# The Number #7 Rub Down Technique for Original Single Stage Paint - All original 1938



## Mike Phillips

*The Number #7 Rub Down Technique for Original Single Stage Paint - All original 1938 Packard*

*Original Single Stage - 1937 Packard - The Number #7 Rub Down Technique*

Here's the IN-DEPTH on how to use Number #7 to restore antique and original paint, as well as some Car Detailing History thrown in.

*YouTube Video*






People have been asking me for _years_, even a *decade* now to make a video showing *The Number #7 Rub Down Technique* for original and antique single stage paint. All these years I've been waiting for the right car to demo this technique plus capture the before and after pictures.

Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze










*Today my long-time friend, Mike Stowe brought me his all original 1937 Packard with the original factory lacquer paint. *










*Here's my antique #7 collection including a very rare can of #7*


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## Mike Phillips

Continued....

BEFORE CONDITION


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## Mike Phillips

Continued....

*Fiber is your abrasive*

As I mentioned in the video, a lot of people would automatically use a rubbing compound and compound the paint. When paint is this old it becomes dried-out and brittle. Using a compound will remove too much paint. In fact, it's likely you'll remove so much paint you'll have thin spots all over the car where the primer shows. You can even chew through the primer and leave exposed bare steel.

The least aggressive approach

Instead of using a compound or even a polish, here's how I do it. I use fibers as my abrasives. Currently, Griot's Garage offers the perfect towel for this step, it's a 8" x 8" microfiber wax removal towel. What makes this microfiber towel unique besides the out-of-the-norm size is that it has a rather large nap or LOOP style weave. This LOOP of fiber weave acts as your abrasive when you massage the Number #7 over the paint and then later when you go to remove the oily Number #7 the LOOP of fiber acts to SLICE into the oily film and break it up and loosen it from the paint surface. This makes removing the Number #7 easier on you and more gentle to the paint you're trying to revitalize.

Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towel

What makes these cool is they are single sided so no need to fold and re-fold or remember which of the 8 sides of a normal 16" x 16" towel has been used or not used. The towel also offers something I talk a lot about when it comes to restoring antique single stage paint with Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze and that's a large loop nap towel. For restoring paint I use a large nap cotton towel to act as both a gentle forum of abrasive and also to slice into the thick oily layer of #7 when it's time to remove it.

This is a microfiber towel so you get the safety and plushness of microfiber but the large loop works to slice into and break up layers of wax or actually anything you want to remove.



















*100% Cotton Terrycloth Toweling*

If you don't have access to these Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towels, the next best thing is 100 Cotton Terrycloth. For example, an old bath towel, hand towel or even wash cloth. When using an old cotton terrycloth towel, be sure to pick one that is soft and contaminant free.










*
Cut sections out of the towel about 8" x 8" so they fit your hand like thus,*










*Use Number #7 Heavy or Wet*

Anytime I share to use a product heavy or wet, this means use a lot of product. In the case of Number #7, you are using the oils in the #7 as both your lubricant to lubricate the process of rubbing the towel over the surface. You're also massaging or pushing the oils INTO the paint. The action of rubbing the towel over the surface using the #7 acts to gently abrade the paint and thus remove a lot of the dead, oxidized paint. As you remove old paint, you make it easier for the #7 oils to penetrate into the underlying base of good paint.










*Good Old Fashioned Elbow Grease*

I have people ask me all the time,

_Can I apply the #7 by machine?_

The answer is "no".

This is simply one of those things in life that is best done old school and that's working by hand.










*Bringing out the full richness of color*

After massaging the #7 over a section of paint for just 30 seconds or so, you can see a lot of dead paint coming off the car and onto the terrycloth towel.

You can also see how the #7 oils are penetrating INTO the paint restoring the full richness of color as compared to the un-touched sections of paint that still look dull and lifeless.










*Continue to rub-down the entire car using the #7 heavy.*










Here you can see the heavy layer or wet layer of #7 TS Oils I've left on the paint to saturate the paint as the car soaks in #7 overnight.




























*Before and After for Video*

I left the front sections of the hood and fender un-touched for the purposes of demonstrating on these areas in the video. Normally I would rub down all of the paint.




























*2 bottles of #7 for a car this size*

Just to help you gauge how much #7 is needed, I used to full bottles to apply a heavy, or wet application to this 1937 Packard.










*2- applications - Switching over to the Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towels*

Here you can see the cotton terrycloth I used for the first application of #7 and then I went over the car a second time, (without removing the first application, I left it on and rubbed right over it), only I remembered I had the Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towels and because they are higher in quality than cotton, I switched over to them for both the second rub-down and the next day to remove the #7.










*Here's the paint on the 1937 Packard soaking in a very wet application of the #7*










*Oil migration into the paint*

Here's how the #7 works - over time, the TS oils in the #7 migrate into the paint in the same way you see these oils migrate into he printer paper. This takes time. This is why you let the car soak in the #7 overnight.


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## Mike Phillips

Continued....

The next day I removed all of the #7 using about a half dozen of the Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towels. Here you can see oxidized paint coming off the car and onto the GG PFM towels. This is normal and to be expected.










*Technique Tip*

If you find it difficult to wipe-off the #7 now that it has been sitting on the car for hours, here's how to make it easy to wipe it off.

*Like dissolves like*

Simply re-activate the layer of # on the car by re-applying some more in the same manner you applied it the first time. The #7 will liquefy itself and then wipe the entire mess off while it's still wet on the surface. This also acts to push even more of the #7 TS Oils into the paint.

*Time to seal the deal*

After removing the #7, next you want to seal the paint using a traditional Carnauba Wax. You can use whatever you like but I find for these older paints a traditional wax works great.

I just happen to have a small collection of Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax in my antique wax collection and it only seems fitting to use this classic wax on this classic car.


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## Mike Phillips

Continued....

AFTER SHOTS

_And here are the final results...._

























































































































































































































Sure it's not perfect, perfection was never the goal. The goal was to remove the dead oxidized paint and bring back as much shine, gloss and richness of color possible without destroying the original paint in the process.

This is called,

_*Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential*_

As I type this article, it's April, 2020 - This means this car and the paint on this car is *83 YEARS OLD*. And with a little care, this car and the paint could possibly still be around in another 83 years.


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## Mike Phillips

Continued....

I get asked if Meguiar's is going to discontinue the #7 Show Car Glaze.

My answer? I don't know.

It all depends on sales volume. If it continues to sell well they'll keep it around. If sales fall off.... it will probably see the *manufacturing axe*.

If you think you might even be in the position to detail a car with the original and/or antique single stage paint, then stock up on a bottle or two. Store them where they won't be exposed to extreme temperatures in both the the hot and cold spectrums and they could last for years and even decades.


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## Mike Phillips

Continued...

I took a short video of this car and shared it on my FB page, click the link to watch the video. It's only 2 minutes long.

Mike Phillips - The #7 Rub Down Technique

Here's the walk-around video I took after removing the wax. It's on my FB page and around 5 minutes long.

Mike Phillips - Hand Rubbed Lacquer Paint


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## Mike Phillips

More....

For reference, here's the link to my original article on #7

*The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints*

And what I find interesting is how many replies and views this thread has considering almost everyone in the car-driving world owns a car with a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint system.

I just took this screenshot....










There are more #7 articles here,

*All Mike Phillips #7 Show Car Glaze Articles in one place*


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## Mike Phillips

More,

Here's a behind the scenes shot showing Yancy working his magic....


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## James_R

Cheers Mike, be interesting to see how this comes along


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## Mike Phillips

James_R said:


> Cheers Mike, be interesting to see how this comes along


As I type it's 12:30pm Eastern Time here in the U.S.A., Florida specifically.

*We go live in 2.5 hours.*

After the live broadcast, then I actually have to remove the #7 and hand apply a wax.

Then machine scrub the running boards and tires. Polish all the britework and then she'll be ready to go back to the owner.

The interior is all original and it's clean. I'll probably take the Tornador Air Blow Out Gun and blow it out.


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## James_R

Tuned in and watching this Live now 

Been watching loads of Wayne Carini on Chasing Classic cars during the lockdown and its interesting to see what the results of using #7 is going to be on this Packard.

He has loads of barn finds and old stuff, and I always wonder whether he's going to restore or leave original.


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## James_R

Hehe 20 minutes in Mike and you mention Wayne Carini's Hudson :thumb:


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## Mike Phillips

James_R said:


> He has loads of barn finds and old stuff, and I always wonder whether he's going to restore or leave original.


If you watch and listen to Wayne carefully when he shares what he's going to do, most of the time, he'll say something like,

_I'm going sell this like it is and let the new owner restore it like they want to_

Which means, I'm to smart to dump a ton of dough into this money pit, I'll let the next guy do it.

That's smart.

He does have an awesome team and a great restoration shop and I believe he does restore all the cool stuff he likes or he knows he can re-sell easy down the road.


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## Mike Phillips

James_R said:


> Hehe 20 minutes in Mike and you mention Wayne Carini's Hudson :thumb:


I shared a true story, the part I left out was this,

Mike,

I'll pay for your hotel, the changing of your airline tickets and take you out to dinner if you'll stay a few days longer and rub-out the Hudson

*Here's Wayne watching me intently...*










*This is me taking the after shots and Wayne's approval. Look at the gloss and clarity in the original paint.*










*The Hudson in front of Wayne's F40.com shop*










*Wayne and I*










Wayne is a real cool cat.

:thumb:


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## James_R

Thanks for sharing Mike.
I enjoyed the live stream.

Great pics of you and Wayne above.

Discovery channel has kept me sane these last few weeks.
I've got loads of Chasing Classic Cars tee'd up on the Sky Box to record almost every day lol

Keep safe and hope business is still ticking over nicely.


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## Mike Phillips

I've updated the first page of this thread.


Added the YouTube video from this project.
Added all the before pictures.
Added the how-to info on how to do the #7 Rub Down Technique.
Added the waxing pictures.
Added the after pictures.


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