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It's all in the Details! [more Bret's Shark tales]

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Bret

Bret

Yoda
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Well as you can see I’ve been keeping busy on taking care of the cosmetics on my 78' Porsche 928. But what you can’t see is some of the minor electrical gremlins that I’ve addressed but I’ve covered most of those in other posts. This posting is about cosmetics and making my tired old paint look good before I’m forced to break down and have it re-sprayed.

As has been noted in my past Shark postings & installments the Shark’s skin is (was) a bit dull, a little oxidized and had a lot of swirl marks. Particularly bad were the doors and the finders. Not counting chips & scuffs, the rest of the body isn’t in all that bad of shape and nothing I can’t live with until I save up ($$$) for a descent paint job.

Anyway what you see below is the results of a lot of elbow grease & sweat, buffing & waxing – then waxing & buffing again. Every chance I had I'd attack one finder and/or panel at a time for the past week or so (an hour here a couple hours there), until I though my arm was going to fall off. Now some may ask why I didn’t use a buffer? Well I did get one for Christmas this year - but honestly it’s still kind of new to me & frankly I’m a little concerned about burning through the paint. So I only use it sparingly until my confidence is built up.

Anyway here’s the results.

polishnwaxed.jpg


cleanednwaxed.jpg


Also as you can see I’ve been busy cleaning up under the hood/Bonnet too. I installed a new hood liner (kind'a Cool Uh? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif ) and used some degreaser and/or general cleaner where ever if felt safe to do so.

enginebay.jpg


Thoughts? I guess I'm just in need of a pat on the back after all that work and am wondering if I'm being too cautious with the buffer?

Cheers,
Bret
 
From the pictures at least it sure seems to have cleaned up nicely. Nice work, that ought to tide you over until a repaint can be budgeted (though it looks just fine as it is from here).

Porsche sure packed that motor in, didn't they. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
Bret

Looks good, better to be overly cautious.

Patrick
 
As for the Buffer. Another friend told me to go to a local junk yard and pick up a distressed body panel, hood or deck lid to practice on. There's a good wrecking yard near where I work at the Border & I'll swing by tomorrow afternoon.
 
Oh & here's an updated "Butt" shot of the Shark for Tony? I know he told me liked the rear profile of the 928.

porschelettering.jpg


The raised lettering is new and the "silver nickle" really sets off the black paint.

Cheers,
Bret
 
Gorgeous! I've got a buffer too, but I never use it. I find I can do a much better job by hand.
 
"wax on, wax off" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Mr Miyagi would be proud

Looks great!
 
Looks awesome! You sure it's a '78? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif I've seen three that are that vintage or close, and none could hold a candle...they were light colored too (red, white, and tan), so who knows how many dings appeared hidden!
 
Thanks for the kind words - but my Shark has its share of 30 years of dings. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Hey Bret,

What kind of buffer did you get?

If it’s a rotary buffer you definitely want to practice elsewhere until you’re comfortable with it, scrap panels, beater cars, etc.

If it’s an orbital or DA, don’t sweat it. You’d almost have to try to hurt your paint with it.

Once you get the hang of using a good machine you’ll never even think about trying to polish out surface defects by hand. You’ll get far better results with far less work using the right machine.


PC.
 
I've got a regular rotary buffer. But I'm thinking of upgrading to an orbital type with the foam pads and applicators.
 
Orbital machines are much safer than rotaries and much easier to learn how to use. The good ones like the (very popular) Porter-Cable are both safe for your finish and effective at removing mild to moderate defects. (Cheap orbitals are more than safe, they’re ineffective.)

A rotary in the hands of a skilled craftsman is still the ticket for major restoration on a seriously degraded finish but any enthusiast can easily learn to do very good work with a good orbital.


PC.
 
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