Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

[pwaug]

Unfortunately I have neglected my wife's 97 Ford Escort. It has never been polished or waxed, but is not in too bad a shape as it has always been garaged but has gone through commercial washes over the years. The paint is a medium green metallic with some light to medium swirls and some deeper scratches caused by a dog putting it's paws on the doors. Now that I have the time I wanted to get the car in a little better shape by using as many of the existing products I have so I can use them up to move over to all Megs products. I've done some testing and 3M Light Rubbing Compound I have works well on the dog scratches but I need to buy something to get out the swirls and remove the oxidation, by hand. The M80 looked like a better deal than ScratchX as it is available in larger bottles. After polishing I want to top it with existing synthetic products I have to use them up. I realize I won't be able to get a perfect finish by hand, but this is just a daily driver that I want to get into better shape. What would you recommend rather than M80? Also, I have access to #2 and ColorX. Any help would be appreciated!!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

I've done some testing and 3M Light Rubbing Compound I have works well on the dog scratches but I need to buy something to get out the swirls and remove the oxidation, by hand.

First, do you know 100% for sure what kind of paint this car has?

Single Stage
Basecoat/Clearcoat


When you applied the 3M Rubbing Compound, did you see green pigment coming off and onto your cloth?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

Clear coat paints do oxidize but very slowly, not like old single stage paints. So if this car has a clear coat finish, then make sure the areas you're thinking are oxidation are not clear coat failure instead.

Click the link below to see pictures of clearcoat failure.


The Clearcoat Failure Archive

Here's an example of a clearcoat finish that just the beginning of clearcoat failure, the clear coat layer is starting to turn white and some people can confuse this with oxidation but in fact it's clear coat failure and it cannot be fixed, only repainted.

[pwaug]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

First, do you know 100% for sure what kind of paint this car has?

Single Stage
Basecoat/Clearcoat


When you applied the 3M Rubbing Compound, did you see green pigment coming off and onto your cloth?

I believe it is base with a clearcoat as there was no Green on the applicator after using the 3M Compond.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

I believe it is base with a clearcoat as there was no Green on the applicator after using the 3M Compound.

The safest way to rub this old clear coat out would be to use either M80 Speed Glaze or even Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner which can be easily found at any auto parts store.

This should be your process...

Step 1: Wash thoroughly and dry car

Step 2: Clay the paint, feel the paint with your clean hand and check to see if the surface feels smooth and glassy or if it has a textured or bumpy feel to it, if it doesn't feel smooth and glassy then you want to clay at least the horizontal surfaces to remove above surface bonded contaminants.


(The above is kind of a given for any car, truck or s.u.v.)

Step 3: Next is the cleaning step, this is the most important step as your final results will be based upon and built upon the results of this step. Choose a product, M80 Speed Glaze or the DCPC and use a wet supply of either of these products to rub out the paint working only small sections at a time, this would be about a foot squared for the flat or horizontal surfaces, you can probably go a little larger on the vertical panels.

Apply your product, spread it out and then work it over, against and into the paint. Put some passion behind the pad and do a thorough job for each section.

When moving on to a new section be sure to overlap into the previous section.

Right after you work a section, use a microfiber polishing cloth to wipe off any excess residue from the surface and then move on. The only products in the Meguiar's line that need to dry and should be allowed to dry are our waxes, everything else you wipe off after you apply and work it over the paint.

Step 4: After you clean all the paint, the next step is optional but would probably be a good idea for this old paint job and that is to apply a pure polish like Deep Crystal Polish or #7 Show Car Glaze, you could also use #3, #5 and even #9 as all these products are very rich in polishing oils.

Same as the paint cleaner/cleaner polish step above, you want to apply your pure polish to small section and work it in well, like applying skin lotion to dried out skin. After applying to a section wipe off the excess residue and move around the car.

Step 5: Now it's time to wax, apply two thin coats of whatever you already have or try out our new NXT Tech Wax 2.0

Let us know how it turns out... Maybe take some digital before and after photos?

[pwaug]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

Mike-Thanks for the input!! Sorry I forgot to mention Steps 1 & 2--I've been detailing "my" cars for the past 30 years and just take them for granted. (It's just my wife's car I've neglected as she thinks of a car much the same as a toaster, but now that I'm retired I have the time to devote to it)

So M80 is it rather than #2 or ColorX. Will the oils in Deep Crystal Polish or #7 cause any bonding issues with a polymer based sealant?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

So M80 is it rather than #2 or ColorX.

All of the above will work, usually you have to take into account things like what your goals are, is this car and this paint job really really really important to you or are you simply doing minimal maintenance to it?

Generally speaking you will get your best results if you break the process of restoring a neglected finish into dedicated steps, that is

1. Dedicated paint cleaning step
2. Dedicated polishing step
3. Dedicated protecting or waxing step

Our cleaner/waxes work great at doing all three procedures in one step so using ColorX would be an option, especially if you're mostly wanting to just do the minimum as a part of maintaining your car's appearance value.

If on the other hand this car and its original paint are very important to you, important enough for you to consider putting more time into the car doing more steps then doing a multiple step approach will likely produce better results, even if there's not a huge visual improvement over what our cleaner/waxes can do on their own.

Little secret
If nothing else just the act of pushing a smooth, creamy substance over the paint with some type of soft gentle application material has a "polishing effect" .

Thus rubbing,

• Deep Crystal Cleaner or M80 over the paint is one time
• Deep Crystal Polish or #7 Show Car Glaze over the paint is two times
• Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax or NXT Tech Wax 2.0 is three times

A three step approach means the paint gets physically polished or touched 3 times. Using a cleaner/wax usually consists of applying one application of the product, thus the paint only gets physically polished or touched one time.

In most cases more isn't always better, but in some cases, more is better, here's 3 examples of when more is better...

1. Money in the bank
2. Gas in the gas tank
3. Rubbing some type of paint care product over your car's finish with care and passion

So it's up to you, you can do a multiple step process starting with either M80 Speed Glaze or Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, just be sure to use clean applicator pads, work clean and wipe all residue off after working the products. The M80 is quite a bit richer in polishing oils than the DC1 but they will both work good for this type of restoration and that's a neglected finish in need of some thorough cleaning.

The words Clean and Cleaning as defined by Meguiar's terminology

Will the oils in Deep Crystal Polish or #7 cause any bonding issues with a polymer based sealant?

No, that's a requirement for the Zaino system, not Meguiar's.

In fact, the question comes up often enough that there's two threads in Hot Topics that address the issue.


Posted Sep 17th, 2004, 07:06 AM
A question on wax bonding and the potential for interference by a quick detailer?


Posted Feb 20th, 2005, 02:11 AM
Do Glazes/Fillers affect the bonding of NXT?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

One more...

Which products need to dry before removing?

[pwaug]

Re: Need help restoring original paint on 1997 Ford Escort by Hand.

Mike--Thanks for all your input!! I will try to take before and after photos and post on the site.