How to start detailing a 14 year old car?

R

RboarderI

New member
I have a 1989 Light Blue Toyota Corolla. Either me or my dad have always kept this car in really nice condition, no rust, or dents or anything like that and it still runs strong with great compression at 223,000 miles. The paint is old and needs a nice restoring, nothing other than your typical mcguire's cleaner wax or nu finish has ever been applied. The clearcoat is fine but the paint has light surface scratches and just needs a good polishing. What do you recomend for me to use on this car? I want would like to do it by hand and not with a PC. Let me know what you guys think!



Thanks,

RboarderI
 
I had a white 1990 Pontiac Bonneville that probably was in a condition similar to what you describe. I went with 1Z polishes (ultra followed by the paint polish, no metallic polish because it was white). I'm a fan of the 1Z polishes now. They're very easy to work by hand, although depending on the severity of the scratches you might not be able to get them out with recourse to a PC. We're only human, right?



Here's what I did (all by hand):



wash

clay

wash

1Z ultra

1Z paint polish

Klasse AIO

Klasse SG



Don't know if you need the metallic polish for light blue - someone else probably could speak better that I could on that one. I would think not, though.



The improvement was amazing, and I have to credit the folks here for helping me out.
 
It is more of a mettalic light blue so I am guessing I would use the mettalic one...but what about my bumpers? They are the old unpainted porous black ones. I have been using Mothers back to black but that doesn't really seem to do much for them.
 
The metallic polish is just the weakest of the three polishes - think of it as a light, finishing polish for light water spots and swirls.



Try Forever Black on your bumpers. That's what I ended up using on the very faded bumpers of the Bonnie. It also covered up the white wax stains.From what I've read, Back to Black is more of a restoration product (when fading, etc isn't so bad), while Forever Black is a dye (more of a nuclear option). Put on forever black, let it dry, and then apply a good dressing. I use 303 Aerospace Protectant myself.



I miss those kinds of bumpers. Those were the days when you could hit something at low speed and there would be no visible damage. They were called "bumpers" for a reason.
 
I was in a similar situation when i recently picked up my '92 BMW 325is. I also chose the 1Z polishes after much reading on this forum, and i must say, the car turned out stunning. The trunk looked like some little kids gi joe battlezone w/ nasty scratches and marring everywhere. The stuff isn't magic polish and it all didn't come out, but it sure did make it a GREAT DEAL better. I found the the 1Z ultra polish deepened my metallic blue paint. It was a little oxidized and dull, but the Ultra brought some life back into it. The guy i bought the car from didn't recognize it after i was done ... :spot



you may not be able to take out all the scratches, but oxidation and grime can be dealt w/ via a good paint cleaner or good polish. good luck!



its never to late to turn a car into a beautiful work of art again!



alex
 
Any other opinions?



And here is a picture of my car...

mini-014_013.jpg
 
It is hard to get an idea of the paint from that pic but the bumpers look as if they would respond well to some work.



Dont expect the car to transform overnight. The basic condition looks good so take your time and concentrate on each section before moving on.



Just follow the basics, wash - clay- evaluate the paint. I would be tempted to try something like AIO to really clean the paint and then think about what type of abrasive polish you may need.



Clean up the bumpers and external trim including the tyres and the car will look 100% better.
 
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