Hi Everyone! My husband and I bought an '82 Z28 last Friday. The first thing we'd like to do is clean it but the paint is original and we're not sure what to use on it - it's in good shape and we don't want to screw it up. I found the buffing/polishing sticky post - thanks for that - so we know how to proceed on the wheels. I also read through the FAQ section and determined that our car was built in Norwood Oh, i.e. solvent based paint.

Can anyone tell us which products work well for them, why they like them, any tips on cleaning a 28-year old car?

BTW, we're finding great information on this website. Great job to all the posters and the moderators.

Cathy
(attaching pics...)

 

Nice looking Z and from the picture she already looks clean!

Theres a good chance theres swirl marks in her, i suggest, with a buffer to use swirlx 2.0 for swirls, along with a meguiars claybar, meguiars polish, and meguiars nxt gen 2.0 tech wax. The nxt gen will look GREAT when properly buffed TRUST ME! do it in this order (and make sure to buy MANY thick microfiber cloths)
1. wash entire car with dawn soap
2. go over the entire car with claybar
3. scratch x over entire car
4. polish entire car
5. wax entire car

for interior i suggest using a degreaser like oomph and then use meguiars interior protectant. and for stains in carpet and regular carpet cleaning i like turtle wax oxy clean interior soap. for engine use degreaser and a good high pressure hose attachment. Good luck!

 

though, I've never used Scratch X, and usually do polish after wax

 

Ive been detailing cars as a second jb for over 5 years and have 2 years of paint correction experience. I also have painted cars and have 8 years auto body experience.

tools needed for optimal results:
Dual action random orbital. Flex/PC/cyclo
paint thickness gauge
pad set. FULL pad set from lake country or similar


That being said on a 28 year old car with original paint the first thing you will need to get is a paint thickness gauge or caliper. You dont know how many times its been polished, sanded ect. what you need to know is how thick is the paint so you can move on and make a decision on products. you can pick one up on ebay around 20$ up to 200$

Now you can start your process starting with a good highly concentrated wash of your choice. Dawn dish soap is great for stripping old wax, glazes and sealants.

Next you will NEED to clay bar the car. Get yourself a decent clay bar. Poor boys makes a good bar. so does pinnacal. You can also go with an OTC megs bar as well.
Use with a quick detailer to slide the bar smooth over the paint constantly molding the clay to form new clean surface.
Do not skip this step. You paint needs to be clean of surface contaminants before you move on.

Next use the gauge on the body all over to make sure it is thick enough to use compounds and polishes

Now that you know how thick the paint is with the caliper and the paint is clean you can make a decision on products. If the paint is thick enough you can go with something that allot of the detailers call the 1-2 knockout or megs 2 step. This is meguires #105 and meguires #205. #105 is the Ultra Cut Compound. #205 is the ultra finishing polish. This is a great beginers paint correction system. You will get out swirls, micro marrs, haze, water spots, and scratches that are not all the way through.
The 105 is much needed on old paint. After using this 2step only follow up with the 205 every 6 months to a year depending on if your car is well kept. The 105 should only be used on needed spots after the initial job. You dont want to over polish as this could really decrease the amount of paint you have left.

Use the DARO buffer for this step try starting with the least coarse cutting pad before moving up in pad coarseness. I usually use the yellow LC pad with 105 and the 205 with a green or white pad. Visit lakecountrymfg.com and look at their pad application guide in pdf.

Next product of choice would be your wax. You will want as much caranuba in a wax as you can get. My choice of wax is autoglym hd for me this is the best all around wax. It comes down to preference after you have used many. For you I will recommend Dp max wax or p21s 100% cara. These waxes produce truly outstanding results on black cars. These are paste waxes and from my exp with p21s you will need to apply it to the pad(black finishing pad) Its thick like butter.

For products like wheel cleaner I recommend Sonax wheel cleaner. It goes on foamy and turns red when its cleaning. I use it all the time.

Trim and tire dressing I recommend adams VRT. It works great and stay away from anything but water based dressings. Others get sticky and grimey after time and tend to yellow. Also there is a new product I have used a few times and is available OTC called eagle 1 Keep Away. It protects wheels from getting dirt,brake dust ect stuck on. Keeps wheels clean for weeks.


For the interior use an interior cleaner and separate interior protectant. Use an interior scrub brush similar to a fingernail brush to clean with cleaner. Degreaser works but is very harsh and may prematurely dry out the surface. I always use DP combo for this. Dp total interior cleaner/DP total interior protectant.

Dont forget to keep your exterior clean with a quick detailer in between waxes.

Overview
Exterior:
claybar/quick detailer
paint thickness gauge
Dual action Random Orbital Buffer. I use a porter Cable (Best money I have ever spent on a tool)
megs105/205
DP max wax, P21s or autoglym hd is available OTC at pepboys

Dressing/wheels
Adams VRT or Waterbased dressing
Sonax wheel cleaner( try not to get on body paint)
Eagle one Keep Off

Interior
DP interior combo available for a good price at autogeek.net
Other specific interior cleaner/protectant 2 step not all in one may be used as well

 

Iroc S and Blackb, Thanks for your replies - all the time you took to relay your expertise! I really appreciate it. It was way more than I had expected. We can't wait to get started. Mark, thanks for your input as well!