Hey guys, so me and my friend are going to detail our friend's probably 1975 (somewhere in that era) Dodge Van. It looks oxidized and uncared for and like a giant driving piece of sin . We took a quick look at it today to see what we are in for. I believe it is a single stage paint but I am not positive. I will do a small test spot to see. We got a little QD cleaned off a portion of the mini hood and then got some clay with QD and holy !@#!!!!! I thought I didn't have enough QD on at first until I realized that it was dripping off the hood and it was completely drenched and the resistance I was feeling was the paint. I looked at my clay after wiping it back and forth about 5 times and it was covered in brown nastiness. I kept claying that same spot and spraying QD and guess what, it started to get smooth.

The guy is going to sell the van which isn't worth too much anyways, so he just wants us to do a simple clean up on the paint. Here is what I am guessing to do for the plan of attack.
Wash
Clay
Color X
NXT or 21

Any advice on my procedure. I am fairly certain it is SS and I think that if we do that it should help make the color pop. There are very very tiny swirls but you can't even see it under the oxidation and swirls are the least of the owner's worries with his car.

Thanks.

 

If it is original paint, it is for sure single stage.

Grab some aggressive or at least mild clay (not white fine) if you can.

Give it a good pre-soak with soap.

Wash thoroughly. then go at it with some clay and do your thing. FU with Color-X is a good call. The Color-x should hit the swirls a little bit as well.

Seal with #21 or NXT, whichever you want.

 

Alrighty Thanks! All I have is a mild blue clay bar, but I guess I will just have to use some elbow grease. What exactly does FU mean (I know what you are all thinking but seriously )

Gotta pick up some color x in the morning!

 

Follow-up

 

Not much to add on this one other than you better take A LOT of pics...

This has ultimate makeover written all over it from the sounds of it...

-RP-

 

Agreed here-- good ideas you have going, good process. I will tell you from detailing a 1980s Mercedes that the claying will take longer than EVRYTHING else COMBINED... And it will completely thrash a bar. But, on the bright side, it will make a WORLD of difference.

Good luck!!!

 

Will it really ruin the bar? I cut my bar in half and then into fourths which are still pretty big pieces of clay. I may take one of those fourths and cut it in half again so I don't ruin all my clay

 

My bet is that... yes, you will trash AT LEAST one clay bar during this job. Keep that in mind for your pricing...

 

If the exterior is that bad, I can only imagine what the **** carpeting interior looks like.....

 

Sounds like a hell of a project. Do photograph some of this!

 

With heavily oxidized SS paint, I think I'd take a different approach than clay. I'd go with old school methods - a rotary or orbital polisher with wool bonnets (be prepared to throw them away) and an appropriate compound or cleaner designed for SS paint and machine usage.

 

Well, I know Andrew doesnt have a rotary... so that's out. And I dont know of a wool pad for a D/A... but I could be wrong...

But, yes, Andrew, it will thrash at least one bar. And take forever. However, it will look and feel 1000x better than before.

Sometimes, hard jobs like these are worth going low on $$$$ if it means you get the job. Why? Because the pictures you can take and use to promote yourself are invaluable. "Look, I took this horribly oxidized and faded paint and brought it back to looking almost new-- on a van that was 33 years old!"...That kind of thing...

 

You pretty much hit exactly what I was thinking. I still have a question about the clay. Will I have to use my entire blue clay bar, or will the quarter of the bar that I am using be good enough? Because I really don't want to have to use my entire blue clay bar and ruin it. I kinda don't have the money to buy another clay bar after my last purchase :/

It looks like I won't be able to get to the van until lunch. (I have white megs clay and blue megs clay, the blue megs clay will work on the van but I am assuming the white won't work too well, but if my part of the blue gets ruined the white should still work well if I do other cars right? (I haven't opened the white yet))

 

Well, lets remember how close we are in age... Our minds think similarly... Whereas people like Rollingrock would say that he wouldnt touch it.... LOL!


As with normal claying, use a fractional part of the bar-- 1/4 is a good number. But, as the bar becomes trashed, you may need to go to another chunk. Now, since this is a clean up, dont be afraid to use the bar longer than normal. I had a similar sentiment when I did the mercedes detail, and thus thrashed a half a bar. I really should have gone through 2 FULL bars, but I decided that since I was going to use #80 anyways, it wouldnt be too awful to induce a touch more-- the car (and in your case, van) was neglected for YEARS anyway, so its not *that* bad IMO. Some may disagree, but w/e.

The white will be fine for other cars. The reason why we told you to not use white on this van is because you are going to need to added power of the blue bar. Honestly, this is one of those RARE times when a red bar might be appropriate. Purple at least. But, like yourself, I have a limited funding thing going on here... no clay trifecta. Thus, a bit more time with blue is what it takes.

If you want/need to call me during the detail, shoot me off an email or PM. I will be away from the computer after a little bit (soon). I'd be more than happy to share some knowledge or answer any questions you have.

 

Alright thanks f150sport. Looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and destroy some blue clay, but eh I still have an unused half of blue and two small white clay bars. I am really just doing this van to see how good we can get it looking. I saw it at first and thought it was hopeless until I did a test clay spot. I really hope this baby turns out good!