Buffing a '73 Camaro with Enamel Paint - Input Appreciated

[GSRstilez]

Tomorrow I will be buffing a bright yellow 1973 Chevy Camaro kinda like this one:




It is a track car pushing 625hp with no forced induction nor ladder bars. I haven't seen it yet, the owner has just informed me of those couple things.

Anyways, he told me it was completely repainted, but in enamel. He said it will definatley need to be clayed and obviously polished and protected.

I searched around a bit and came up with the following info on enamel paint:

-If oxidized or highly neglected, after washing continue to glaze the finish by hand to moisturize it
-Expect a lot of paint transfer
-Expect to clean the pads a lot
-Expect a relatively soft finish


Can anyone else add some insight to what I have found out? I will be buffing it out via rotary. I have foam polishing and cutting pads along with a pretty complete Meguiar's paint correcting (80,82,83 as well as P21s GEPC) line. I was gonna top with NXT since I have seen great results in yellow with that, but like I said, any input you may have would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

[Rick]

Well... I have a similar car



Except mine has a recent PPG base coat clear coat so it's as hard as a rock. A few things I might point out though. If the car has a cowl hood stay far far away from the middle of it where it rises to that point. You think most body lines are bad, the paint there is very thin. Also, if you wash the car pop open the trunk and make sure it's dry afterwards. For some reason even after new weather seals and everything else concievable the one on mine still leaks and before I realized this caused me some rust problems in there. And as far as the nose of the car don't try and get the buffer in there, that area has to be done by hand. Good luck.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi GSRstilez,

Sounds like a fun car to buff out...

First and foremost, follow Meguiar's philosophy,

Always use the least aggressive product to get the job done"

With that in mind, after washing and claying, inspect the finish for below surface defects such as swirls, scratches and etchings. Once you determined it has the above defects, then do a little test spot using the W-8006 foam polishing pad with the #80 Speed Glaze at about the 1500 rpm range.

After you have buffed the test area for a few passes, remove the excess and see if you are successfully removing all of the defects. If so, then you can probably use this combination of pad and product for the entire car. If not, then you may want to substitute the #83 for the #80

You never know what you're getting into until you run the polisher over your first test area and then inspect.

You test area should tell you a lot about the hardness of the paint.

Also, you might want to get some painters tape and tape off any high points, body seams, etc. Also, on cars like this, if the engine is all dressed out, i.e. chromed, painted and polished, you should consider covering up the engine to prevent any splatter from finding its way onto the engine. A soft cotton or flannel bed sheet works great for this. Be sure to disconnect the batter, or remove the ignition key before starting or you could cause some nasty damage.

Mike

[GSRstilez]

Thanks for the responses!

I was definately planning on using Meguiar's philosohpy. I find #80 very versatile by using it with different pressures and pads.

I will test an area via hand with #80 to see how the paint reacts. It has been garaged for a while so I don't think it will need the deep conditioning before buffing it out, but we will see.

I will definately post my results when finished.

I am very excited for this job tomorrow