Best glaze/wax approach for minimising topcoat crazing?
 

Hi all,
I’m about to start the cosmetic work required on my 740 saloon (as per the bumper refinish thread), and although the old boy will get a respray in the original stock silver at some point, at the moment I just want to get as good a finish as possible with cutting/glazing/waxing.

The bonnet and roof have quite a bit of topcoat misting and some light crazing too. I’m aware that there’s no fix in a bottle for this, but my plan is to cut it back with metallic t-cut and a mop, then glaze it and wax it.

What approach would you take? Are there any products you could recommend that would be best suited?

Apologies for the deluge of Qs lately...I just want to get it all done right!

Thanks again in advance for any and all advice,
Phil

Respray !!!

Jon.

It’s definitely going to get the above ASAP...the body is structurally remarkable for a 28yr old car, barely a speck of rust anywhere other than a couple of minor stone chips, so it’s 100% worth forking out for a good respray.

Money is a tiny bit tight at the moment having just bought the car, however, so I’m looking at some little bits I can do to brighten it up for a couple of months until I’ve got the readies to hand to get it done properly...

Just slightly surprised, I've had 7 x 700s/900s, all have had superb paint, best of all is my 32+ yr old 744.

Jon.

This works very well Phil :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meguiars-.../121899703962?

It uses "diminishing abrasives" so the more you work it, the smoother it gets.

A useful tip is to get one of those plant sprayers (usually about 1L) and fill it full of water then damp each panel down before you start. Sometimes you might need to damp it down a little "mid-treatment" but not often.

Damping it down to start helps the compound to spread out more easily resulting in a better finish for less effort and less chance of a missed corner getting dried compound on that is difficult to remove once dry.

You can put it on using a machine polisher (Dual Action/DA is better than plain rotary) and then buff it by hand or with the right buffing pad on the polisher, with the machine.

While it won't take all the "craze" out of the lacquer, it will take a lot out and the Deep Crystal will give it some "pop" until funds permit a total respray. It does have to be used in order though, the Paint Cleaner first, then the Deep Crystal and finally the Carnauba Wax to seal the shine in.

Who knows - you might even decide it doesn't need a respray after that lot! ;) :D

Once the clear coat breaks own there can only be small improvements made. It can be shinier but close up there won't be any major improvement whatever you do. Daves method will get you that improvement if done carefully. Forget the T-Cut, that is very old school and there are much better compounds to be had. Consider getting a Farecla Clay mitt from Halfords (or elsewhere) and doing the whole car before you start any polishing. It really does smooth the surface and will make subsequent work easier.
The roof will have to be resprayed but there might be another nice bonnet out there that you can fit.

I think your proposed clean, polish and wax is as much as you can do. It is more about reservation of what you have, rather than actual improvement.

I don't use any product like t-cut and prefer to clay bar polish maybe twice a year and then use local car washes and with the wax finish to preserve the work done with the polish.

That's true enough but taking into account what Derek said as well and my personal experience of using the Meguiars, if the crazing/misting is only light in the lacquer then it can be easily polished out with the Paint Cleaner.

However, if the misting/crazing is deep then only a respray will sort it but if it can be made to look much more presentable for a few hours work and several tubs of elbow grease and protected with the wax for a bit more then it's well worth doing.

Someone else mentioned the clay mitt - i've heard good reports on them but usually only on paintwork that's pretty good to start with - the suggestion here is that it will still need the crazing polished out first. Whether that's right or not i'm not sure as i've never used any clay product (mitt or bar) so can't comment from personal experience, only what's been told to me by others on another forum.

Those others spend a lot of time on various detailing forums as well so i have reasonable confidence in what they suggest. ;) :D