In the Paleozoic era...

Bebopp

New member
Before the advent of the modern gadgets used by Autopians, what did the oldtimers use to detail cars? Pure elbow grease? What were the predecessors of the PC/Flex/rotary, and what substituted for clay.....? Just curious.....
 
Same thing I use... :)



elbow.gif
 
I use to do it all by hand also, up until a few months after I joined this place.....Let go of the old, and join the new ride My5.......
 
Here in SoCal we used to rub Wooly Mammoths on our cars. Then they all fell into the tar pits down by the Petersen Automotive Musem. :(





PC.
 
the other pc said:
Here in SoCal we used to rub Wooly Mammoths on our cars. Then they all fell into the tar pits down by the Petersen Automotive Musem. :(



Hence demonstrating the age-old problem of getting tar in your polishing media.
 
auto paint was a lot softer back in the day and you could do it by hand with a lot less effort



most of todays paints it is useless to try and do it by hand
 
Are we talking BC (before clearcoat), or BE (before enamel), back when cars were all painted with laquer and had brass radiators and trim?
 
the other pc said:
Here in SoCal we used to rub Wooly Mammoths on our cars..



AKA...



junebug said:
Milwaukee rotaries! and all wool pads too



Yeah, Milawukee rotaries and Cyclos were about the only machines around.



I used to use Meg's #2 (by hand, worked great on ss), #7, and #16. Also stuff from ProWax (forget the product numbers). My family used #7 and #16 since forever, well, since switching from Simonize, which my mom was using back pre-WWII. When #16 came out in the '50s it was like a gift from above according to her...and to think some people think it's tough to use :D
 
HRP said:
Are we talking BC (before clearcoat), or BE (before enamel), back when cars were all painted with laquer and had brass radiators and trim?



IIRC good ole Meg's #7 would qualify in both cases :D
 
Accumulator said:
I used to use Meg's #2 (by hand, worked great on ss), #7, and #16. Also stuff from ProWax (forget the product numbers). My family used #7 and #16 since forever, well, since switching from Simonize, which my mom was using back pre-WWII. When #16 came out in the '50s it was like a gift from above according to her...and to think some people think it's tough to use :D



Accumulator, I am starting to think that detailing is truly in your genetic makeup. You never had a chance...
 
etml12 said:
Accumulator, I am starting to think that detailing is truly in your genetic makeup. You never had a chance...



Yeah, my mom and her one sister were always into their cars and they kept 'em nice. In one of my baby pics you can see the spotless doorjambs of her (by then pretty old) Lincoln :D Dad was far less into it until very late in life.



Back in the day,, it was all Rain Dance for me..



I never thought Rain Dance was all that bad. My (above-mentioned) aunt used it exclusively once her health got too bad for the more involved Meguiar's approach, and when she died her 10 year old MOPAR was in *great* shape...not bad for a sick elderly lady living in OH and driving it year-round. If it worked for her it oughta work for anybody.
 
mosborn9 said:
Back in the day,, it was all Rain Dance for me. Prep consisted of a dish detergent wash. I know, I know, I've sinned.



That was me in high school/early college in the mid '90's. And until I found Autopia in '06 I used old t-shirts to remove the wax residue afterwards. :nervous2:
 
Grimm said:
That was me in high school/early college in the mid '90's. And until I found Autopia in '06 I used old t-shirts to remove the wax residue afterwards. :nervous2:



Same here. I always liked old socks too, could put your hand right inside them. Worked pretty slick. Hmmm, microfiber gloves.
 
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