Eliot Ness
Active member
Note: Pictures are in the post following this one.
Saturday I decided to redo the wax on my 1940 Chevy street rod. I have always kept it in pretty good condition by washing and waxing, but never really gave it an Autopian “make over�. I’d like to thank all the members who post info on these forums and gave me plenty of ideas.
I first washed and then clayed it, the clay helped get rid of some overspray from when I repainted my engine compartment a while back. I then planned to use Megs #80 on it, but wound up using #83 DACP instead. I used it mostly on a polish pad, but did use an orange pad in spots. Where I used the orange pad I went over it again with a polish pad. I was going to use #80 next, but the paint was looking pretty good, I had worked the DACP until it dusted up and with the polish pad it came out looking pretty nice. The DACP cleaned up my paint, some swirls and I was able to get out some scratches and a small etch from some bird sh*t on my hood. I wasn’t able to get everything perfect, but it wasn’t looking too bad.
I then applied VM with a finish pad on everything except the tires and wheels. I did the whole car then buffed it with a MF. I really like this stuff, it goes on easy and comes off easy.
I then put on a coat of EX-P by hand with a foam pad slightly moistened with distilled water. This stuff is pretty thick, and I’ve read to apply it in very thin coats, so I did the best I could. It would have been much easier to use a pad with a handle (that’ll be my next order). I remoistened the foam pad for each panel. Once again I did the whole car before buffing it off by hand with a MF towel. I then buffed it again with a MF bonnet over a foam pad to make sure I didn’t miss any spots (by this time I was getting tired!).
At this time the car looked pretty good, it was very slick and had a nice wet look to it, also very reflective. I took some before/after pictures, but I was using the cameras internal memory instead of the memory card, and when I tried to transfer them they somehow got deleted. That’s what I get for hardly ever using this camera. Oh, and all of the above took about 8 hours. I’m not as fast as a lot of you guys, and the DACP took a bit longer than I expected.
Today I put on a 2nd coat of EX-P for added protection. This car is a driver and I’m heading up to the James Dean and Ducktail run in Indiana next week so I want some protection from the bugs I’m gonna be collecting during those 300 odd miles. This time I used my PC with a finish pad (misted with water on about every 3rd panel), then just buffed it off by hand with a MF. I used the PC to apply it this time because I think I get a thinner coat on it that way.
Following are some pictures. I think the car looks fairly slick, reflective and wet. My next step is to put on some paste Souveran tomorrow. I’ve never used it before (and never thought I’d ever pay that much for a wax!), but the car is red and I’m anxious to see if it improves on this look. I’ll be taking my wash supplies to Indiana with me and will probably put another coat of Souveran on after I wash off all the bugs and road film. If the Souveran makes a big enough improvement that it shows up in a picture then I’ll post a few of those Monday night.
Let me know what you all think. And once again thanks for all the tips and info you guys/girls post, it has really sped up my learning curve!
Saturday I decided to redo the wax on my 1940 Chevy street rod. I have always kept it in pretty good condition by washing and waxing, but never really gave it an Autopian “make over�. I’d like to thank all the members who post info on these forums and gave me plenty of ideas.
I first washed and then clayed it, the clay helped get rid of some overspray from when I repainted my engine compartment a while back. I then planned to use Megs #80 on it, but wound up using #83 DACP instead. I used it mostly on a polish pad, but did use an orange pad in spots. Where I used the orange pad I went over it again with a polish pad. I was going to use #80 next, but the paint was looking pretty good, I had worked the DACP until it dusted up and with the polish pad it came out looking pretty nice. The DACP cleaned up my paint, some swirls and I was able to get out some scratches and a small etch from some bird sh*t on my hood. I wasn’t able to get everything perfect, but it wasn’t looking too bad.
I then applied VM with a finish pad on everything except the tires and wheels. I did the whole car then buffed it with a MF. I really like this stuff, it goes on easy and comes off easy.
I then put on a coat of EX-P by hand with a foam pad slightly moistened with distilled water. This stuff is pretty thick, and I’ve read to apply it in very thin coats, so I did the best I could. It would have been much easier to use a pad with a handle (that’ll be my next order). I remoistened the foam pad for each panel. Once again I did the whole car before buffing it off by hand with a MF towel. I then buffed it again with a MF bonnet over a foam pad to make sure I didn’t miss any spots (by this time I was getting tired!).
At this time the car looked pretty good, it was very slick and had a nice wet look to it, also very reflective. I took some before/after pictures, but I was using the cameras internal memory instead of the memory card, and when I tried to transfer them they somehow got deleted. That’s what I get for hardly ever using this camera. Oh, and all of the above took about 8 hours. I’m not as fast as a lot of you guys, and the DACP took a bit longer than I expected.
Today I put on a 2nd coat of EX-P for added protection. This car is a driver and I’m heading up to the James Dean and Ducktail run in Indiana next week so I want some protection from the bugs I’m gonna be collecting during those 300 odd miles. This time I used my PC with a finish pad (misted with water on about every 3rd panel), then just buffed it off by hand with a MF. I used the PC to apply it this time because I think I get a thinner coat on it that way.
Following are some pictures. I think the car looks fairly slick, reflective and wet. My next step is to put on some paste Souveran tomorrow. I’ve never used it before (and never thought I’d ever pay that much for a wax!), but the car is red and I’m anxious to see if it improves on this look. I’ll be taking my wash supplies to Indiana with me and will probably put another coat of Souveran on after I wash off all the bugs and road film. If the Souveran makes a big enough improvement that it shows up in a picture then I’ll post a few of those Monday night.
Let me know what you all think. And once again thanks for all the tips and info you guys/girls post, it has really sped up my learning curve!
I'm just down the road from Fairmont in Muncie.