 step is in order to really make that shine.

 

[Knozzmoeking]

You won't benefit from essence on paint like that ,it may look good for you but I think a 2 step is in order to really make that shine.

Thanks for the advice. Do you have an example for the products you have in mind for a 2 step? HD Speed/Adapt?

 

[brettS4]

If you left the Megs #7 on the car overnight intentionally, it wasn't doing anything while it was sitting there. Being a polish, it only does its job while you are actively working it, either by hand or with a machine.

Your Merc will look great once you get the paint cleaned up. Then I'd suggest putting on some Collinite 845. A perfect match for that paint color. We'll want to see pics!

 

[Knozzmoeking]

If you left the Megs #7 on the car overnight intentionally, it wasn't doing anything while it was sitting there. Being a polish, it only does its job while you are actively working it, either by hand or with a machine.

Your Merc will look great once you get the paint cleaned up. Then I'd suggest putting on some Collinite 845. A perfect match for that paint color. We'll want to see pics!

Thanks Brett. I was going by the article Mike Phillips posted on the subject.

Here is an excerpt from a post earlier today where someone else used his technique on an old Volvo.

"According to Mike Phillips’ article, Meguiar’s #7 Show Car Glaze contains restorative feeder oils which can be drawn into a permeable paint surface via capillary action, conditioning and rejuvenating the color.

He suggests a vigorous, liberal application of Meguiar’s #7 Show Glaze be left on the car for a period of 12-24 hours to feed important oils back into the paint. "

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

If you left the Megs #7 on the car overnight intentionally, it wasn't doing anything while it was sitting there.

Only mean to answer you in the kindest manner as I always appreciate your contributions to this forum.

In my original article on this topic here,

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


I used a very simple demonstration to show how the oils in the #7 work on porous single stage paint to migrate into the paint when you leave apply a heavy application to the surface and AFTER working it over the paint with terry cloth allow it to soak overnight or for hours.

This is key...
Saturation Application --> The First Application
This is a mostly unknown technique and that is to let the first application penetrate and soak into the paint for up to 24 hours before wiping the product off. The idea being to really apply the product wet and work it in really well and the walk away.

The idea is to allow the heavy concentration of oils to penetrate and seep into the paint for maximum saturation before removing the product and continuing with the process. In this case I finished applying the first application of #7 around 9:00 pm and then left the #7 to soak in until the next day. I started wiping the product off then next morning right about 10:00am.

Some will argue if this works or not but my experience is that with a porous single stage paint it does in fact help. One thing for sure it can't hurt.

Paper Test for Capillary Action
If you place a few drops of #7 onto a piece of paper and then monitor it over a few days you will see the oils in the #7 migrate or seep away from the actual drop of product. It does this through capillary action and the same thing can work to your car's paints' advantage if it's a single stage lacquer or enamel paint.

I placed a few drops about the size of a nickel on a piece of standard printer paper around 3:00pm.

The next day I took these pictures at approximately 10:00am, (19 hours later), note how the oils in the drops of #7 have migrated outward via capillary action.

Feeder Oils penetrate or feed the paint
This same effect can take place in a single stage paint but not only will the oils travel horizontally, they will also travel vertically, that they will penetrate downward "into" your car's paint and this is where the term feeder oils comes from as the oils penetrate into or feed the paint. The result is they will condition the paint restoring some level of workability as compared to just working on old dry paint, and they will also bring out the full richness of color, something that will showcase the beauty of your car's paint.

Being a polish, it only does its job while you are actively working it, either by hand or with a machine.

That's true for abrasive polishes as it's only when the abrasives are moved over the paint that they are abrading the paint.

#7 is non-abrasive. It's what Meguiar's calls a pure polish. It's not for abrading it's for multiple other things that I think I share in my article on how to restore antique paint.

Your Merc will look great once you get the paint cleaned up. Then I'd suggest putting on some Collinite 845. A perfect match for that paint color. We'll want to see pics!

Good advise. Collinite or any quality traditional carnauba paste wax seems to work well with classic single stage paints.

Thanks Brett. I was going by the article Mike Phillips posted on the subject.

Here is an excerpt from a post earlier today where someone else used his technique on an old Volvo.

"According to Mike Phillips’ article, Meguiar’s #7 Show Car Glaze contains restorative feeder oils which can be drawn into a permeable paint surface via capillary action, conditioning and rejuvenating the color.

He suggests a vigorous, liberal application of Meguiar’s #7 Show Glaze be left on the car for a period of 12-24 hours to feed important oils back into the paint. "

You did the technique the correct way, that is to apply a liberal amount, work it really well over the surface and then leave it to sit and soak into the paint via capillary action.

Here's the article I wrote just this morning with yet one more person that has used my technique to bring the dead back to life.

Detailing tips for vintage single-stage paint by Steve Berry at Hemmings Motor News

 

[brettS4]

Then I stand corrected! But I'm glad to know that now.