Well... here is a status update on my paint job for long term durability and appearance.

As you folks know... my paint job officially ended back in August 2006. From Aug 2006 to Nov 2006 the car enjoyed the luxury of being parked in the garage. With winter coming the car had to be left outside for the winter and exposed to all the sun, snow, ice and rain that Canada's winter could throw at it.

When spring arrived the sweet little car remained outside and unprotected from the elements. The sun beat down on it and the rains were ridiculous.

Today I was puttering around in the garage and I found my Porter & Cable. Next I found my 3m Perfection and my McGuiars Pure Carnuba Wax ( banana scented yummmm ).

I washed down the car and then I polished and waxed my way around the entire body. The car looked so friggin amazing that I proudly hopped in it and drove all over the place with the rag top down.

BUT here is the real reason I am writing this. During the course of polishing and then waxing the car I noticed a slight difference in the color of the body - between where I was polishing and where I had not done yet.

There was a slight cloud over the untouched paint. And you would not have been able to spot it if you didn't have a freshly polished and waxed panel immediately next to it to compare it to.

So I don't know at this point if it was an oxidation on the original Brightside paint... or if that was the stage I had left it at when I finished my original polishing and waxing back in August 2006.

And as I said... I had not noticed anything odd about the paint job. It had looked great. BUT after doing this polishing and waxing today the puppy shines like a high gloss polyurathane and looks EVEN BETTER. AND it does appear to have become a deeper and darker red after this polishing and waxing.

So the point to this story is that if you think the car looks good after you do your final wetsanding, polishing and waxing... well wait until you see how it looks after you do the polishing and waxing months later.

I am absolutely thrilled how it looks even better today then back in August 2006.

I think what may have generated such favorable results today are two things :

a ) the weather : when I finished the paint job off back in August 2006 we were into cooler temperatures and high humidity from the rains. The weather today was in the 26 degrees celcius range. I did my polishing out in the driveway in the sun hehehehh. The overall temperature of the car's body was much warmer today when I did the polishing and waxing back in August.

b ) the additional curing time : I suspect that with all the months that have passed since August, the paint had reached a much higher level of curing and hardness.

I don't know if this is 'news' but I thought it might give some insight on how things are working out with the Brightside after TEN MONTHS of real world exposure to the harsh elements of the Canadian climate... and hopefully it will give the rollers something to look forward to months after they finish... that things will probably be looking even better as it gets older...


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