72 corvette

[Marvinj]

a friend of mine had a 72 red vette and we were gonna get together tomorrow and do a full detail on it. I was wondering if it is ok to clay it? i believe its the original paint and its in pretty decent shape (a few scratches and stuff) he has been using some cleaner wax and some spray on wax so it looks pretty good but i know we can make it look better. I tried a test spot with some swirl remover and I got some paint on the applicater. heres what I was gonna do
wash (nxt wash)
clay???
#80 or #9..not sure which one to use to clean it
#7
#26
also I'm assuming the applicator (I will be working by hand) will get pretty loaded up with paint so should I keep changing it or is it safe to keep working with it even with paint in it??

thanks all in advance
Joe

[Mike Phillips]

Hi

I usually tend to post some pretty long and detailed answers but it's late, I've been up since early this morning and I have to get up very early today.

Using the products you have listed,

• 1. Wash
  2. Clay
  3. M80 Speed Glaze worked in well by hand using a peice of soft, 4. clean terry cloth.
  5. M07
  6. M26 x 2

The nap of the terry cloth will act as a form of gentle abrasive and give the M80 a little more bite or cleaning power.

If you have a clean, soft towel you can use, take some scissors and cut out pieces about 3" by 4" inches square, large enough you can fold it over and have enough material to hold in your hand and have room for your fingers to press down on a swatch of material, maybe 4" by 4", I'm not sure I never measure, I just cut and go to work.

You can see a peice of terry cloth I cut up and used here,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88

If the red paint has a lot of oxidation, they you might want to clean the paint first with the M80 Speed Glaze and then clay otherwise you'll get a lot of dead paint into your clay.

Best of luck to you, hope to see some before and after pictures.

[Marvinj]

72 vette (pics)

well I just got done with my friends vette and it looks AWESOME!! But first I want to thank Mike for replying to my post even though it was late and he had to get up early, thanks Mike!!! The Paint was in pretty good shape but after I washed, clayed #80 then #7 the car started to take on a "wet" look. I topped that with 2 coats of #26 and the results are amazing!!! sorry I dont have any before shots but I was so engrossed in getting the job done that I forgot I had the camera with me!!! LOL
heres a nice reflection shot off the hood

[Marvinj]

heres another

[Marvinj]

and another

[The Doctor detailer]

very nice looking your efforts paid off Since you were working by hand how long did it take?

[Marvinj]

it took me about 4 1/2 to 5 hours total to complete.

[Marvinj]

heres another one....

[Lt1Corvette]

Great work. Vette looks awsome.

[sneek]

awsome work!! and plz keep the pics coming!