RegalGS
New member
I posted a thread about cleaning up oxidation on a conversion van - it got lost, no biggie. But I wanted to thank bretfraz for his guidance in using DACP and SFP.
This is the before shot of my friend's van. The van is a chevy single stage, two-tone 1985 van. A beast, for sure, but the engine is in great shape (for 320,000 miles on it). The paint needed help though, as you can see. It was overcast, but you can still see the lack of any kind of shine. Heavy, sandpapery feeling oxidation. Yuck.
This is the after shot. Lighting is much different - I'm using my obsession lights here, and you can see it's just after sunset outside. But now it shines! And the paint isn't brown, it's a dark cherry!
I've found a new dislike - conversion vans. I'll never do another one like this again, even though I'm happy with the outcome. There is still LOTS of work to do - the roof, and the back doors. I'd also like to attack the rubber around the windows, the running boards, the splash guards, mirror housings, etc. The hood and both sides took a grand total of about 10 hours of work, and that was two people working (one with the PC, one buffing off behind), so we pretty well left it for another day. DACP with meg's cutting pad, SFP with meg's polishing pad, and a quick application of #20 to protect all our hard work.
Lessons learned? 1) Buy stock in ThermaCare. My back and shoulders are killing me, even though I have a stool. 2) Fine Cut or Medium Cut compound for oxidation that bad. DACP worked, but there were spots where it needed two and three passes at it. Once it was off, though, the SFP easily conquered the haze. 3) No more conversion vans. There's just toooooo much paint to work on.
This is the before shot of my friend's van. The van is a chevy single stage, two-tone 1985 van. A beast, for sure, but the engine is in great shape (for 320,000 miles on it). The paint needed help though, as you can see. It was overcast, but you can still see the lack of any kind of shine. Heavy, sandpapery feeling oxidation. Yuck.
This is the after shot. Lighting is much different - I'm using my obsession lights here, and you can see it's just after sunset outside. But now it shines! And the paint isn't brown, it's a dark cherry!
I've found a new dislike - conversion vans. I'll never do another one like this again, even though I'm happy with the outcome. There is still LOTS of work to do - the roof, and the back doors. I'd also like to attack the rubber around the windows, the running boards, the splash guards, mirror housings, etc. The hood and both sides took a grand total of about 10 hours of work, and that was two people working (one with the PC, one buffing off behind), so we pretty well left it for another day. DACP with meg's cutting pad, SFP with meg's polishing pad, and a quick application of #20 to protect all our hard work.
Lessons learned? 1) Buy stock in ThermaCare. My back and shoulders are killing me, even though I have a stool. 2) Fine Cut or Medium Cut compound for oxidation that bad. DACP worked, but there were spots where it needed two and three passes at it. Once it was off, though, the SFP easily conquered the haze. 3) No more conversion vans. There's just toooooo much paint to work on.
Why people won't take care of their vehicles, I'll never know...
