trying to finalize product choice - M80/M83 vs UC/UP on single stage acrylic enamel

[eddie jr]

Hey guys, i am just trying to finalize what products to use to finally tackle the oxidized single stage acrylic enamel on my summe car.. A little backround, it is red, about 9 years old and quote dull and noticeable fading. My plan is to use the PC DA.

I now the "least agressive method first" is ofter recommended but with the amount of dullness and fading i figured it will likely take a bit of effort. I know the UC/UP are newer and possibly a better finish due to their technology but i am just wondering if the UC is going to be too aggressive....i hear it takes off a lot of paint which makes me nervous with the single stage. On the other hand, startinig with the UP i am thinking might be too light to take of the fading etc??

Would the 83 or 80 be a better bet with this paint and then follow with M7? Would it be best to try the M80 first and see what happens? The only thing i am curious about the "least aggressive first" is say if you use M80 and then 83 (becuase it didn't take off enough) then you are actually worse off then if you just used M83 in the first place, correct?

Any advice would be helpful.

thanks.

[Murr1525]

Any pictures may help.

Generally, you would want to go with polishing pads with the DA, not the cutting pads at all, and that helps keep things milder also.

As for the 'least aggressive first' question, in theory you would stop cleaning/polishing when the paint looks better, so you wouldnt really remove much more paint either way.

For products, you may find that UC for the strong cleaner, #80 for the mild one is a good option. Also, if the paint is really dried out, you may find that a quick coat of #7 first, then UC works best. But that is what test spots are good for, before doing the whole car.

[eddie jr]

Thanks for the reply.

I have Lake country css pads. So i would always want to use the white pad then with these products then (except of course #7- probably the gray/black?)? I was reading LC's pad guide and they suggest for removing swirls and oxidation to use the orange pad. Would that be more for clear coats or it's just always better to stay with the white with a DA?

[Murr1525]

The LC Orange one isnt bad.. It kind of falls inbetween the Meguiars Cutting and Polishing pads, so might be too much in one situation, not enough in another. With the way your describe your paint, it is probably worth a small test spot with it.

[Michael Stoops]

Pictures will really help here, no doubt about it.

It can be very difficult to try and line up a series of products for a project and say with any real degree of certainty that these are the best products for the job. Paint systems vary wildly, as do level of defects and skill of operator. Ultimate Compound is definitely going to be more aggressive than either M80 or M83, but at this point it's darn near impossible to say if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We simply don't know how the paint is going to react.

Even your description of dull and faded is pretty open ended as we tend to have different ideas about what's a little faded and what's indicative of really poor shape. We're also talking about 9 year old acrylic enamel and not a 40 year old lacquer paint, so that's a wrench in the works as well. What kind of car are we talking about here, and is it safe to assume that this is a respray?

[eddie jr]

Pictures will really help here, no doubt about it.

It can be very difficult to try and line up a series of products for a project and say with any real degree of certainty that these are the best products for the job. Paint systems vary wildly, as do level of defects and skill of operator. Ultimate Compound is definitely going to be more aggressive than either M80 or M83, but at this point it's darn near impossible to say if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We simply don't know how the paint is going to react.

Even your description of dull and faded is pretty open ended as we tend to have different ideas about what's a little faded and what's indicative of really poor shape. We're also talking about 9 year old acrylic enamel and not a 40 year old lacquer paint, so that's a wrench in the works as well. What kind of car are we talking about here, and is it safe to assume that this is a respray?

I know exactly what you are saying, it's the same idea as wehn people modify their cars...what is fast to one is slow to another and what is a stiff jarring ride to one is not bad at all to another.

Well, the car is an 85 Firebird so yes, it is a respray. My "opinion" is that it has faded quite a bit now. I took some pictures under garage fluorescent light (maybe not quite as good as the sun) and they at least show some of what i am talking about.. You can see the fading when you compare the colour behind the bird to beside the bird and in the door jamb to the side of the car and then the body lines on the hood (which came from hand polishing the hood a few years ago, with fiine cut cleaner if memory serves). I tried to get some reflections of the lights so you can see the dullness and haziness.

You will see some odd darker marks in some of the pics......that is actually where i rubbed my fingers if you can believe it. I have a theory for that....somebody strike me with a stick, bat or something for neglecting it because this has been somewhat of a labour of love restoring it over the years, but as they say life gets in the way (last waxing about 3 years ago) as did renovating the garage (had to sit outside for 6 months uncovered) so it has taken a beating recently. The theory - with no garage to detail last year I figured car wash wax was better than none.....i believe it actually made it worse as the fading and dullness to me seemed to accelerate as of last year, and the darker spots when i rub my fingers.

It is definitely quite orange now instead of red, even though it always had a hint of orange in the sun.

[eddie jr]

So any recommendations now that you have an idea of the paint?

thanks.

[Murr1525]

I'd probably try a test spot with #80 and a spot with UC, using the polishing pad first.

[Michael Stoops]

Given what this paint system is, and how it looks right now, we'd lean toward Ultimate Compound for our initial test spot. Odds are that's all you'll really need to bring the gloss back, followed by Ultimate Polish if you want to do the extra step prior to waxing.

[eddie jr]

Given what this paint system is, and how it looks right now, we'd lean toward Ultimate Compound for our initial test spot. Odds are that's all you'll really need to bring the gloss back, followed by Ultimate Polish if you want to do the extra step prior to waxing.

So you think it is definitely "recoverable" then as long as their is enough paint on there (which like i said, i never used machines before)?

One other big question i forgot was, what about around the decals? I was just watching Mike Phillips PC video again a couple nights ago to brush up on things and he taped off trim on that vette. It would be a pain in the butt given the shape, but is it needed to prevent damage to them?

And one other question is, will the UC remove 1500 or 2000 grit sand scratches? i am just debating how to repair chips before polishing and if i went the method of wet sanding them to make them smooth, i would then have to remove those marks.

thanks.