My '89 red Firebird has sat 15 years in a garage without being washed or waxed. Does paint dry out such that I have to be careful what wax or polish to use the first time?

 

as long as your garage was kept at a pretty warm temp your paint should be fine. hose it off well before you do any scrubbing and then wax it. if it was a basecoat clearcoat job the clearcoat will protect the basecoat. if it was single stage like most thirdgens then its probably faded but if it isn' cracking you can do wonders with a clay bar and a good buff

 

Garage is not temperature controlled. It freezes in winter and gets hot in summer. I don't know paint but car was repainted in '94 so factory paint is gone. It has tons of dust on it but the paint is still shiny.

So what kind of products should I use for the first cleanup and shine?

 

Give it a good wash with Dawn dish soap and then clay it and then see what's what.......

 

Give it a good wash with Dawn dish soap and clay it and then see what's what.....

 

use alot of water. over alot of years dust and dirt can start to bond into the paint and you don't want to be pushing alot of suff around IN the paint. you want to lift all that dirt off so make sure your sponge/rag is clean rinse if out alot if you have to. lots of water and something safe like regular blue dish soap like chazman said. honestly though you should be fine. uv exposure is what really kills paint and sitting in a garage for years more than likely hasn't done any damage to the car.

 

You were 100% correct. The paint felt like sandpaper after washing. I decided to leave it to a professional and the guy spent 12 hours on it. He was worth every penny.... I bought the Zaino daily driver kit to maintain it from now on (I'll do first application this fall).

 

Is it possible to be TOO **** about your car? I see exhibitors at indoor car shows and they're dusting every 2 minutes! I'm ready to say, "DUDE, you're gonna wear a hole in your paint with that duster!"

 

car looks awesome glad its all good now.