Single Stage Paint and My Single Stage Paint Regime
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 9:57 am
Hello All
This post is a long-winded summary about what I learned about paint these last months and the paint regime I developed for my old cars with single stage paints. The motivation behind this activity is 928 CONTENT. After buying my '91 GT in 2015, I had never touched the paint till this Summer. The prioritization was (1) mechanical (many trips to Worf's place) (2) interior and leather care and last (3) paint.
Back in the 80s, I did do some detailing work, some basic painting (lacquers mostly) and fixed some rust repairs to make some money on the side. I am not really a complete stranger to the topic of paint. However, coming back to the topic 40 years later, all I could find was recommendations on how to polish paint by mechanically assisted buffing, and I kept thinking along the lines, "I never needed that back in the 80s, why are people doing this? I only needed rubbing compound and wax. And anyway, there is no way I am letting any buffing pads close to my 928.”
I decided I needed to understand history of automotive paints better. This article is about the best I found. I highly advise taking the 30 minutes to read it:
https://medium.com/@bennewill/when-pain ... 99973befaf
The real high-level summary of my learnings are:
1.) The single stage paints we have on our old 928s are softer than modern clear coats and can easily be worked by hand. They are more maintainable and simply a superior product when compared to modern paint systems
2.) Modern clear coats essentially encase the car in a dense epoxy resin that is very hard. The only way you can really get scratches out is indeed with mechanically assisted buffing
3.) Above all, clear coat-base coat systems were adopted for cost saving reasons, because old, thick single stage paints full of rich organics were expensive
I am rather a fan of Larry from AMMO NYC (https://ammonyc.com/) and have been using his Foam Paint Cleanser and his Hydrate for probably 10 years now. Hydrate makes drying the car a breeze. But also his videos and guides were full of buffing wheels that I had realized have no place touching any of my soft paint. If you are interested, you can at least have a look at his paint regime video which explains the Foam Paint Cleanser and Hydrate quite well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a6VPPNC0oM
This led me to a fellow by the name of Mike Phillips (not the rugby player!!!) who is kind of a celebrity detailer, and he even has his own website: https://themikephillipsforum.com/. He advocates a “keeping-as-much-orginal-paint-as-you-can” approach to maintaining old paints on classic cars. Totally in line with my “no-buffing-pads-near-my-928” approach. This is one of his best videos summarising that approach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS4jfCWsqT0
Since it is long, 1 hour, I can give you the high level summary here. Mike explains:
1.) The history of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Professional Show Car Glaze (M0716)
https://www.meguiars.com/professional/p ... 0716-16-oz
2.) Why single stage paints react so well to this product and how it complements the natural/organic compounds in the paint
3.) How to apply by rubbing in with a terry cloth and letting the paint soak it up while at the same time removing the oxidation
So with all the observations/learnings/ideas from really hours and hours of trying to figure this out and then experimenting, I have my paint regime figured out and tried it on the roof of my 91! It worked well:
1.) Clean with AMMONYC's Foam Paint Cleanser
2.) Dry with AMMONYC's Hydrate
3.) Condition with Megiuar's Show Car Glaze M0716 using Mike Phillip's terry cloth method
4.) Protect with AMMONYC's skin defense coat
5.) Wax with Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax
Now I just have to get around to doing the rest of the car. One challenge will be is that some ding-a-ling in 2010 long before I owned the car had the passengers rear quarter painted with a modern paint because of a small dent. I have pictures of the dent. What a waste! Could have been easily popped and buffed out. I might have to develop/take a different approach with that quarter panel, but let's see.
91 GT Shakedown after Mechanical Refresh but with Dull Paint
If you have any insights on paint care or have developed your own paint regime for your 928, feel free to add in the thread!
Cheers, John
This post is a long-winded summary about what I learned about paint these last months and the paint regime I developed for my old cars with single stage paints. The motivation behind this activity is 928 CONTENT. After buying my '91 GT in 2015, I had never touched the paint till this Summer. The prioritization was (1) mechanical (many trips to Worf's place) (2) interior and leather care and last (3) paint.
Back in the 80s, I did do some detailing work, some basic painting (lacquers mostly) and fixed some rust repairs to make some money on the side. I am not really a complete stranger to the topic of paint. However, coming back to the topic 40 years later, all I could find was recommendations on how to polish paint by mechanically assisted buffing, and I kept thinking along the lines, "I never needed that back in the 80s, why are people doing this? I only needed rubbing compound and wax. And anyway, there is no way I am letting any buffing pads close to my 928.”
I decided I needed to understand history of automotive paints better. This article is about the best I found. I highly advise taking the 30 minutes to read it:
https://medium.com/@bennewill/when-pain ... 99973befaf
The real high-level summary of my learnings are:
1.) The single stage paints we have on our old 928s are softer than modern clear coats and can easily be worked by hand. They are more maintainable and simply a superior product when compared to modern paint systems
2.) Modern clear coats essentially encase the car in a dense epoxy resin that is very hard. The only way you can really get scratches out is indeed with mechanically assisted buffing
3.) Above all, clear coat-base coat systems were adopted for cost saving reasons, because old, thick single stage paints full of rich organics were expensive
I am rather a fan of Larry from AMMO NYC (https://ammonyc.com/) and have been using his Foam Paint Cleanser and his Hydrate for probably 10 years now. Hydrate makes drying the car a breeze. But also his videos and guides were full of buffing wheels that I had realized have no place touching any of my soft paint. If you are interested, you can at least have a look at his paint regime video which explains the Foam Paint Cleanser and Hydrate quite well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a6VPPNC0oM
This led me to a fellow by the name of Mike Phillips (not the rugby player!!!) who is kind of a celebrity detailer, and he even has his own website: https://themikephillipsforum.com/. He advocates a “keeping-as-much-orginal-paint-as-you-can” approach to maintaining old paints on classic cars. Totally in line with my “no-buffing-pads-near-my-928” approach. This is one of his best videos summarising that approach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS4jfCWsqT0
Since it is long, 1 hour, I can give you the high level summary here. Mike explains:
1.) The history of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Professional Show Car Glaze (M0716)
https://www.meguiars.com/professional/p ... 0716-16-oz
2.) Why single stage paints react so well to this product and how it complements the natural/organic compounds in the paint
3.) How to apply by rubbing in with a terry cloth and letting the paint soak it up while at the same time removing the oxidation
So with all the observations/learnings/ideas from really hours and hours of trying to figure this out and then experimenting, I have my paint regime figured out and tried it on the roof of my 91! It worked well:
1.) Clean with AMMONYC's Foam Paint Cleanser
2.) Dry with AMMONYC's Hydrate
3.) Condition with Megiuar's Show Car Glaze M0716 using Mike Phillip's terry cloth method
4.) Protect with AMMONYC's skin defense coat
5.) Wax with Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax
Now I just have to get around to doing the rest of the car. One challenge will be is that some ding-a-ling in 2010 long before I owned the car had the passengers rear quarter painted with a modern paint because of a small dent. I have pictures of the dent. What a waste! Could have been easily popped and buffed out. I might have to develop/take a different approach with that quarter panel, but let's see.
91 GT Shakedown after Mechanical Refresh but with Dull Paint
If you have any insights on paint care or have developed your own paint regime for your 928, feel free to add in the thread!
Cheers, John