[xjustinx]

***Disclaimer***

This is a GUIDE. We do not take ANY responsibility for any stuff ups you make!


Paint resto's!

Hi all!

Corollas are old cars. The paintwork on some, especially red ones, can be dull, lifeless and boring.

I once purchased a Essex white Corolla, which had rather dull paint. I put together a few pictures a ruff guide to give you an idea to repair, replenish and then protect your paint from furhter weathering and etc.

Products used in this details.



- Merguiars quick Clay kit.
- Merguiars Fine-Cut detailer
- Autoglym Paint renovator
- Mothers Pure Carnauba Wax
- Autosol Metal polish
- Merguiars Gold glass microfibre cloth.
- Merguairs applicator pads.
- Car Wash
- Sponge

How the car started off.






Weather spots on the clear, lots of grime buildup and basically a old tatty paint job.







The paint had a chalky look and feel to it, it lacked depth and gloss.

[xjustinx]

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[xjustinx]

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[xjustinx]

From here, I washed the car to remove any loose dirt and grime.

next step, was the claybar.

If you have embedded matter in your paint, the claybar is the solution.

Make SURE you have clean hands, remove ONE claybar and cut it in half, wrap the other in a glad wrap back and put it away.

Make sure it's airtight and doesn't try up.

This is a little trick also.

Put the 1/2 claybar into a gladwrap bag, nicely soak the bar and the inside of the bag with the lube soloution and let it soak for 5 minutes. Helps the claybar to glide nice and smooth.

Now, work in sections when claying. Do 1/2 the bonnet at a time, then a panel a time.

When using the claybar, make sure the surface is well lubed otherwise you can and will scratch your clear coat.

Spray on some lube, work in a up down motion and do NOT press down too hard. Apply light pressure.

If the claybar isn't gliding, and getting stuck, you need to apply more lube. If you run out, car wash + water works well too.

After a few passes, run your finger down the section. If it smooth and satisfactory, move on. If not, continue until it is.

[xjustinx]

Mild Cut.

After the claybar, I used a mild cut to remove the faded layer of clear and bring back some sheen to the paint.

This is a noobs, guide, so we will be using our hands and no machines!

Park the car in some shade, aka your Garage

Again work in sections as with the claybar. 1/2 the bonnet, panel at a time etc.

Apply some cut to the applicator pad, and work in a up down motion once again.

Put some elbow greese into it, and really be firm with areas that are bad (front of bonnet, room, tailgate, around the door handles)

Once you have cut bback the paint a bit, and you can see the solution disappearing, buff the excess off car with a microfibre cloth OF soft 100% cotton rag. Be sure to get on eye level with the paint, as the stuff is a bastard to get off at times. Once it has all been removed, check the paint with a visual inspection.

here is my car after a mild cut, remember the real shine comes in with a polish and wax.








Looking good!

[xjustinx]

Polishing.

Once paint has been cut back, it is always good to polish it.

Polishing paint brings back the upmost gloss and depth.

Apply the polish to applicator pad, and buff it into the paint working in a swirl motion to begin with.

I usually do the whole car, let it sit for a bit then come back and buff it out.

Apply harder to sections that are a little worse for wear



When you proceed to buff the car, work in a up down motion.

Make sure you remove ALL the polish, again checking by eye level is always good!

Here is what my car looked like after a polish.

[xjustinx]

Waxing.

Now, to seal off your hard efforts, its crutial to wax the car.

Don't be fooled by this liquid wax rubbish, honestly it's crap.

Get yourself some pure carnauba wax, it comes in a tin and is a solid.

EG



It smells great!

Now, there are two ways to do this.

1) use a damp rag, apply some polish to the rag and then apply to car

2) take a small piece, rub into hands and then apply to car.

So, apply the wax all over the car.

Work in circles, squares of even triangles. Just make sure you put a decent amount on it, so it looks like a haze over the paint.

Once you have done the whole car, go inside and kick it for 30/1 hour. Let the wax work its magic and seal the paint up.

Come back and buff it off with a microfibre/Waffleweave/100% pure cotton soft rag.

Again, check at eye level as this stuff can be stubborn!

Check it out...





This pic really does it justice, just a great depth to the paint.



You will find, with a nice layer of wax, that your car will attract less dirt.

Also, once washed, it'll always look great (like the day you polished your car: )

Wax maintainece:

After 3/6 months, pending weather, apply another layer of wax on top.

Claybar where needed, and cut/polish if there are any scratches etc.

After 12 months, REMOVE the old layers of wax with the correct product, cut/buff where needed, claybar and apply a fresh layer of wax.

if you pile up wax, especially on old stuff, it gets all hazey

Hope you guys use this guide and have a go at fixing your own paint!

All the products used are mild, so there is no way you can really strip the paint to primer or anything like that.

[SUP16V]

just to add to what justin has said, i do not reccomend to anyone who has no experience to buff there own cars as most people think yeh ok wool or foam pad will do, this is incorrect there are 3 different grades off foam pads and you use them all when doing a proper job, u have a cutting pad, a waffle pad and a finishing pad, the waffle pad is for getting the paint back up to the gloss finish it had as after u cut the paint on the car you lose all shine and gloss, the waffle pad brings it back up, the finishing pad is for going over the paint once again with a polish that has a slight cut in it (different to what justin has used)

and one other thing, you should always re wash ur car after buffing and before applying polish

[Riley]

just to add....read the instructions on your products too

i know with Meguairs stuff you have to leave it to dry to a haze before buffing it off, but with Bowdens for example you dont let it dry - it has to come straight off

[najib UGO-78N]

for cut and buffin u hav diff finner pads to just not waffle ones ....and diff compounds for different pads and if buff is used incorectly u may burn the surface and u can fix that with out painting it