Polishing old paint ? whats your secret ??

After talking to the local Mothers reps here in NZ who when asked what do do to get some shine in an old paint job suggested getting a new paint job I figured I might ask somewhere where there were a few more clues.....
So what have you done to revive old paint ? I know I used to bwe ablet o get cutting compound here and it worked o.k. also used some metal polish the other day on a small section and it worked really well (a little more abrasive then general polish I guess but not so severe as cutting compound).

So See if you can't educate me more then Mothers can )

 

Youngest son had the same problem with the paint on his Mk 1 Cortina which goes milky about a month after it is polished. We did use a cutter/polish which lasted for awhile but he was surfing the net and ended up here with a post about using one of those abrasive creams that are used for kitchen cleaning. I'll see if I still have the link and post it if I do.

swifty

 

1st does the car have a clear coat? if so use a gritty compound with a wool bonnet. Then look for a 3M product that is a swirl mark remover (with the cutting wheel/polisher). Get an finishing pad (Looks like an egg crate) for your wheel and use a finisher/polish. this will take out the fine scratches that you put in your clear coat. hope this helps.

 

A friend of my Dad's resurrected an original MGTD paint job with Silvo silver polish. Said it looked great.

Would recommend washing after to remove polish residue then an ordinary wax polish to protect it.

 

I just did mine last weekend with Meguiars Ultimate Compound.
It worked great and it also took the haze off my newer cars crappy plastic headlights too!

http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G17216-Ultimate-Compound/dp/B001O7PNNM

 

i used to beat myself to death polishing old paint jobs but not any more. unless the paint is original and adds to the value of the vehicle, i find that it's actually easier and looks better to just repaint the entire car. if the car body is nice and needs little in the way of work, i'd photograph it from all angles prior to painting so that if you ever sell the car, you can use it as a selling feature. i prefer to buy cars that have the orig paint.

 

A light polish with a foam pad will breath new life into an old finish. My dad had a used car lot in Houston for 40 yrs and I've been a dealer in Austin for almost 20.

We have buffed out more old finishes than most people have ever seen. The oilier the stuff you use the better. We used Meguiar's polish most of the time. If the finish is in good shape other than the shine and a repaint is not in the near future, seal it with a good SILICON wax.

The idea is to (gently) force some oil into the paint and then seal it in. Old school used car guys would even buff them with baby oil back in the day. Of course the shine wouldn't last long but it spiffed the cars up long enough to help get them sold.

Here's the polish we used:
http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+A2116

I'm gonna try this on my old truck next time I wax it:

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+G12718

 

Go to ...

http://autopia.org/
or
http://www.detailcity.org/
and do some reading ... or at the very least find a good polish.
IMHO, you can find better product then Meguiars. That is just my opinion your mileage may vary.

 

I have a 25 year old re-paint on my truck. While the paint job is solid it lacked shine. I went over the whole body with your standard polishing compound with poor results. A friend told me about a product called Luster? by 3M? Says you can get it at most automotive paint stores. He did a small section and I was very impressed. I think the key is having a professional who has done paint resurrection before. My friend has opened up a can of worms and now I have to convince him to finish the rest of the truck!

 

Turbo Cut Compound:


Followed by Finish Cut Compound:


Followed by Shine Master Polish -- great swirl mark remover too!


I've recommended this process to quite a few customers and have gotten great results even by hand. See my signature for a HAMBer coupon code.

 

On my O/T Maverick, a friend of mine did a complete polish on the original paint a year ago this week using Maguire's products from their polish out to a finish glaze. It looks absolutely killer. He also instucted me to go over the whole car "every now and then" with a good cleaner wax.I have also been using a Meguires product for that as well. I have done this three times over the year now, and evey time the shine comes right back up, and the interval gets longer and longer between waxes. He explained to me it was a matter of getting the waxes and oils back into the paint to preserve the shine more permanently.

 

not all old paint will shine up. spent a whole day a few years back on an old car I had, it went from almost flat to almost satin finish... a few months later it was flat again.

 

thanks for all the tips, no clear coat and like I say it does seem to come up o.k with a lightly abrasive metal polish, paint is pretty thin so I don't want to be too agressive on it but I'm keen to get some more shine it it and then keep it polished as there isn't a re-paint in its near future. Like Swifty I have wondered about an abrasive kitchen product wash off and polish.....
Will take a look at all options. Bull I'm guessing I can't get your products here in NZ ?

 

If it is a single stage paint job you can try this:

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/car-article/Restoring+Single+Stage+Paint:+Part+1-65310.xhtml

 

I have used rubbing compound and elbo greas then a good paste wax to follow it up. But its work.

If you can get a fine polishing compound and buff the hell out of it then follow up with a good claying you may just pull it off that way.

 

if you're not repainting anytime soon, and want to do a corrosion stopping, general cleaning, old paint popping technique, try 'p.b. blaster' 'corrosionstop' . it cleaned up the 50 year old paint on my 33 chevy, and now the bare metal areas are stabilized. its a little greasy [silicone spray grease] , but keep rubbing it in.

 

Don't laugh..... Furniture polish in the spray can, in the shade spray on an area wipe off enjoy shine!
Quick, neat, cheap and easy!

 

i've owned a detail shop for 25+ years and i've tried nearly everything there is,,in my opinion, stick with the 3M line,,,kinda spendy,,but well worth it..

 

for a cheap attempt you cant go wrong with trying to polish it up with beer. Just dump some on the old finish & try to shine things up I have seen it on an old Ford pickup & a Dodge. What do you have to lose?

 

Call me at the office from 8:30-5:00 central time and I'll help you locate the products in your area -- we actually do have a distributor in NZ. I'll try to check with our International sales rep to find out who carries the products. Or better yet, order them on our website and save 15% with coupon code HAMB!

 

Motor oil.

Was good for just a few days and bugs were stuck to it in the morning.

 

Wetsand with 2000 and buffed with Mcguires One Step...

Before...looks purple.



After...was actually a coppertone. Still had alot of weather checks, but it looked a hell of alot better.

 

nice job on the riviera

 

Kerosene and water 50:50 shake well

 

I go along with this, It's alot of work but 9 out of 10 times it's worth it. my thought on this.

 

The paint on my Nomad is 25 years old. Enamel with a hardener. When it gets pretty chalky every couple of years, I buff it out using whatever I have on my shelf. Looks red again and I'm good for another couple of years. I use a wool pad followed by a foam pad.

I've used Meguiar's products with good results. I've used 3M products with good results. I wouldn't use Mother's simply because their rep told you to repaint instead of giving you some product to try. Sounds like they don't want your business.

 

NOOOOOOO! Don't do this! Beer is for DRINKING!

 

I remember my mate's dad an old school mechanic, pre war apprenticeship, revive the finish of many old, chalky and faded paint, simply with "Brasso" metal polish and an old towel or nappy, the best result was obtained by using the wet blackened part of the towel, it seems to cut the paint and is self lubricating perhaps putting some oil back into the paint as sugested by a previous poster(as the polish contains petroleum distillates) a quick rinse and a couple of coats of "Simoniz" wax the real hard labour type of wax, I remember it well as kids we were often enlisted to help out. The finish was always proportional to the amount of hard labour that was involved.

 

3M pink polish!!!

 

Here's a good HAMB writeup on the topic http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184233