# Mx5 faded



## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

Hey guys, so I've been asked to polish up an Mx5 for a mate, in which he will give me 10% of the money he sells it for. It's extremely faded. I will post the 2 pictures he has sent me and it won't be until April I'll get it.

I'm not hugely experienced in machine polishing but I was thinking of using a product like srp or af triple with my da obviously.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading.
















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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Holy smoke thats faded :doublesho

First things first you need to establish whether it is single stage or multi stage paint.

If its single stage, it has no lacquer or clear coat on top.
If its multi stage it will have a base colour and a clear coat sealing in the finish.

I would get your mate to get a white polishing cloth/microfibre/rag and put some autogylm super resin polish or similar on the cloth and rub on the bodywork of the car.

If green paint transfers on to the cloth, then its single stage paint.
Surprisingly easy to get nice and glossy again :thumb:
Its oxidation of the top surface of paint.

If no paint transfers on to the cloth, then the finish under the clear coat may be fubar. 

No amount of polishing will make it better if its under the clear. A respray would be whats required.

Although - it may be that the car has been so poorly cared for and washed that they are fine scratch marks in the lacquer/clear coat ??
Highly unlikely by the look of it - unless its been washed with a scouring pad :lol:

Do the polish test, then you'll be better prepared.

AG SRP would make a decent job of cleaning the finish up by machine.
A lot of people will tell you you also need to get some life back in to the paint if its single stage.
Megs #7 show glaze is good for that.
Over 2 or 3 days, add a layer and let it 'soak' in and re-hydrate the paint.
Same on day 2, same on day 3.

Then importantly, add a UV stable/UV resistant wax or sealant to slow the oxidation process in the future.

HTH


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Done a big of digging for you.
From the Miata forums...

"Before 1994, the only two-stage paint was silver. Any clearcoated solid colors are repaints."

Your mates car is a 1990.
And it looks like British Racing Green - which is non metallic.

Hence single stage paint.

Crack out the SRP and Megs #7 mate :buffer: :thumb:


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## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

Wow thanks for that! That is every bit of information I could of dreamt for. I was aware of the clear coat thing but seeing as it was so old I didn't think it would have it.

I will update my results once I've done the car. Obviously the paint is gonna be soft and I'm thinking of using lake country pads as I don't want to spend **** loads. What pads would you recommend? 

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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

Any pads really, nice and soft ones.

Sonus SFX2 white polishing pads or Lake Country white/orange polishing pads
Don't spend loads cos you'll only ruin them with paint transfer.

They can be buggers to get clean.


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## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

James_R said:


> Any pads really, nice and soft ones.
> 
> Sonus SFX2 white polishing pads or Lake Country white/orange polishing pads
> Don't spend loads cos you'll only ruin them with paint transfer.
> ...


Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'm probably going to need quite a few too

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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

My '77 Brookland's Green MGB was a barn find, and in even worse condition than your mate's MX-5... Over the years, I've dealt with a lot of oxidized single-stage...

The classical thought is to go after it in 1-step with a solvent and oil heavy AIO or glaze... This can make it look shiny again, and may even tackle some of the oxidation if it contains kaolin abrasives and you work them aggressively enough. However, what mostly happens is that the solvents can cause the paint to swell, and the oils fill the porous structure of the oxidation (As well as the inevitable marring from the oxidized paint being pulled off by the abrasives, mixing in with the product, and quickly overloading the pad. Especially bad on soft paint...), which makes it temporarily look better... However, you risk die-back, revealing a vehicle which has not been restored to the amount you initially thought.

Single stage paint is not any different to other hard-surface materials when it comes to correcting it... It's not like aniline leather, and doesn't have to be 'fed', or 'conditioned'. Weathered single stage does show a more marked initial improvement from oily products than a newer clearcoat paint finish, as it can be more porous, but as I said above this improvement is typically just an illusion. The oxidized, damaged layer of paint needs to be abrasively cut away, at which point it will start behaving more like a normal clearcoat paint, and can be refined and corrected accordingly.

Heavy oxidation is one of those situations where 2-steps can actually be faster, and more effective than one.

For the first stage, you can do what is called a 'Mow Down' pass (The term I believe coined by Kevin Brown.)... Take the most aggressive pad you can get (Something which handles large loads of swarf well, and is easily cleaned as you go... A very coarse foam pad with big cells, or a wool pad... These are also going to be more durable.), and a well lubricated non-diminishing polish or compound... Since you're on a budget, something like Meguiar's Ultimate Compound would do the trick. Optimum Polish II, Meg's D300, even M205, etc, would also be good... With oxidation single stage, it's the pad that need to be aggressive, not necessarily the product.

Don't worry about technique so much with this step. Just hammer down, and make 1-2, high pressure passes over as large a working area as your product allows. Brush out the pad in between sections. You're going to get a lot of marring and scouring with this... However, it can be cleaned up quickly and easily in step 2, so don't worry... You just need to get the oxidized layer off before any attempt at polishing will behave correctly. This will also restore enough gloss to the finish that you can actually judge its true condition.

Because you've quickly removed the oxidation, the second refining step - even if you just want to remove the marring from the first pass and restore the gloss, rather than tackle any deeper defects - can be as quick as you want. You're not going to be needing multiple hits with the same product, or chasing your tail with marring from the oxidized swarf building up on the pad.

What pad/product you pick for your second step depends upon how much time you have, correction you want to achieve, and how truly soft the paint is... Again, a non-diminishing polish will make for a quicker job. M205 or OP-II on a moderate polishing pad, providing the paint isn't crazy soft, will allow you to clean up the marring from the 'mow down' in probably 2-3 passes (Though that of course depends upon the paint itself.)... Otherwise, just use whatever finishing/polishing products you prefer, or find the finish responds to. You just know that your results are going to last, due to that critical 1st step.

This is the most time-efficient method of truly restoring a heavily oxidized finish I have found...

Also, single-stage paint staining almost always washes out of pads (Though it can stain microfibers.) with a bit of APC... I've never 'ruined' a pad working on a single stage paint. I _have _ruined them working on rough, contaminated paint, but that's because the surface abraded the foam. Wool holds up better in this situation, though...

Since you don't want to spend a fortune on pads, I would recommend something like the Shinemate Short Wool, Flexipads short 'Pro Wool' pads, or Lake Country Thin Purple Foamed Wool for your standard 8-9mm throw DA for that 1st step... The LC's are a bit more money, but I can attest are pretty much indestructible. However, as this sort of pad has no interface to help it flex, they can be rather tricky to use in concave sections. Fortunately MK-1 MX-5's don't have a lot of areas this will be a problem, though, so you could get away with taking care of those spots by hand with a short-pile microfiber towel (Or a different sort of pad.) if you find yourself struggling.

For the second step, assuming a polishing pad will do the trick and you don't need a finishing pad, something like a Tangerine LC Hydro-Tech (The thin ones, that Polished Bliss sells.), or a White Chemical Guy's Hex-Logic both are in the 9-quid range for a 5.5" pad... Both are good. Just make sure to keep them clean by running them against a microfiber in between sections, and that you have enough on hand to change out when they get too loaded to prevent marring the finish...

Hopefully this helps. :buffer:

- Steampunk


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## olliewills (Feb 10, 2017)

I so miss my MK1 MX-5, was a brilliantly fun car to own and drive. You'll get epic amounts of paint transfer to the pads but you'll be amazed by how quickly the colour comes back, particularly with a DA.


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## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

Steampunk said:


> My '77 Brookland's Green MGB was a barn find, and in even worse condition than your mate's MX-5... Over the years, I've dealt with a lot of oxidized single-stage...
> 
> The classical thought is to go after it in 1-step with a solvent and oil heavy AIO or glaze... This can make it look shiny again, and may even tackle some of the oxidation if it contains kaolin abrasives and you work them aggressively enough. However, what mostly happens is that the solvents can cause the paint to swell, and the oils fill the porous structure of the oxidation (As well as the inevitable marring from the oxidized paint being pulled off by the abrasives, mixing in with the product, and quickly overloading the pad. Especially bad on soft paint...), which makes it temporarily look better... However, you risk die-back, revealing a vehicle which has not been restored to the amount you initially thought.
> 
> ...


Christ! That's some advice, must of taken you ages to type all that up. That's why I love this forum. Thankyou so much  I also have a lhr75 that I got in a sale. Haven't used it much but at the price I saw it at I couldn't not buy it lol. So that will get me in the tricky areas I should imagine.

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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

mangove21 said:


> Christ! That's some advice, must of taken you ages to type all that up. That's why I love this forum. Thankyou so much  I also have a lhr75 that I got in a sale. Haven't used it much but at the price I saw it at I couldn't not buy it lol. So that will get me in the tricky areas I should imagine.
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk


Glad to be of help. 

For the LHR75, I would use the Rupes Blue Foam pads for the initial cut... Those short-wool pads I listed really don't play well with these these long-throw mini machines. Otherwise, it's a great little machine for this sort of work. :thumb:

- Steampunk


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## derbigofast (Dec 6, 2011)

the best pads for this type of job are spta pads from a certain e b a y seller very cheap so you wont mind destroying a few on the way and usually you can get as many of one pad as you like my favorite allrounder is the green pads more like a medium polishing pad. the company name is zfe on e b a y.


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## BarryAllen (Feb 3, 2017)

What he said above about cheap pads... buy lots and lots, use one per panel and throw them because if it's single stage paint it looks like you are going to be chopping out quite a lot, and no cheap pad is coming back from that.

They won't explode and they won't separate (well that's my experience anyway) unless you are laying on the DA machine!

If you want to see what can be achieved with an AIO polish only... here you go:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/31073-dodge-neon-extreme-makeover-dodo-juice.html

I am expecting yours to turn out as good! ;-)


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## suds (Apr 27, 2012)

Post #7 by Steampunk is the way to go.

Ordinarily we refer to nourishing faded paintwork (Megs#7) on collectible classics where it is considered unwise to risk abrading the original paintwork. This car is past the point of no return- the dead paint has to be removed before polishing (although there may be an argument to nourish the paint before the polishing stage if it is still looking tired/dry?)


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

I found the best way to tackle single stage paint that is heavily oxidised paint is to remove as much dead paint as possible.

Last year I done a full restoration on a heavy oxidised MG GTB In British racing green which had been left outside for two years by the Vetrans garage near Manchester.

Now I new the only way to start was to remove the top layer without and machine work. So after a waterless wash, I got out my trusted Meguairs #7 show glaze and applied it by hand all over the paint. After 24hrs I removed it with damp terry towels which I had plenty of. This removed all the dead paint and just left a dull shine. After a panel wipe I could then go and start the full correction, which if you follow me on instagram you will see all the pictures you want. Also you will see it at last years Footmans classic car show.

What you want to use for cutting are cheap pads or old MF cutting pads to do the cutting as you will go through a lot. For the finishing then you want to use newish pads to get the best finish as possible.


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## BarryAllen (Feb 3, 2017)

Yeah Mike Phillips has written up on the Glaze technique as well.... but he warns its really hard work:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...w-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

BarryAllen said:


> Yeah Mike Phillips has written up on the Glaze technique as well.... but he warns its really hard work:
> 
> https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...w-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html


This is the method I have used in the past:thumb: I done a 70s RR with this same method and it also worked wonders on old single stage paint :thumb:

Hard work though


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## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

There's so many different techniques I don't know which to go for now lol

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## DirtyFlirty (Jan 9, 2017)

mangove21 said:


> There's so many different techniques I don't know which to go for now lol
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk


Just follow the KISS approach, you may already have the proper material in your detailing shelves :thumb:


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## BarryAllen (Feb 3, 2017)

I doubt he will have Meguiars No 7. Rare as Hen's Teeth on these shores.


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## big dave 666 (Aug 2, 2014)

Follow post number 14
If you can't get megs #7 then any oily glaze will do
And read the post with the link to the mike phillipps article and read said article.


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## DirtyFlirty (Jan 9, 2017)

BarryAllen said:


> I doubt he will have Meguiars No 7. Rare as Hen's Teeth on these shores.


Despite I like all the options mentioned in this thread, I wasn't thinking about Megs #7 when I wrote that, to be honest.

I presume that bringing that car back to shine like when it was recently acquired from the dealer implies a hard work.

I'd say that the choice of the specific method of work for this car depends on the goal and the motivation of the OP (preserve original paint as much as possible, % sales, just having fun transformating that lovely green MX-5...).


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## mangove21 (Apr 26, 2015)

So I've ordered some pads and polishes that were recommended. But I'm just wondering on what cloths to get. Obviously they're going to covered in paint transfer so don't want to spend loads. Would the costco ones be any good? Or can anyone recommend any others. Thanks

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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

mangove21 said:


> So I've ordered some pads and polishes that were recommended. But I'm just wondering on what cloths to get. Obviously they're going to covered in paint transfer so don't want to spend loads. Would the costco ones be any good? Or can anyone recommend any others. Thanks
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk


They will be fine:thumb:


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