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This car was brought to be by my mentor who now buys and sells cars….some of you may recall the red 1963 Austin Healey that I did for him last summer. This car is a low mileage car with on 48,XXX original miles and has not been driven or registered since 1987! The car had received an amateur paint job and apparently it was done is some guys garage. Overall the car was pretty nice but the paint itself needed some help and I was asked to do whatever I could to make it look better. Originally I was just told to do the outside but then he asked me the day it was to be delivered to also do a quick touch up of the interior and address of few areas on concern.
Before pics
The tops of the car had sort of been wet sanded once already but was done very poorly and several areas were missed and the sides appeared to be untouched. Being white it was hard capturing the texture and defects in the paint so I didn’t spend a lot of time taking before pics…you should be able to get a good idea from these pics though.
Here are a few pics of the sanding in progress. I chose to do most of the sanding by hand using Meguiars 2000 grit paper and then followed it with their 3000 grit paper. For the large flat areas I sanded by hand using the 2000 grit but followed it up using 3M Trizact 3000 grit disk on the DA.
Half hood sanded
In these pics I tried to show the benefit of finishing down with a 3000 grit or higher paper. Even though M105 and other aggressive compounds are capable of remove 1200 grit scratches, the job is much, much easier when you finish with higher grit paper.
After I sanded the left side of the hood with 2000 grit I tape off a section and then sanded it with 3000 grit.
As you can see the 2000 grit left the finish very dull and there is little to no refection
After sanding with the 3M Trizact 3000 disks you can see a slight gloss to the paint again.
With the tape removed you can see a distinct line in the paint, especially where the florescent light is reflecting on the paint,
Sanding scratches were removed effortlessly using M105 and a PFW in this test spot.
Though they are expensive but they are definitely worth it IMO.
Some more sanding pics….I think these were all after the 2000 grit step
Some before interior pics
Low mileage!
Paint over spray…this was easily removed with some lacquer thinner. (Interior materials of older cars like this seem much more durable and can usually withstand strong solvents like this)
I received some new pads to play around with which worked nicely on some areas of the car. 5” and 3” wool pads.
5”
3”
My actual buffing process was as follows:
I tried a few spots after the M205 with PO85RD and UF but saw no noticeable improvement. Glass was done using Meguiars D120, Chrome polished with M105 and Optimum Metal Polish, paint was sealed with Menzerna Power Lock sealant, carpets cleaned using the LGM and Folex, interior wiped down with 1Z Premium Cockpit Cleaner.
Before pics
The tops of the car had sort of been wet sanded once already but was done very poorly and several areas were missed and the sides appeared to be untouched. Being white it was hard capturing the texture and defects in the paint so I didn’t spend a lot of time taking before pics…you should be able to get a good idea from these pics though.
Here are a few pics of the sanding in progress. I chose to do most of the sanding by hand using Meguiars 2000 grit paper and then followed it with their 3000 grit paper. For the large flat areas I sanded by hand using the 2000 grit but followed it up using 3M Trizact 3000 grit disk on the DA.
Half hood sanded
In these pics I tried to show the benefit of finishing down with a 3000 grit or higher paper. Even though M105 and other aggressive compounds are capable of remove 1200 grit scratches, the job is much, much easier when you finish with higher grit paper.
After I sanded the left side of the hood with 2000 grit I tape off a section and then sanded it with 3000 grit.
As you can see the 2000 grit left the finish very dull and there is little to no refection
After sanding with the 3M Trizact 3000 disks you can see a slight gloss to the paint again.
With the tape removed you can see a distinct line in the paint, especially where the florescent light is reflecting on the paint,
Sanding scratches were removed effortlessly using M105 and a PFW in this test spot.
Though they are expensive but they are definitely worth it IMO.
Some more sanding pics….I think these were all after the 2000 grit step
Some before interior pics
Low mileage!
Paint over spray…this was easily removed with some lacquer thinner. (Interior materials of older cars like this seem much more durable and can usually withstand strong solvents like this)
I received some new pads to play around with which worked nicely on some areas of the car. 5” and 3” wool pads.
5”
3”
My actual buffing process was as follows:
- Meguiars M105 on the rotary and various wool pads
- Meguiars M105 on the rotary and a foam Meguiars W8207 pad
- Meguiars M205 on the rotary and a foam Meguiars W9207 pad
I tried a few spots after the M205 with PO85RD and UF but saw no noticeable improvement. Glass was done using Meguiars D120, Chrome polished with M105 and Optimum Metal Polish, paint was sealed with Menzerna Power Lock sealant, carpets cleaned using the LGM and Folex, interior wiped down with 1Z Premium Cockpit Cleaner.
Test Hoods Are Cheap And Most Of The Time Free
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