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dengelson

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My neighbors two doors down own a red Mazda RX7 Turbo. I don't know what year it is but I'd guess around '90. Well my neighbor is limited physically and unable to put the work into bringing this car back to life so I volunteered to help out today.



The red paint was oxidized. On a scale of one to ten, I'd say it was a seven, pretty bad. So I jumped right on it with the PC using a wool pad and Meguiar's Medium Cut compound. I tested a small area and it became immediately evident that the car didn't have a clear coat. The red pigment was coming off so much I had to switch to a second wool pad, half way through the job, because the first pad was going beyond red into black.



After that I used a CMA yellow foam cutting pad and AIO to seal up the surface. Basically everything that touched the paint is covered in red paint pigment. The foam pad and the MF towels are gruesome looking. It sure makes me apprciate having a clear coat on my vehicles.



That's it for the Mazda or at least my charitable work on it. I was able to wash it, compound it and seal it in about an hour and 20 minutes. While it still lacks the depth of a newer red car it does look tremendously better than before with not much effort, a little knowledge gained here and of course my trusty PC. It was a remarkable before and after but sorry no pics this time. The car sits outside and I drive past it at least twice a day so I'll get a chance to monitor the durability of the new finish.
 
Wow. Short Cut the saint.
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<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Jngrbrdman [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>Wow. Short Cut the saint.
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Yeah it felt good to help out but it was also fun. Working on my own cars is usually an exercise in making an already shiny car shinier. Whereas this was much more of a challenge.

I just wish I could get all of the red pigment out of my applicators. :(
 
I had to do the same thing on a non-clearcoated red Mazda 323 a few weeks ago (I posted the pics and info a while back), and though all the red paint on the pad is pretty messy, it's much easier to bring back an oxidized car without a clear coat than it is one with a clear coat. Without a clear coat, all you have to do is remove the dead paint. With a clear coat, oxidation can occur under the clear coat, which can't be fixed.
 
Do you really need to change the pad?? Isn't the clear coat coming off on to the pad but you just don't see it because it is clear. I don't understand the difference.
 
The difference, you can't use the same red colored pad on anouther car unless it's a red non clearcoated one. Try using that red pad on a white non clearcoated car, it will turn it pink.
 
Short Cut,



Just a quick question - how did you know to go straight to the harshest pad (wool) and some pretty harsh compound on the RX-7? I mean, I look at my dads Maxima and think that the next time I go for a visit I'll get to it with my new PC. His car has been minimally maintained and has a lot of swirls and a little bit of oxidation. But I'm paranoid that if I start with Fine Cut Compound and the yellow pad that I'd ruin the finish!



I guess its just experience? I can see myself wasting time using the white pad and #9 for an hour before slowly moving up to the yellow pad with #9 and then the yellow pad with Fine Cut Compound. Next thing you know I've wasted a half day doing what I could have done in an hour.... know what I mean? I guess in time I'd get a feel for where to start....
 
MP5 I think that it is experience in knowing how stubburn heavily oxidized paint is to remove. Then I tested the combo of compound and pad on a small area then buffed it out to view the results before doing the whole car. If the compound was too harsh to begin with it would be easy to just fix up the tested area and move to a lighter compound. As it was the horizontal surfaces could have used a heavy cut compound but I don't own any so I ended up doing them twice with the medium cut.



I understand that this sounds contrary to how we would work on a car in good condition. Typically with good paint I'd try the mildest first on a test spot to see if it is going to have enough bite to do the job then go more abrasive if necessary.
 
If your looking at a polisher ( Porter Cable, Makita etc ) now is the time to get one for your detailing needs! Hurry this sale will end on the 30th of April!
 
When are you going to get the gallons of Megs interior quick detailer back in? I wish we could order even if it's backordered and have you send to us later.

I keep putting off orders because it's not in stock and can't put it in my cart to include in the sales. Finally broke down last week and ordered a few things that were absolutely necessary, would have been nice if I could have ordered the interior QD at the same time.
 
Tricky! Posted yesterday evening (4/28/11) but the coupon code is "April 11" - I like a twisted sense of humor. :Dancing Dot:

Regards,
GEWB
 
Placed my order this morning. Something about this place, I fee like I'm waking to a local store rather than a big box chain, it's more personal. Glad to do business with you again!
 
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