vw bus from 1966 original paint

[air-mike]

hello,
i just bought a vw bus from 66 in california. it was stored from 93. It has the original paint that is faded and no rust.
Now what can i do to make the paint as good as possible.

my guess is:
deep crytal paint cleaner (step one)
clay
deep crystal paint cleaner
clay
nxt tech wax

Let's here what your opinion is, i'm new too this kind off waxing.

[Murr1525]

Well, seems like this could work:

1. Wash - Use something high quality like Gold Class

2. Cleaning first could be a good idea. Just to help keep the clay bar from piling up with junk. This could also be a good time to use ColorX, as the mild abrasives would help remove oxidized paint.

3. Clay - Quick Clay

4. Clean again with D#1.

5. Polish - Faded paint like this will definately need polishing, to help stabalize and restore it. Use DC#2, or #7.

6. Wax.

Nxt Metal Polish for wheels, dress the tires, clean the glass, should be good to go. Use some Nxt Tech Protectant on the dash, and other interior plastic.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

Originally posted by air-mike
hello,

i just bought a VW bus from 66 in California. it was stored from 93. It has the original paint that is faded and no rust. Now what can i do to make the paint as good as possible.

k0oL

One of the tricks I've used over the years when restoring original, single stage paints that are important to either the owner and/or myself, (and in the case of a car owned by someone else then both), is to rub the finish down with #7 Show Car Glaze first, before working on it. To do this, use a piece of 100% terry cloth toweling, cut out a piece about 4" by 6" and then fold it in half so you have a piece of cloth in your hands that measures 3" by 4", (or something close to this, the point being to have a peice of cloth that fits across your fingers, with a little thickness.

The idea being to condition the paint before working on it and thus making the paint more [workable instead of just diving in head first and starting to abrade/clean old, delicate dried out paint.

Your process would then look like this,

Wash
#7 Show Car Glaze
Paint Cleaner
Clay
Polish
Wax


You can substitute Deep Crystal Polish for the #7, and for a paint cleaner Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner will work, you might want to consider something with just a little more strength such as,

ScratchX
Clear Coat Body Scrub
Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner


Take your time, work carefully combining the human elements of care and passion and your Bus's finish will look show room new!

[Pete-FWA]

When using that #7 in the early stage, do you work it very much or just quickly wipe on and off?

The goal is to give you some lubricity and a window to what you might find underneath the aged top surface, right?

Interesting approach, Mike

[Murr1525]

Definately work the #7 in some. You want to push the polishing oils down into the paint to make it more workable, and not as delicate.

It may show a little of the window underneath, but there is still going to be a lot of dirt in the paint, so it wont be a perfect indicator.

[gb387]

Mike, That is very interesting(#7)... Makes sense.


air-mike... post some photos when you get it looking good. Nice little VW Always thought those were neat looking. Don't see many around, well not in Iowa anyway.

[air-mike]

Thank you guys for all the great help. I will post some pics how it worked out. Will take some days because the bus arrives on the 28 october here in belgium.
More info is always appriciated
greetings from belgium,

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike,

I think it's pretty cool you got this bus from here, (California), to there, (Belgium), here where I work... (in case you didn't know), we call this Car Crazy!

Out of curiosity I have to ask,

• * Can you share some of the hurdles you had to jump over to get the bus to you?
  * Is there any special reason you really go for these older VW buses?

Inquiring minds want to know?


On a personal note, I wish I were there, I would love to help you restore this original, antique paint.

[air-mike]

@ mike: it's not so much trouble to get a bus from california to here in belgium. the seller in cali brings it to a shipping company, and these ship it to antwerp where it will be unloaded and i can go and collect it after paying 6% off taxes on the total price. Shipping costs are around 1200 dollar. There is a great vw-scene over here in europe. and those old vw busses are a hit over here. The prices in california are still affordabel for us. Here the prices start at 12000 dollar for a bus over in the U.K. they are about 30% higher.
But with all this busses shipped to europe there aren't gone be that many left in the US over a couple off ... and your prices will also rice.
Why we go for these old busses??? the charmes,the looks,.....

[Mike Phillips]

Sounds good to me, thanks for sharing this with our forum...

[the other pc]

Congrats on the "new" ride!

As a native Californian I can't help but love VW Buses. They're really an icon of our local culture. It's great to know that it's going to a great home where it will be loved and cared for. I don't think we're in danger of running out of them anytime soon, you still see a lot on the road, driven every day.

It's always fun when the VW Bus/Transporter get-together rolls around out at Irvine Lake (a few miles northeast of Meguiar's Irvine headquarters). You see Buses of all ages and condition from perfect restorations to daily driven beaters cruising around town.


PC.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Pete-FWA
When using that #7 in the early stage, do you work it very much or just quickly wipe on and off?

The goal is to give you some lubricity and a window to what you might find underneath the aged top surface, right?

A few years ago Mike suggested I try this on a Jag with neglected 30 year old lacquer. It worked great.

I applied the #7 pretty thick (more so than normal, that's for sure) and I worked it in well. I used the PC/G-100 with a 8006-type pad but the terry by hand might be better in this case given all the oxidation. I'd refold/replace the cloth as it gets loaded with whatever might come off/out of the paint. Sometimes it's surprising what just terry and #7 will do.

I left the #7 sit overnight; I did *not* buff it off the usual way. A good deal of it soaked into the paint. After the overnight wait I did a light wipedown with a soft cotton towel to remove any excess #7 that was just sitting on top of the paint.

The subsequent use of paint cleaner and clay removes most of what's left of the #7 along with a lot of oxidized paint. I'd inspect at that point and decide what to do next then. Until then it'll be hard to tell what you're really dealing with.

What a great project! I just love it when people find these old vehicles with original paint that's still salvageable.

[air-mike]

thanks Accumulator, i really like them this way too. in original paint and with a little bit of patina.
It gives the bus a personel caracter and there is gone be just 1 with this kind off patina. It's like a personel signature to the car.

Here's another one i like, shiny with patina
a bit extreme for this forum????

[Mike Phillips]

When you get time, read through this...

How to put pictures into your posts


Using the information in the above link and how to articles, I just uploaded you Attach File into your gallery here,

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=5465&cat=500&password=

[the other pc]

Hey air-mike,

Just wondering how it was going with your ‘66 VW Bus?

The Orange County Transporter Organization had their annual show this weekend. I saw the invasion of bug vans around town and thought of you.


PC.