12 yr old paint, never been detailed

wizardofahs

New member
Everyone knows volvos last forever. At least their drive train does. The paint is a little harder to take care of. Especially when it's not clear coated and was sprayed with linseed oil (sp) when someone was trying to spray their fence.



My buddy loves his car so much, I decided it was time we make it look like it should. The result is something that I almost wouldn't call detailing. It was more of a restoration job.





Really dull paint...



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You can see the milky/cloudy effect the oxidation has

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Wheels/tires and bumpers needed some help too.



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Of course we weren't going to let it stay that way.



We sprayed it with the p21s wheel cleaner, let it sit a good while, then brushed it off. There was still some really caked on dust, so we went at it with the p21s all surface finish restorer stuff that I simply love.



Here is the change on the wheels. 1/2 way done with one and you can see the difference.

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close up

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Gotta do something for the oxidation. This is the hood where 1/2 was buffed and the oxidation dealt with. Used a rotary with orange pad and some Meguiars Dimond Cut. A very tough combo, but this paint needed it. The results speak for themselves.

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right half was buffed, left wasn't. You can see the difference.

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Oxidized:

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Not Oxidized:

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Those pics really show the effect that oxidation has on the paint. Also shows that even with bad oxidation, there is still some good paint down there that can be taken advantage of. Trick is just getting to it.
 
After a clay, the rotary + diamond cut, AIO with a pc, SG and a little P21S wax, this bad boy looked red like it never had before.



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Wheels/tires and bumpers looked great. Scrubbed them with a stiff brush (except the wheels) and EF Hi-intensity cleaner. Then coated them with the Meguairs tire dressing that smells like grapes.



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Look at that depth



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nice crisp reflections



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Side looked good

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Check out that depth and shine

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Very very satisfying detail. Took a very long time, but was well worth it. This thing looks like a brand new car.



There are lots more pics at http://www.mines.edu/students/p/pfchrist/volvo/. I think we took over 50 pics of it. Really really wanted to capture this job.



It was a little overcast when we took the pics at the end. I really want to see how much more that red will come out in direct sunlight. It was amazing how much the color changed. I have never seen anything like that before.
 
Great work!! That must really have been satisfying.



Did you say you went straight from Diamond Cut to AIO? What orange pad (the concave "power pad" or some other kind) did you use with the DC and was that paint ss or cc'd?



Again, that is terrific work that speaks for itself but I'm just amazed that you could step down from DC to a paint cleaner:D



Your friend owes you many, many cold froth dogs.



*edit* Sorry, I see that it was ss from your first post:o
 
thinksnow said:
Great work!! That must really have been satisfying.



Did you say you went straight from Diamond Cut to AIO? What orange pad (the concave "power pad" or some other kind) did you use with the DC and was that paint ss or cc'd?



Again, that is terrific work that speaks for itself but I'm just amazed that you could step down from DC to a paint cleaner:D



Your friend owes you many, many cold froth dogs.



*edit* Sorry, I see that it was ss from your first post:o



The pad I used was one of the Paradise 7 1/2" Orange-Curved Edge pads



I did go from the DC to the AIO. I usually don't. Every other time I have used it (which hasn't been very often at all), it left some prety bad hazing behind. But I think this was because of the clearcoat. I think SS paints are a little tougher. After using the DC there wasn't really that much haze or anything left. It came of very clean and worked in well (you can see from the shots with 1/2 the hood, which was just DC). I did a section with AIO following that directly and it seemed to work fine, didn't see the need for anything else.



I really enjoyed this one. Didn't even charge my friend for products. It took 7 hours but was well worth it. It was also a great opportunity for me to improve my technique and try something I haven't really tried before.



Thanks for all the compliments. I'll pass them on to my friend. I'm pretty sure he'll have a giant smile on his face for the next 2 weeks at least.
 
wow, the depth that is in that paint is remarkable. was i the p21s that really added the extra depth??? alsothose "paradise" pads look very similar to lake country pads.



very nice job. what did you use on the trim?





edit: oh, almost forgot, did you detail the exterior only? i can imagine that it would take at least 6 hours alone to detail that exterior...
 
You're a nice friend. :)





I will never get people's fascination with the Volvo station wagon. It seems like such a plain car--yet people love them to death!
 
wow. . .my SS red MR2 has the same "milky cloudy" effect on it. I've hit it 2 times with an Orange Pad and DACP. It looks better but the cloudyness is still there.



I was gonna try DACP with my wool pad, but looks like I'm gonna go looking for Diamond Cut instead!



Great Job!



David
 
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