Paint Workshop, June 2008

Pat Yanahan has for several years conducted workshops on the topic of undoing the minor ravages of time on our cars:  scratches, swirl marks and stone chips in paint, drying-out and fading of leather, hazing of plastic.  Eager to document this year's session for the club web site, your Webmaster volunteered his not-exactly-a-356 as the demonstation vehicle.  Pat, who takes an inclusive view of Porsche ownership, graciously accepted, and in short order he showed the assembled guests how easy it is, with the proper techniques and tools, to make a twenty-five-year-old paint job look as good as new.

The key to shining paint, Pat told us, is not wax but an absolutely smooth surface underneath the wax, free of swirl marks, scratches, oxidized paint and mounds left by touch-ups.  Most of his demonstration was devoted to showing us how to achieve that goal by careful application of touch-up paint and proper selection and use of mild abrasives, including 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, Blue Magic metal polish and 2000-grade sandpaper.

Pat's friend and fellow concours-preparation expert Joh Diwik, who was present at the workshop, has kindly provided us with a written guide to car care products.  (This is a pdf file and you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.  If you do not have the Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click here to download a free copy from Adobe.com.)  It includes both his personal assessments of specific prooducts and links to their manufacturers' web sites.

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