Paint...

Happy Memorial Day!

Time to catch up.  Last post was on Thursday, May 20th.  On Friday, May 21st, Susan and I met some of my high school friends for happy hour at a pub on the north side of town.  We had some laughs, some drinks, took some pictures and then headed out.  When we got to the car the whole back end was covered in bird droppings.  This should have been a sign for how the rest of the weekend would be... but I digress...

We arrived home and despite the late hour I proceeded to wash the Mustang.  I also washed Susan's.  Heck, it was sitting right there and getting wet too so I figured why not surprise her with a clean car? (She loved it by the way).  So, a couple beers later, jeans and t-shirt soaked through and through, I finished both cars and headed to bed.

A few hours later I was up and getting ready for my niece's wedding.  Showered, dressed and with all my gear in hand (camera? check) I headed out the door to Meadowbrook Park, the site of the reception, to help with set up and to get some pictures before the wedding.  (Yes, I am getting to the point.)

When I got there I noticed, and then mentally dismissed, the painters working on some park structures in the parking lot.  I parked and went to help out.  When I returned to my car a hour later all was well.  We went to and then returned from the wedding.  I parked a little closer this time to the painters... opting for a location that was not under a tree.  From the painters there were two handicap spaces, an empty space, then me.  Again my brain did not grasp the plastic sheeting, smell of paint and anxious look on the painters' faces.  When I returned to my car several hours later they were watching me and I quickly noticed the paint all over my car.  And I mean all over it.  Glass. Trim. All Panels. The painters came over and were looking at it with me.  I could see fingerprints on the car so it appeared they had already been there.  Anyway, the dots would move so we figured they would come off.   This was on Saturday, at 2:00 PM.

At 2:30, when I got it to my Mom's and we looked at it closer, it looked like dust and felt like a combination of tree sap and sandpaper... and it wasn't coming off... this is where the panic set in.  It is also the beginning of a saga and process that did not end until I was back home and wiping it down in my driveway at 2:10 AM on Monday morning.

I won't bore you with the blow by blow details. This post is long enough as it is.  However,  I can say now that I have learned that clay bar and Windex will get overspray off a car.  The car was also buffed and polished.  (Thank you Tara and David Gowin!) When we were done it felt like glass.  In the morning light it positively glowed.  Luckily I had Monday off so the early morning hours didn't hurt as much but Susan did have an appointment that morning that I took her to.  I also received my scoops on Monday afternoon (details to follow in a separate post) which were applied before I put down the first coat of Meguiar's Tech 2 wax that evening. Tuesday evening I followed up with the second coat.  I still need to put a couple more on there to protect the paint but I feel better about it being protected from the elements.

There is still overspray on the trim (like the black areas around the side mirrors, window trim, etc) and around the newly installed decals on the windows.  I am still working on how to get that off.  The window decals may have to be removed, the paint scraped off with a razor blade (which is how it was removed from all the other glass) and then re-applied.  That's a lot to re-do though.

So, anyway, it was nearly a disaster... there's still plenty to fix before Yellow Rose... but it wasn't a total loss.

Edit 6/1/10: Photos are below.