1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

[HDFlame]

I'm a newbie, so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong place or asking a question that has already been answered!

I've been a professional firefighter for over 21 years, so my expertise is not in auto detailing. I have a Porter Cable 7424 Orbital Polisher as well as a Vector Professional Circular Polisher. Of all the products I've used, Meguiar's is definitely my favorite. I am familiar with a few of your products but since I'm not a professional detailer...I need some help!

We have a 1968 American LaFrance firetruck. The truck has the original paint, which is a dark red almost maroon when new. It recently was at the City shop where a high pressure grease line in the shop burst, covering the truck from top to bottom with sticky axle grease!

We had to use some heavy duty degreaser to remove it from an already dull oxidized paint. Now the Chief has asked me to see what I can do with it. I don't want to screw it up any more...so that's why I'm here. I have limited experience with the high speed circular polisher but am very confident with the 7424. However, I'm not scared to use the high speed, which I think I will need!

I will be happy to post some pictures so we can see the before and after results of a rookie!

Any guidance to methods and Mequiar products to use would be appreciated. If there is another area of the forum that I should be in, please guide me in the right direction.


Thanks in advance,
Bobby Riddle, Captain, Sanford Fire Dept., NC

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

If the paint has grease all over it then it might be best to wash the truck using some wash rags, (because they're cheap and you can throw them away when you're done and not be out a bunch of money), and use some really strong solutions of Dawn Dish Washing Soap as it will dissolve the grease.

After you remove as much of the grease from the truck as you can then use M80 Speed Glaze with pieces of terry cloth toweling and/or your Porter Cable DA Polisher on the flat panels to remove the oxidation.

IN all honesty you with some terry cloth and some elbow grease can remove more oxidized paint than a DA polisher and safer too.

After you remove the bulk of the dead paint then use the same product and the DA Polisher to polish the newly exposed fresh base to a high gloss and seal with some wax.

Don't forget to take some before pictures.

Tips for how to correctly take pictures to document an Extreme Makeover

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

Here's another option, just like we recommended to Rasky to use the M01 Heavy Cut Cleaner on the old Impala paint, you could use the same product instead of the M80 for your first cut by hand to remove the old dead paint.

M01 is a fairly aggressive old school type paint cleaner and the larger size diminishing abrasives in this formula will cut off the old dead oxidized paint while the polishing oils in the formula will start the restoration process to bring the color back.

Then follow the M01 with the M80 to further restore the paint and really bring the color out of the paint.

Then top with wax.

1. Wash with Dawn and scrub the grease off the fire truck

2. Remove oxidation with M01 by hand using terry cloth, the cotton loops called the nap will act as an abrasive to aid the M01

3. Re-polish using M80, the rich concentration of polishing oils together with the diminishing abrasives will further smooth out the paint and bring it back to life.

4. Wax with something like the NXT Tech Wax.

[HDFlame]

Re: 1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess you wouldn't recommend using the high speed buffer with a wool pad? Is it because the paint is old and thin and it would burn through?

Thanks again.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

Thanks for the quick reply! I guess you wouldn't recommend using the high speed buffer with a wool pad? Is it because the paint is old and thin and it would burn through?

Thanks again.

It depends upon,

Your skill and experience in using a rotary buffer
How important it is to everyone involved to preserve the original paint and not burn through any edges and high points.

The RB is the most efficient tool for removing dead, oxidized paint quickly and it's the most efficient tool for making a mistake quickly.

The outline posted above would be the safe route if preserving all and as much of the original paint is the priority.

If you want to use an RB then use it with a wool pad and the M01. For flat panels you're probably pretty safe as long as there's some film-build to work with, just avoid edges, high points and body lines. For dangerous areas work by hand. (terry cloth and M01)

Do a Test Spot first, make sure you can make one small area look good before tackling the entire fire truck.

[HDFlame]

Re: 1968 American LaFrance Firetruck, Dead Paint!

The paint is pretty much shot on this truck anyway. But after looking at some of the cars brought back to a shine, I'll give it a try. I'll be sure to post some pics of how bad it was.

Thanks.