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Buick Paint Restoration - Waxing LyricalResurrecting Dead Paint Using Mothers Car Care Products From the September, 2010 issue of Rod & Custom By Kev Elliot
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Times are tough; we know that. Paintjobs are expensive; we certainly know that. We also know that there are plenty of old cars out there that have old, faded paint and could use a repaint, or ones that their owners want to spruce up. But in these economic times a full repaint is probably not high on most people's agendas. Take this Buick for example. Owned by Rod & Custom's associate publisher, John Barkley, he admittedly didn't need it when it presented itself as somewhat of a bargain, especially with two ongoing projects already underway-but as a car guy, he couldn't refuse it either. One hundred percent stock, and mechanically perfect, the four-door hardtop is a great cruiser, but it had been repainted sometime in the distant past. Having sat outside near the ocean for the past decade, the paint was oxidized, dull, and flat. With a couple of small rust repairs to the lower doorskins, it would be the ideal candidate for a scuff and re-spray, but it was also the perfect candidate for us to show what a little TLC could produce, for a fraction of the cost of new paint.  Here's our subject: a clean,...  Here's our subject: a clean, tidy Buick that was repainted over a decade ago. Considering it has lived outside by the beach for the past 10 years it was in remarkably good condition, with just a little rust in the door bottoms and around the rear window. The paint, however, suffered and exhibited a uniform, matte finish.  A relatively recent addition...  A relatively recent addition to the Mothers Car Care arsenal is the Professional Refinishing System line of products. The rubbing compounds made light work of tackling the paint oxidation on our Buick. We used the heavy-duty compound, which will remove 1,200-grit scratches, compared to the 1,500-grit scratches the regular compound will tackle, though either would have been suitable for this job as we weren't planning on sanding any of the paint at the outset. We followed the compounding with foam pad polish, then machine glaze, followed by hand glaze, and then hand waxing the entire car. The first step was to thoroughly... The first step was to thoroughly wash the entire car, followed by drying it completely. For this we used Mothers Car Wash liquid. It wasn't too long ago that buffing paint with professional machinery and rubbing compounds would have been beyond the scope of hobbyists. Now, not only are affordable electric buffers available from tool suppliers like Harbor Freight, but well-known car care product specialist Mothers recently made a Professional line of products available that can be purchased from automotive refinishing suppliers or online directly from Mothers ( www.mothers.com). We used these products to resurrect the paint on the Buick, starting with a heavy-duty rubbing compound, then moving on through foam pad polish, machine glaze and hand glaze, finishing with hand-applied carnauba wax, which we prefer to synthetic wax, as it has a high heat tolerance and an ability to provide a long-lasting deep luster owing to the hardness of the wax. Available in liquid or paste, we opted for the paste simply because it's what we're used to and prefer. As we were going to be polishing... As we were going to be polishing the paint, it was important to ensure all debris and dirt was removed from behind the stainless trim. Using a high-pressure hose to spray water between the trim and the paint, we were able to wash away the trapped dirt (arrow). You don't want this dirt coming out later and getting trapped in the polisher's foam pad, as it'll cause scratches. Of course, before any work is done to paint of any type, the surface should be scrupulously clean, as any debris or contaminants will scratch the surface as soon as the buffer is applied. A thorough wash is required before work can begin, and thorough means washing any debris out from behind beltline trim, driprails, badges, door, hood, and trunk gaps. Naturally, once the paint was looking good again, the Buick was let down by the chrome and stainless trim, so we brought them back to as good a shine as was possible given that much of the cast pieces were heavily pitted. Again using Mothers products, but this time their polishes and tools available from auto parts stores or online retailers like SummitRacing.com. We then hit the tires with Mothers Tire and Rubber Cleaner to complete the transformation, though we barely had time to take our final picture as Barkley was so keen to cruise his "new" shiny Buick, muttering about having to now clear a space in the garage for the car that previously sat outside!  We planned on starting at...  We planned on starting at the roof then working around the car, first masking off the stainless trim to avoid any damage or swirl marks caused by the rotating polishing pad.  While I have a high-end polisher,...  While I have a high-end polisher, it's English, meaning the voltage and frequency is incompatible with a U.S. domestic power supply, so I sourced this version from Harbor Freight. I used three foam pads for this job, using one each of the darker pads for rubbing compound on the white and yellow painted areas, then the white pad for the foam pad polish and machine glaze. While I should really have used separate pads for the last two steps, I was trying to keep costs down, though the pad was thoroughly cleaned between steps.  The pads I used were Velcro-backed,...  The pads I used were Velcro-backed, making switching them a snap, as well as only requiring a single backing pad.  The rubbing compound can be...  The rubbing compound can be applied to the paint, though I prefer to apply it to the foam pad, as shown, especially when the compound is in liquid form like this. Paste versions are also available (though not from Mothers), which are applied to the paint.  Tackle a couple of square...  Tackle a couple of square feet at a time. If you've never used a polisher before, you may want to practice on an old panel before moving to your car. The pad rotates in a clockwise direction, and can easily jump around until you get used to it. Tilting the edge too far can also cause the paint to be burned. Note also the power cable draped over my shoulder, thus saving it from dragging on the paint and causing scratches. Not vital in this case, it's important when color sanding and buffing a new paintjob.  With the roof buffed, the...  With the roof buffed, the edges were tackled by hand, not only the area in the small "step" above the driprail, but behind the driprail itself. Again, another reason to mask the stainless trim.  It's not only the trim that...  It's not only the trim that needs masking, but the edges of the adjacent panels. When polishing near an edge, always ensure the pad is rotating "off" the edge as shown. If it rotates against the edge it will burn through the paint. The masking tape on the adjacent panel protects that edge, as the pad will be rotating against it when it is moving "off" the other panel. Clear?  Masking tape is also useful...  Masking tape is also useful to protect raised bodylines, as the pad will burn through these while polishing the lower portion of the panel. The protected edge can be polished by hand later.  By way of comparison, we buffed...  By way of comparison, we buffed half the trunk to show a "before" and "after" scenario. While the paint isn't the smoothest (we weren't about to color-sand the car, especially not knowing how much paint was actually on there, and not wanting to go through it), you can clearly see the difference between the oxidized and polished finishes.  The foam pad will require...  The foam pad will require cleaning intermittently. We generally do this after finishing each panel, though it'll likely be needed halfway through a large section, such as the roof or hood. Using a blunt mini pry bar (though a screwdriver would also work), we ran it from the center to the outside of the pad, ensuring it is facing away from the direction of rotation, to prevent it digging in. You can see how the compound on the surface of the foam is cleaned off with minimal pressure.  Mothers has come up with a...  Mothers has come up with a number of extremely useful power tool accessories for polishing in the recent past, the PowerBall Mini making light work of hard-to-reach, tedious jobs. Using the 10-inch extension on a battery drill enabled us to reach into the curved area between the trunk and rear bumper, though it should be pointed out the Powerball Mini is really designed to polish metal, not paint!  The front of the hood and...  The front of the hood and left fender had weird white marks that wouldn't polish out, almost like paint spatter, so we color-sanded this area using 1,500 superfine paper, a flexible rubber block, and soapy water.  Once the white marks were...  Once the white marks were sanded away, we used the heavy-duty rubbing compound to tackle the area by hand, as it was too intricate to use the buffer.  After the Buick had been buffed...  After the Buick had been buffed using rubbing compound, we switched pads and repeated the process with Foam Pad Polish. Very small amounts of this are required as can be seen from the amount on the pad.  A little goes a long way with...  A little goes a long way with the Foam Pad Polish. Once we'd polished a panel and moved to the next, we masked the previous panel to prevent unnecessary cleanup. Note the shine is improving with each step.  Mothers supplied these microfiber...  Mothers supplied these microfiber detail towels, which have a two-sided dual-nap design. The long nap side is used for initial wipe down, while the short nap will buff the shine. We're using the long nap side here to remove any excess polish before applying Machine Glaze.  The final step in the paint...  The final step in the paint maintenance, or in our case, restoration process, is to wax the vehicle, though we actually waxed the Buick after the following trim polishing steps. We like to use carnauba wax and apply it by hand. Normally, with a new paintjob, we'd obviously not place the tin on the paint!  As part of the PowerBall range,...  As part of the PowerBall range, Mothers offers the PowerBall 4Paint, which makes short work of polishing or waxing large surfaces, though of course we used the orbital buffer. The kit comes with 4 ounces of synthetic liquid SynWax, as shown, though we're fans of carnauba wax, which is what we used on the Buick.  The final step in the paint...  The final step in the paint maintenance, or in our case, restoration process, is to wax the vehicle, though we actually waxed the Buick after the following trim polishing steps. We like to use carnauba wax and apply it by hand. Normally, with a new paintjob, we'd obviously not place the tin on the paint!  Moving on to polishing the...  Moving on to polishing the stainless trim, we used Mothers PowerMetal scratch removing polish, followed by PowerMetal liquid metal polish. This will work on all polishable metals, such as aluminum, brass, stainless steel, gold, and silver. We used what is probably the most versatile tool in the PowerBall line, the PowerCone, as it is ideal for reaching into tight areas.  The conical shape of the PowerCone...  The conical shape of the PowerCone allows it to reach areas the PowerBall can't. It made short work of the Buick's portholes as well as the stainless body trim, which you can see here we masked off to prevent damage to the paint.  OK, so the metal is pitted,...  OK, so the metal is pitted, but check out the difference before and after we hit it with the PowerCone and PowerMetal products.  It was interesting to note...  It was interesting to note now the PowerCone formed to the shape of whatever it was polishing, once rotating. Its long tapered side is perfect for polishing broad, curved surfaces, and worked great on the headlight rims as well as the rear light housings. Incidentally, it should be used at a slow speed for best results, similar to the speed you'd polish by hand.  The PowerBall Mini MD (Metal...  The PowerBall Mini MD (Metal Doctor) was Mothers first specialty tool in the PowerBall family, and while it's designed for removing scratches and stains from polished aluminum and stainless steel, we used it to polish the tired and dull chrome on the Buick's bumpers, coupled with Mothers Chrome Polish.  Here's the rear of the Buick...  Here's the rear of the Buick after polishing the paint, chrome, and stainless. A vast improvement over what we started with, we think you'll agree.  Despite yellow and white probably...  Despite yellow and white probably being the hardest two colors to show a shine on camera, compare the Buick after a couple of days work to what it looked like when we started. Some difference we think you'll agree, and way cheaper than even a cheapy paintjob to tidy her up!
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