I recently got a 93 R1 in black that has been outside most of its life. The paint has dulled and I am looking forward to polishing it up. I finished clay baring the car and started with a ver light polish and pad. I pull the pad up and see black. After searching I found out that this car doesn't have a clear coat. So what have people used to polish these cars? Can it handle a more abbrasive cutting pad and compound? There a few areas that will take some extra passes. Thanks!




Hoping it wil look like the bmw behind it when done

 

Wait a second. It hasn't been repainted, i imagine? So does that mean the stock black (specifically paint code PZ) didn't come with a clear coat? I haven't looked into this before. I just assumed they all did since that's what made sense to me. I'd love for mine to look like your bimmer. But I am considering having it repainted a Mercedes black instead.

 

When I bought my '93 in 2006, it was still wearing the original Montego Blue paint. And I do mean wearing. It looked horrible, pealing and pitted - I believe there was a class action lawsuit for factory MB painted cars. I wouldn't expect too much from original paint.

 

Yes apparently it varied. I was reading this thread to get more info.
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...t-81373/page2/
Never buffed one stage paint before

 

It can be buffed all the same, just pays to be a little less aggressive,

a few questions 1st,.\

is there much orange peel left or is the paint pretty smooth.

if its smooth then its been buffed a few times before and has less paint to take off.

if this is the case, then go really easy, if its still got a good amount of peel then there is plenty of paint to play with.

eaither way, stay away from the mothers and mequires products for machine cutting, their polishes and other care products are awesome, ive just found their cutting compounds are very expensive and not real flash.

i like to use the products below, they seems to go a lot further than the 3m i used to use, and a proper wool pad for cutting and then the double sided waffle for a light cut and machine glaze.

the glaze for dark colours is amazing, far less swirls and the finish is out of this world.

i then just follow up with a nice mequires wax.

a few tips tho, mask up all your rubbers, and enything you dont want compound on, and i like to use the instant detailer spray in between each compound to make sure its all off the panels and masking tape, nothing worse than picking up a bit of cutting compound when your glazing, especially on a black car!!!

krem

 

Thanks for the advice. The person I got it from has owned it since 1994 and I am pretty sure it has not been polished many times so hopefully I can really work out some of the blemishes.

 

Ideally I’d find out how much paint is left. I might try a light 2200-2500 grit wet sanding using a soft hand pad at least on the horizontal surfaces, staying away panel edges. Then a less aggressive compound. Looks like some PDR might be in you future too.

I like 3m stuff, but that’s what I got used to 40 years ago. Wool pads will be more aggressive, keep a little water in a spray bottle and go slow to keep heat down.

 

Man, that looks like it's gonna need at least a two step correction. The end result will be worth it. Sounds like this thread is on the right track but if you're going to go through all of the work of buffing and polishing, finish it off with a good synthetic sealant instead of just a wax. Sealants last a lot longer than waxes and are tougher than wax and if you really want too, you can stack a wax layer on top of them or something like a silicone spray on coating post wash. There are tons of options that you'll probably want to experiment with and my favorite place for detailing supplies is autogeek.net. I'm not affiliated with them by any means, but they have a big variety of high quality products unlike your local Autozone. Gl;hf!

 

It's coming along alright, but unfortunately the only hope for the hood is probably a respray. There is a lot of spidering and pock marks that are through to the primer. I think the rest of the car will buff out alright. It looks alright from 10 feet away.

 

Looking good.

i generally do a scrub with the orbital and a foam backed wet pad from 1500-2000-3000 when i do mine, especially when they are that bad, i did it with the mrs black peugot a few yrs ago and it looked totally amazing, made the pearls light up great.

a lot of ppl shudder when you say to rub the car back with sandpaper, lol,

keep up the great work

krem

 

Yes, single stage with no clear on red too. Be careful not to blow through the paint especially the edges, as being too aggressive will go down to the primer. You seem to be following the correct steps, Wash, clay then polish. To get out those deep defects work from least aggressive to most. Use a DA polisher. I like the microfiber pads (cutting and polishing). Make sure to blow out those pads between passes, otherwise you are just rubbing old dead paint back on the surface of your car. As others said, mask off the black trim and areas you don't want to polish. Properly polished and waxed the old girls look amazing!

 

Ive finished polishing the car to the best of my ability. It is definatley an improvement but it will need a full respray at some point. I can live with this for now. Oh and it's gonna need some wheels and tires.

 

Looks great. No touch-up paint?

 

Touched up a couple of scratches but other than that I used a meguires cutting compound with a soft foam pad. The paint was pretty thin and didn't want to cut too deep.

 

Took it out on the road today. Looks much better in natural light.

 

Good work. The car has come along way. ---> https://www.rx7club.com/new-member-r...-keys-1135148/