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Hey folks,
So, a while back I was asked to take a look at a '68 Dodge Charger. The car had been repainted over twenty years ago and had not aged well. This is a one owner Charger and needed a bit of work, to say the least. Spring break was just around the corner and the restoration filled the week nicely.
Here's what the car looked like to start:
Talk about a little texture...
With all the deep scratches and texture, I really had no choice but to sand the entire car.
So, I sanded the whole car using 1500 Unigrit Sanding discs (both 3" and 6") with my PC 7336 and 3" Mirka sander in the tighter areas. For the finish sanding, I chose to use 3000 Unigrit Finishing discs. After much testing, the Unigrit discs provided a more uniform surface free of pigtails that was easier to polish. Mirka Abranet Soft disks level much better, but they left pigtails on this paint. A big thanks goes to Kevin of Buffdaddy.com for getting the abrasives here in time!
Oh yeah, so much for spring break. We got up to 50 degrees with drizzle most of the week...
Test spot using 3" MF cutting pads and D300 Compound:
To level the sanding marks, I chose to go back to the rotary and a wool pad with M105 (old school mix, of course). The paint was extremely hard and needed something very aggressive. For the edges and tight areas, I used my trusty 7336 and 3" MF cutting pads. After the initial cutting, I used 5" MF cutting pads with D300 on the DA to remove any holograms. To further refine the finish, I used a 6" MF finishing pad and M205.
Five days later, I fired up the car and inspected the work out in the sun.
Overall, the car turned out very nicely. The owner was thrilled to see the difference a sand and polish can make, even on an old paint job. Although the paint wasn't 100% perfect, it is still better than 99% of the cars sitting at the local dealership.
Oh yeah, I skipped a trip to Hawaii to polish out this classic. I guess you can say that the detailing obsession is pretty deep...
-Chris
So, a while back I was asked to take a look at a '68 Dodge Charger. The car had been repainted over twenty years ago and had not aged well. This is a one owner Charger and needed a bit of work, to say the least. Spring break was just around the corner and the restoration filled the week nicely.
Here's what the car looked like to start:
Talk about a little texture...
With all the deep scratches and texture, I really had no choice but to sand the entire car.
So, I sanded the whole car using 1500 Unigrit Sanding discs (both 3" and 6") with my PC 7336 and 3" Mirka sander in the tighter areas. For the finish sanding, I chose to use 3000 Unigrit Finishing discs. After much testing, the Unigrit discs provided a more uniform surface free of pigtails that was easier to polish. Mirka Abranet Soft disks level much better, but they left pigtails on this paint. A big thanks goes to Kevin of Buffdaddy.com for getting the abrasives here in time!
Oh yeah, so much for spring break. We got up to 50 degrees with drizzle most of the week...
Test spot using 3" MF cutting pads and D300 Compound:
To level the sanding marks, I chose to go back to the rotary and a wool pad with M105 (old school mix, of course). The paint was extremely hard and needed something very aggressive. For the edges and tight areas, I used my trusty 7336 and 3" MF cutting pads. After the initial cutting, I used 5" MF cutting pads with D300 on the DA to remove any holograms. To further refine the finish, I used a 6" MF finishing pad and M205.
Five days later, I fired up the car and inspected the work out in the sun.
Overall, the car turned out very nicely. The owner was thrilled to see the difference a sand and polish can make, even on an old paint job. Although the paint wasn't 100% perfect, it is still better than 99% of the cars sitting at the local dealership.
Oh yeah, I skipped a trip to Hawaii to polish out this classic. I guess you can say that the detailing obsession is pretty deep...
-Chris
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