Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

[mnaines]

I have a 1991 Honda Accord EX Sedan, and I cannot remember the last time the thing was thoroughly washed and waxed. My stepdad (who bought the car for me) always had it washed at one of those automatic car washes, and already rust is beginning to form near the right rear tire well. The coat of paint is the factory paint job. The car sits outside 24/7, exposed to the elements. The white paint is a dull, flat look with only a blurred reflection at best. The alloy wheels do not shine, and seem to be coated in a "haze" that is impossible to get off with ordinary wheel cleaner products. Also, the previous owner of the car used lower-quality brake pads instead of the factory ceramic pads, so I have a serious problem with brake dust. The interior is all cloth/plastic, but I have a red and black Touring Items Type S seat cover on both front seats as well as a steering wheel cover, both are what look like synthetic leather or high-quality plastic.

Needless to say, my car needs a lot of detailing work. I hope Meguiar's can help...What Meguiar's products would be best for me?

[Detaillab]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

There are five steps to caring for your paint1. Wash2. Clean3. Polish4. Wax5. MaintainAfter you give the car a good wash, photos would help determine what products you would need. I would go with a good wash, clean with a clay bar, Deep Crystal #1, DC Polish, and top with a Caruba or Tech wax such as NXT and DC #3. These products are all very safe, and you generally want to start with the mildest products and go from there.

[Murr1525]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

Well, maybe.

Any chance of pics?

Obviously the rust is something you would have to remove, etc yourself.

As far as the wheels, what cleaners did you try so far? I'd certainly say the Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner or Multi-Piece Wheel Cleaner are good starting points, and agitate them well with a soft toothbrush or something.

As for the interior plastic/vinyl, just pick one of Meguiars interior protectants, such as Nxt Tech Protectant, Natural Shine, etc and spray on a soft cloth and apply. Then, come back in 5 minutes and wipe off excess.

Now, as for the paint... well, here are some basic links you will want to read first no matter what. You are working by hand I assume? Give these a good read, I think they'll answer some questions, and you can ask some more of course.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Quite frankly, the best place to start, to even see if any improvement is possible, would be clay and ColorX.

You can apply ColorX, working it in very well, then let it dry and remove excess. See if you get any kind of a shine back, and if the results hold up. If the paint is failing anywhere, then you will see that the nice looks will fade in those areas after a couple days.

Here is a thread of clay and ColorX is action:

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

[mnaines]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

What I am worried about is that the paint has been exposed to the elements so long that all the clear coat protectant is gone. I intend to wash it by hand. The products I already have (not yet opened) are Meguiar's Deep Crystal Car Wash, Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit, Meguiar's Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish, Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax (liquid form), Meguiar's Hot Shine tire spray, Meguiar's Hot Rims All-Wheel Cleaner, Meguiar's Glass Cleaner, one Meguiar's Duo-Fiber Micro Fiber towel, two Meguiar's Supreme Shine Micro-Fiber (single packs), and one Meguiar's Microfiber Super Suede Drying Towel.

As far as pictures...I hate to say this, but the problems would not be very apparent from a camera's point of view: Dings and chips in the paint from road debris, UV damage/fading, little or no wax/protective coating, and age-related wear. As far as wheel cleaners I have used: I tried Brasso as a polisher - no luck, and I tried using heavy duty metal cleaners/degreasers for tools - still no luck.

[gb387]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

I don't think the clear coat would be 'gone', can you see the Clear Coat peeling? Post #3 in this link shows what CC failure would look like: ColorX on Faded Clear-Coat?

Look over the link to '1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover' Murr posted, that is a very faded surface and shows what ColorX can do to a neglected surface. I too think clay and ColorX might be the best option for a severely neglected surface. There are may other post on MOL showing the work of ColorX. Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner might be a little to gentle for this job.

[Power man]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

and not to forget a lesson from white paint (http://autopia.org/forum/detailing-a...on+white+paint)

[Murr1525]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

Just to be clear... get it... the clear coat is an actual layer of paint, just paint with no pigment in it. So if the paint is actualy worn off, then you will have splotchy, dull areas. (Or at least you will whe nthe car is cleaned up again). Now, if the clear coat is failing, you might not be able to tell now, and you will get good results, but they wont "hold". That is the dull look will quickly return.

Not a bad collection to start off.. though if you are like us it will keep growing and growing.

The Deep Crystal Cleaner ( DC#1) is quite mild, and so you may find that it works ok, but the cleanes in ScratchX and ColorX will remove a bit more of the dirt, imperfections, etc. But give it a whirl, at leat try it on a panel and see what happens. Work the cleaner into the paint well, dont just wipe it on and off.

[gb387]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

One more thing... As for the wheels, my g/f use to have a 94 Monte Carlo with aluminum wheels. The car was very neglected and I was never able to get the wheels looking that good, I tried just about every product in my collection for the job but after 12 year of neglect they would only get so clean.

[Murr1525]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

Do you know if the wheels are bare metal, clearcoated, painted, etc?

If they are painted, you can always clay and clean them like you would paint, and if they are bare metal, you can try a dedicated metal polish.

[mnaines]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

All I know about the wheels is they are the factory alloy wheels, I do not know if they are coated or uncoated alloy, though. Also, on the paint, I used the clay bar first, then the ColorX, but I still do not notice any difference. By the way, all I am getting on the applicator is a bluish color from the applicator absorbing a little of the ColorX, but other than that, its clean.

Edit: I took a closer look at the dings and chips in the paint, and on most, it looks like whatever caused it only chipped off small pieces of the clear coat; there is white underneith. On some of the deeper ones, both the clear coat and the paint had been chipped away and rust formed in those small spots.

The color code for the paint is NH-538-3. I do not know what that means, nor how to treat it.

Below is a pic of the left front tire. All four wheels and tires are the same, and this is what each one looks like. P195/65/R15 89S load/speed rating Touring tires on 15" alloy wheels.




And this next one is a pic of the hood taken at an angle to show both before and after, with the treated side showing the reflection of the house and the untreated side showing what the rest of the car's paint looks like.



Those specks you see on the hood are actually left over from berries that dropped on my car and have since been "baked" into the paint by both the sun and the heat from the engine and those stripes you can see are actually overcoatings of clearcoat. ColorX gets rid of most of the overcoat, but some leftovers can still be seen if viewed at the right angle. Honestly, though, I think the ColorX just covers up the overcoating and makes it invisible. The treated side was clayed, treated with ColorX, then waxed using NXT Generation Tech Wax (liquid). That is the best I can get it just with those. I have paint cleaner and polish, but I do not know if I can use those at this point and go for another try. You might not be able to see them, but there are "splotched" areas that, no matter how much ColorX or wax I put on them, they do not get better.

[Lydia]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

My sister has an Accord in that same year range also, with wheels that look like they are made the same (not the same number of spokes etc., but the surface on them looks the same) and I have yet to find anything that will make them look better. Hers are much worse than that, though.

As for the paint, I suggest you try ScratchX on it. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[mnaines]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

As for the paint, I'm giving the ColorX a little more elbow grease, working it in until it just becomes a "haze", then wiping it clean with a terry cloth and buffing with a suede microfiber drying towel. I do the "swipe test" on the ColorX just to be sure its worked in enough; if it is, the swiped area should reflect like a mirror with no film or residue behind. You should get the same results from waxing, although the wax will add more of a "metallic" look to the paint.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

Confidence is high the shiny part of the wheel is anodized, if this is correct there is nothing you can do.

As for the paint, we've seen paint like this and by hand you can improve it a little but it will take a lot of passion behind your applicator pad. Best results will be to machine polish it with a cleaner/polish like M80 Speed Glaze and a PC/G100 with a foam polishing pad.

[mnaines]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

I tried using ColorX by hand, and it got the paint restored a little, so I'm going to go back over the treated areas with Deep Crystal #1 and see what results I get then.

[Murr1525]

Re: Can Meguiar's save my car's paint job?

Let us know how it goes.. progress is good, though it sounds slow going...