Help a Beginner Out...

[RDY4WAR]

I've got a 1993 Camaro Z28 drag car. For the 2 years I've owned it, I've just done a basic wash with the cheapest stuff I can get off the shelf at Walmart, and do it maybe twice a year and just clean off tire crude from the rear bumper in between. I didn't really think much about it since it is 25+ years old and the paint is fading pretty bad anyway. Plus, it's not a show car nor does it ever see street time.

However, a friend snapped some pictures of it at the track this year and seeing it on his DSLR made me realize just how faded the paint really is. So now I'm looking into ways to touch it up for this year. I'm not expecting showroom quality. I just want to bring that deep red color back a bit. It's got a good bit of swirls, scratches, minor dings here and there, and I don't expect to get those out. However, I realize I need to do something about them in order to help the wax / sealant really work like it should. So... I need help.

I don't own an orbital, dual action, or anything of that sort. Any polishing I've done in the past has been by hand, and it was a PITA. I figure I could do a wash, claybar, polish, and then wax. I don't want to spend too much money on this or that very indepth. If I don't get all of the swirls and scratches out, it's not an issue. Any spectators will be viewing the car from the stands anyway. I just want to have that deep, glossy color.

I looked over the sticky and have some ideas for products. What I'm looking for is such as... is an orbital necessary / beneficial for what I want to do? How often would carnauba wax be expected to need reapplying as the car is under a cover when not at the track. Any advice beyond that...

Another things is the windows. The car has no AC nor defrost. That's all been gutted out. I regret at times such as night when the windshield wants to fog up while I'm trying to stage the car and going down the track, especially in the cooler months. Any advice on products to help deal with that and prevent the fogging issue?

 

[Donald]

HF DA buffer/polisher is not very expensive. Under $50 I think.

 

[joel95ex]

the harbor freight DA is actually very good and there's also a mod to lessen the vibration. their foam pads are also decent. an orange pad and mequiars ultimate compound will give good safe results even for a novice. you will need several pads though. watch youtube videos. the compounds nowadays aren't like the old ones and with a DA are very safe. you could also try mequiars 205 or 105 depending on how bad the paint is

 

[Skippy722]

Here's what I did to my old Caliber that was so scratched/swirl marked that it looked faded and borderline dark gray when the light hit it.

I washed it real good by hand with dawn soap. I then clay barred the entire thing. Once that was done, I used a Harbor Freight DA polisher and their pads with Meguiars compound. Work in small sections while doing this, like split the hood into 4 sections small. Once that was done, I switched pads and used the Meguiars polish, doing the same thing in small sections. After that, I finally waxed it with Meguiars Ultimate as this was before the amazing Turtle Wax Shine and Seal.