Put to the test!
Craig Mackinnon's paint wasn't in good condition. The red finish on his Mustang 5.0 is 18 years old, and was turning pink in a hurry.
Though the car spends weekends putting down quick passes at the drag-strip, horsepower wasn't enough to spare its owner from frequent razzing about owning a pink car. I spent an afternoon applying Mother's 3-Step (cleaner polish, glaze, wax) system as per Jim's advice- to see if I could get some of the car's color back.
After reading the instructions and about 4 hours of work, I was left with a pile of red-stained buffing-rags, a sore arm, and one candy-apple red Mustang.
The first step- a cleaner polish- stripped the pinkish-white layer from the top of the car's paint- and was most notable at restoring color on the roof, hood and trunk. After the glaze in step 2, the color was more lustrous, and a final application of super-sticky pure Carnauba wax in step 3 left it protected and looking fantastic.
The roof was discolored beyond what this application could fix, but its patchy, dull pink color was reduced to a darker, more uniform shade that stood out less. The rest of the pink panels were now back to a glossy red.
Owner Craig Mackinnon commented "I thought the paint was finished, and that I'd need to repaint it. I can't believe the color- I've never seen this car look so good, in the past 4 years I've owned it. I'll be waxing it more regularly now for sure."
Good thing- because my arm's going to be sore for a while. If you've got a motorized buffer, use it!
photo:Justin Pritchard
Craig Mackinnon's paint wasn't in good condition. The red finish on his Mustang 5.0 is 18 years old, and was turning pink in a hurry.
Though the car spends weekends putting down quick passes at the drag-strip, horsepower wasn't enough to spare its owner from frequent razzing about owning a pink car. I spent an afternoon applying Mother's 3-Step (cleaner polish, glaze, wax) system as per Jim's advice- to see if I could get some of the car's color back.
After reading the instructions and about 4 hours of work, I was left with a pile of red-stained buffing-rags, a sore arm, and one candy-apple red Mustang.
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The first step- a cleaner polish- stripped the pinkish-white layer from the top of the car's paint- and was most notable at restoring color on the roof, hood and trunk. After the glaze in step 2, the color was more lustrous, and a final application of super-sticky pure Carnauba wax in step 3 left it protected and looking fantastic.
The roof was discolored beyond what this application could fix, but its patchy, dull pink color was reduced to a darker, more uniform shade that stood out less. The rest of the pink panels were now back to a glossy red.
Owner Craig Mackinnon commented "I thought the paint was finished, and that I'd need to repaint it. I can't believe the color- I've never seen this car look so good, in the past 4 years I've owned it. I'll be waxing it more regularly now for sure."
Good thing- because my arm's going to be sore for a while. If you've got a motorized buffer, use it!
photo:Justin Pritchard