Hi Jack,
I'm sure we'll hear lotsa interesting opinions! We should probably let
the concours folks answer this one, but hey I'll take a shot.
I've tried nearly everything, worked in a dealer detailing dept. and my
dad owned a detail shop briefly some years ago.
I've been using Mother's products for the past few years and am pleased
with the results. That's a three stage process: cleaner, sealer and
finally a carnuba wax. Oh, and a separate cleaner/sealer for chrome, s/s
& aluminum. It works for me. I've used it on lacquer, clear coat &
standard enamels.
On a non-clearcoat paint, you will need to CAREFULLY remove the surface
coating/oxidization to get bring the paint fully back to life.
One of the "secrets", you may already know, is the rags you use. I use
old (CLEANED!) cloth diapers whenever possible to apply & remove the
stuff. Less lint in the old ones. Terry cloth towels are ok too. Change
all towels for clean ones very often. Never use the same towel for
cleaner as for wax, & vice versa. Clean towels thoroughly, but don't use
any type of fabric softener.
Work indoors, preferably on a cooler day. When all is done, wash the car
with cold water to "set" the wax.
Never use power anything. All by hand.
I've also concluded there are some things that simply can't be removed.
A water spot can act like a magnifying glass in the sun and permanently
damage the paint under it. Our feathered friends eat some pretty nasty
stuff and most of them target the van in my driveway. From personal
experience, I can tell you 80 lb. Rottwielers sleeping on the
hood/bonnet don't help the paint job either. Plus, there's good paint &
there's bad paint.
I have a Pimento TR4 in the garage. Great non-original (in my case, not
yours) color to attract cops! It was good paint 20 some years ago... now
it's bad paint.
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT
Disclaimer: I do have a Mother... however she is no relation to the
Mother mentioned above. Ergo, no financial.... yadda.
Radley, Jack wrote:
>
> I used Meguiars clear coat paint cleaner on my 76 TR6 last night in an
> effort to rub out the paint. The paint is original Pimento and in good
> shape except for the need for a good shine and some occasional blue
> stains and water marks. The results I got with this product were OK,
> but not spectacular - the paint seemed to brighten up but the stains and
> water marks remained. As I rubbed the paint, essentially none of the
> paint was coming up on the application pad. This is probably what that
> product is supposed to do since it was designed for clearcoats.
>
> I remember in the old days, my brother used a Red Coral product and got
> the red paint from his 67 VW all over the rags, but the car looked great
> when finished. I don't know much about rubbing compounds, etc., but do
> know that I don't want to screw anything up.
>
> Considering that I have good original paint on a 23 year old, what is
> the recommended approach for making the finish pop?
>
> Jack Radley
> 76TR6
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MZ
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