Restoring my 308, where to focus my time.

S

StormBringer

New member
First post looking for some help. I bought a 88 Mera 308 that was in terrible shape cosmetically, mechanically perfect through as you can never seem to get both.



My paint was basicall destroied but I felt that it could be saved with some elbow grease and I like a challange. Basic opinion on the paint is bad, when I got it is did not even reflect anything, you could float your hand above the paint and all you could see was the shadow. If has been stored outside for about 20 years and washed maybe once every 3 months.



First off my regimine for getting the car back into shape.



Clean/Strip what little wax was on the car.



~3 passes with mild wool on my potter cable with a very aggressive Paint/oxidation cleaner. (No sure of what I should call it as the local shop mixes it in there basement as far as I know) Speed 2-3



3 passes with r-26 on a 3m Yellow foam pad. Speed setting 4-5



3 Passes with R-21 on a 3m yellow foam pad. Speed setting 5



2 passes 100% cab cherry wax.



Biggest problem is that I simply can't get the scratchs out of the paint, plus as the car gets more and more clean the scratchs show more and more. So where should I spend my time to eliminate them.



At night through it simply blows me away. The other thing is that it seems that the paint is drying out. I get done as the car seems to simply lose it's luster over time. Is there any way to get a lot of lipids/oils into the paint to stop this.



I will try to post pictures but I am not sure that they will work correctly of what it looks like.



Clean and in the shade.

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Scrathes as best I can show it.

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Im not sure which brand of yellow pads you're referring to. If they are the Lake Country yellow pads, you might want to use the white pad instead with the products that will follow. If you are speaking of the Meguiar's yellow pad then you're on the right track.



If you don't have Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish and #80 Speed Glaze, do what you ca to pick them up. Use your PC and the polishing pad to apply the #83. Do so until it starts to dust and then promptly remove. Check the paint to see if the desired results have been achieved. If not repeat. When the surface is to your liking, follow with the application of #80 or #81 Hand Polish to remove any hazing that may have occurred. You can then finish with whatever wax/sealant you choose.



Be careful as you don't know how aggressive others have been with the paint in the past and you just might find primer in some places. Remember to use one product per pad and don't use too much. You should use a few pounds (3-5) of pressure on top the PC to help with the polishing at a speed of 5 for the #83 and 4-4.5 for the #80.



I hope this helps.
 
I am basically doing what you suggest just with a different product. It seems that I am on the right track product wise, what I can't figure out is what is the most important step in removing the fine scratches that show up in the direct sun.



The large scratches I can pull out with the wool and the heavy cutter. The paint has never been touched my a high speed buffer, heck I doubt it was even waxed more then once every two years so I have some doubt if it can even be reswtored, it is fact approching 20 year old paint.
 
I'm not familiar with your products, so I can't tell you much there, but you don't need to be using a yellow pad on your final polishing step. It will create fine marring. You need a white polishing pad. Yellow pads are typically cutting pads. I would look into some different products to see if that helps. Menzerna, 1Z, Poorboys, Meguiar's, etc.
 
Thank you that might be it. I might be interducing fine scratchs during the second to last pad. Will have to try a panel with the white polishing pads that I have.



As for the other products I will stop by the locaol shop to see if they have anything.
 
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