First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

[69chevelle327]

Hi my name is Mike and this forum is great!! I searched and read a few threads but wanted to see what you guys recomended for me.

I have a 1969 Chevelle Painted with PPG silver BC/CC. I had the car painted about 9 months ago. It has been sitting in my garage and never seen the sun. I left it uncovered to let the paint cure and it got pretty dusty. I used a california car cover duster to remove the heavy dust. Its dust free now! I know I should have taken care of it a bit more than I did but I know the body shop did a few coats of wax. It was an expensive paint job and want to give it the proper care it needs.
I was not able to move the car since the front suspension was fully pulled apart.

It's movable now and want to roll it out and wash and wax it.
I really don't want to do any sanding and dont have a buffer. What do you guys recomend? I know I have to use special car wash soap, and then wax it???

Thanks for listening and appreciate everyone's feedback. MIKE

[mis3]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

I would do a clay and 2 coats of wax with 12 hr cure time.

Of course if you have time, you can throw in a Polish (maybe DC-2) in between as well.

[mis3]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Not sure about what special car soap.
???

[tcope1]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Clay new paint that has never seen sun light? I don't see the need (other then to remove possible cheap wax that the shop put on... but this could also be done with a soap such as Dawn... much easier then claying).

I'd recommend using Megs Gold Car Wash. It's only a couple dollars more then cheap wash and it's _so_ much better. Mix according the directions. Read up on the two bucket method. There is also a great (and long) video on Youtube covering how to wash a car using the 2 bucket method.

I'd recommend a coat of NXT 2.0 after that. If you want to give the paint some extra "pop", use a coat of Megs #26 24 hours after applying the NXT.

I mention these products as they can all be bought locally and can be easily applied by hand.

[JLMex]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

I would recommend the first thing you do is wash your car, I recommend a Meguiar's wash mitt and GC shampoo
Your Daily Driver: A Simple Wash & Wax Regimen

That will get you a good starter. Or follow the 5-step paint care cycle:

Good luck!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Hi Mike!

Are you sure the body shop put wax on a freshly painted car? That's usually a big no-no as you don't want to seal that paint during the first 60-90 days so it can out gas and cure. Could it be they just put some glaze or pure polish on instead?

Assuming that's what they did, you may need to clay it after washing. It sounds like you had quite a bit of dust settled on the surface and after 9 months on an unprotected surface, it would not be surprising that some of it has bonded to the point where a simple wash won't get rid of it all. Simple enough to confirm this - wash and dry the car and then run your clean, dry, bare hand over the horizontal surfaces. If they feel at all rough, even just in places, they some of that fallout has probably stuck and it should be removed with clay. Your paint should feel as smooth as glass. But we don't mean smooth as the glass of your windshield because that is subject to the same fallout as the paint - no, when we say "smooth as glass", we mean as smooth as the glass of the mirror in your master bathroom. It also would be terribly surprising to discover that only the horizontal surfaces have these bonded contaminants.

Your second evaluation step involves close visual inspection in direct sunlight. If the body shop used a glaze to conceal holograms from their buffing process it's probably gone by now, even sitting in the garage. Certainly after you wash the car. Even the best painter is not necessarily the best detailer, so holograms are pretty common place following a paint job. This is where a buffer can come in real handy, although you can eliminate holograms working by hand with something like SwirlX or Ultimate Compound, depending on hardness of paint, level of defect, etc. Proper use of these products can be seen in a video embedded in our 5 Step Paint Care Cycle thread.

Either way, you will definitely want to put a good coat of wax on the car when all is said and done.

[Rick McDonough]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Mike, when all is said and done with your restoration I would love to see a couple of pictures if you get the chance...I gather it has (or will have) a 327 in it based on your member name. Very cool! I have a restored 1967 Camaro that used to have a 327 in it.

[BarryK]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Mike

I'm with Michael Stoops when he says that just sitting in the garage for 9 months dust easily can get bonded into the paint.
I'd follow his advice on giving the car a good wash, followed by claying it.
Afterward, when finished with the claying, look at the paint very carefully for the holograms he mentioned. I've had multiple classic cars painted by EXCELLENT painters but also as Michael mentioned painters aren't always the best detailers and do tend to leave holograms and other defects in the paint. If you see defects like this you may be able to get them out by hand but it would be MUCH easier with a buffing machine.
After washing, claying, (and possibly polishing to remove holograms, etc) follow up with a good coat of wax or sealant.
As already previously mentioned NXT 2.0 sealant followed up with a top coat of #26 wax makes an excellent combination. On my '65 Corvette show car I use M21 (pro line version of NXT 2.0) topped with #26 wax and it looks great. It would make the silver on your Chevelle really sparkle.

Rick McDonough: Until Mike posts back with pics of his 327 here are two pics of my 327 in my 'vette. It's a L76 - 327/365hp:

[69chevelle327]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

I really want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond. So, I have a lot of stuff to buy. So let me know if I got this in the right order.

1. Wash my car with Megs. Gold soap, two bucket method.
2. Clay it
3. Look for holograms and remove with Swirl X or Ultimatic Compound
4. NXT 2.0 sealant
5. #26 Wax

I still have a few questions...In any of these steps should I avoid sunlight?
Also what would holograms look like on my car?? Some swirls? If I do find holograms and I can't remove them by hand, can I proceed with the next steps and finish up the car. The reason I say is because the car still doesn't have the motor and trans and is not drivable to the body shop. Would it be hard for them to remove the holograms after I waxed the car. Or if I do find holograms just wait and take the car to the body shop?

Hey Rick I will post pics of my car with the 327 when she is in there. Barry that 327 looks super sweet!!! I dig it!!

I will post pics of my car when she all washed up and pretty. I will be reading up on this stuff as much as I can. Thanks again to all this is all new to me.

[BarryK]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

I really want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond. So, I have a lot of stuff to buy. So let me know if I got this in the right order.

1. Wash my car with Megs. Gold soap, two bucket method.
2. Clay it
3. Look for holograms and remove with Swirl X or Ultimatic Compound
4. NXT 2.0 sealant
5. #26 Wax

I still have a few questions...In any of these steps should I avoid sunlight?
Also what would holograms look like on my car?? Some swirls? If I do find holograms and I can't remove them by hand, can I proceed with the next steps and finish up the car. The reason I say is because the car still doesn't have the motor and trans and is not drivable to the body shop. Would it be hard for them to remove the holograms after I waxed the car. Or if I do find holograms just wait and take the car to the body shop?

Hey Rick I will post pics of my car with the 327 when she is in there. Barry that 327 looks super sweet!!! I dig it!!

I will post pics of my car when she all washed up and pretty. I will be reading up on this stuff as much as I can. Thanks again to all this is all new to me.

I would do everything after the wash (claying, polishing, waxing) inside the garage or in the shade - not out in direct sunlight.

Do a search here on the forum under 'holograms" and you should find plenty of example pictures. Once you see a few pictures of holograms it is easy to identify on your own car if you have them.

If you find holograms or swirls, etc and you can't get them removed by hand you can proceed to waxing but be aware the defects will still be there. They won't hurt or harm anything being there except the presentation of your beautiful classic car.
If you do find holograms I would NOT recommend taking it back to the bodyshop that painted the car. As already previously mentioned most painters are not good detailers and if there are holograms in the paint they are there from the bodyshop already so no reason to believe they are skilled enough to rebuff the car and not leave them again. Holograms from bodyshops are VERY common.
If you find holograms and can't remove them by hand I'd recommend first to at least get the layer of sealant and/or wax on the car anyway for now so your paint has that good protection layer on it. THAN, you can get yourself a nice DA buffer machine and learn how to remove the holograms than maintain your paint yourself - we are more than happy to talk you thru that if you post back on here about that OR once the car is on the road you can take it to a professional detailer in your area who can get the holograms out for you

Personally I think you should invest in a DA buffer yourself and learn how to remove the defects and maintain the paint yourself. You can than use the buffer not only on your Chevelle but also your regular driver car(s) and you would have it for years. It's an excellent investment.
Meguair's, Porter Cable (PC), Griot's, and Flex all make excellent DA buffers to consider.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

I still have a few questions...

While you want to do all your work in the shade on a cool surface, you definitely want to do your evaluation in direct sunlight. Shadows will hide even pretty horrid defects in black paint, so holograms in anything else will be rendered invisible without harsh, direct light.

The picture below shows pretty severe holograms:



If you look closely you can literally follow the path of the rotary as it moved up and down on this hood - sort of like the little dotted line in those "Family Circus" cartoons in the Sunday Comics section! This sort of defect is only going to happen from hurried use of a rotary buffer and is common to see, in varying degrees, after a repaint.

This next shot is just spider web swirls, albeit really, really bad spider webs! Run your car through a tunnel brush car wash repeatedly, or wash it with an old rag and then dry it with that towel your dog chewed up and sleeps on in the corner, and you'll get this.



How quickly they come out is dependent on the hardness of paint, severity of the defect, your technique with the tools at hand, and your choice of both pad and liquid.

Barry makes an excellent point here - you really should consider this.

Personally I think you should invest in a DA buffer yourself and learn how to remove the defects and maintain the paint yourself. You can than use the buffer not only on your Chevelle but also your regular driver car(s) and you would have it for years. It's an excellent investment.
Meguair's, Porter Cable (PC), Griot's, and Flex all make excellent DA buffers to consider.

[Rick McDonough]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

Rick McDonough: Until Mike posts back with pics of his 327 here are two pics of my 327 in my 'vette. It's a L76 - 327/365hp:

BarryK - Your 327 is super clean and original, thanks for the pictures. What year is the Corvette? Would love to see a picture of it. I took the 327 out of my 1967 Camaro and built up a 383 stroker motor. It's a fun toy for sure. A good buddy of mine restores Corvettes so I'd love to hear more about yours.

[69chevelle327]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

o.k. thanks Barry and Michael. I read the 5 step and explained and helped a lot. I am looking into a DA buffer as we speak. I'll keep you guys posted. I plan on working on my car this weekend.

[BarryK]

Re: First time washing and waxing a Newly painted Car What Steps?

BarryK - Your 327 is super clean and original, thanks for the pictures. What year is the Corvette? Would love to see a picture of it. I took the 327 out of my 1967 Camaro and built up a 383 stroker motor. It's a fun toy for sure. A good buddy of mine restores Corvettes so I'd love to hear more about yours.

I didn't want to sidetrack this thread any further so I sent you a PM