I had the opportunity to polish my dad's 1965 Mustang for one of the top car shows in Arizona this weekend.

This Mustang had won 1st place for the Mustangs class for the past 3 years in a row at this show. The paint is Ford Metallic Laser Red with 3 coats of clear, so I had plenty of material to work with.
My dad figured he'd give someone else a chance to win that class this year and entered his Mustang in the "Host Club" class, which is very competitive and is not for any specific make, model or year - all sorts of street rods, muscle cars, concourse originals, etc.
The paint is 3-stage with a pretty hard clear coat. It had never been seriously polished since the paint was originally laid down in 2005. It was definitely time.
1st off, there were horrific circular scratches that resulted from a small particle stuck to a wax applicator

Other swirling

Driver's side fender

Driver side quarter

Passenger side top fender

To make this a real challenge, I had only 6 hours to complete the job

I spent the first 90 minutes testing various product and pad combinations. My goal was to use the least aggressive combo possible to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.
Testing revealed that to get the deep circular scratches off the hood, multiple passes with the rotary, M105, and a Solo maroon pad would be required.
Here's a 50/50 after a few passes over the circular scratches on the hood.

It would need 3 more passes to completely remove them! I probably would have wetsanded if I had more time.
The rest of the car needed a single pass using this combo.
M205 on the PC using a LC green 5.5" pad was used for finishing.
Here's the particulars on my process:
Trunk before/after- could have used a 2nd pass of M205 but was pressed for time:


Hood before/after- I was in a hurry and didn't wipe all of the "Ultimate Quick Wax" residue off - but trust me it is a swirl-free finish. No more circular scratches!!


Driver's side fender before/after


Side before/after



Interior


Engine pic (should have used flash)

And of course the Trophy Shot! 1st in Class!!

And finally, the proud owner

On a sad note, this is the first time in many years that Meguiar's didn't have a booth there. Budget cuts?
Thanks for looking
This Mustang had won 1st place for the Mustangs class for the past 3 years in a row at this show. The paint is Ford Metallic Laser Red with 3 coats of clear, so I had plenty of material to work with.
My dad figured he'd give someone else a chance to win that class this year and entered his Mustang in the "Host Club" class, which is very competitive and is not for any specific make, model or year - all sorts of street rods, muscle cars, concourse originals, etc.
The paint is 3-stage with a pretty hard clear coat. It had never been seriously polished since the paint was originally laid down in 2005. It was definitely time.
1st off, there were horrific circular scratches that resulted from a small particle stuck to a wax applicator

Other swirling
Driver's side fender
Driver side quarter
Passenger side top fender
To make this a real challenge, I had only 6 hours to complete the job


I spent the first 90 minutes testing various product and pad combinations. My goal was to use the least aggressive combo possible to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.
Testing revealed that to get the deep circular scratches off the hood, multiple passes with the rotary, M105, and a Solo maroon pad would be required.
Here's a 50/50 after a few passes over the circular scratches on the hood.
It would need 3 more passes to completely remove them! I probably would have wetsanded if I had more time.
The rest of the car needed a single pass using this combo.
M205 on the PC using a LC green 5.5" pad was used for finishing.
Here's the particulars on my process:
- M105 using KBM via Rotary on a Solo maroon pad @ 1800 RPM (5 passes on the deep circular scratches on the hood, 1 pass over rest of car)
- M205 using KBM via PC on a LC 5.5" green pad @ speed 5 for initial passes, then speed 4 for final 'jeweling'
- Nxt 2.0
- M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax
Trunk before/after- could have used a 2nd pass of M205 but was pressed for time:
Hood before/after- I was in a hurry and didn't wipe all of the "Ultimate Quick Wax" residue off - but trust me it is a swirl-free finish. No more circular scratches!!
Driver's side fender before/after
Side before/after
Interior
Engine pic (should have used flash)
And of course the Trophy Shot! 1st in Class!!
And finally, the proud owner
On a sad note, this is the first time in many years that Meguiar's didn't have a booth there. Budget cuts?

Thanks for looking

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