Wanting to restore the factory paint to its better years if possible, whats the best method and way of going about it. It wont be a show car by no means, I just want to get it back to looking like its sat outside for 5 years. Posted a pic for reference, the white and lower portion of red is still a bit glossy, the roof however is dull and starting to fade out. Whats my options guys???
Rubbing compound, polishing compound, and wax. If you are not experienced using a buffer, then you should probably do it by hand. Lots of work, but it will look much better when you're done. I expect you'll get a bunch of conflicting product recommendations. They'll probably mostly all work fine, if you read and follow the directions.
I've never messed with a buffer so I will leave that alone, don't mind doing it by hand, it'll be a good time to put on some music and have some beers. Any merit to those tinted waxes for colored paint? Or are they just snake oil?
Perfect candidate for a repaint with that type of roof. Cheap fix. Do the prep work and have some one shoot it.
A buffer can be scary if you haven't used one but here is my suggestion go buy a harbor freight orbital polisher not the one with two handles the one that looked like a grinder get extra foam pads and compound heavy cut tape off your chrome moulding buff till it shine then use finer compound till you like the shine a orbital polisher will not grab and destroy like a buffer but will polish up dead laquer or single stage paint
I'd skip the orbital buffer for this one...you need to rub it forcefully to get the oxidation off, and those light duty buffers don't do that.
I'll give it a go by hand, I found a really detailed article on doing it by hand with the meguiers that everyone says works wonders so Im gonna give it a go and start this saturday. Hopefully the roof looses its pink hue and i can get the rest of the car glossy again.
To borrower liberally from a similar expression on the HAMB, "just because you own a buffer, doesn't make you one." I pay pros to wet sand and polish cars, $400 makes 'em pretty, $1000 makes 'em show worthy.
That looks like it will clean up... expect to have red coloring up to your elbows... LOL. And I'd carefully pop all the die-cast trim off to get behind it, it will make a big difference once its done. The downside is the old paint will need considerably more maintenance to keep it looking good; once this paint oxidizes, it will keep doing it. I bought a heavily oxidized '56 Ranch Wagon painted 'Pine Ridge' green 'back in the day' that cleaned up nicely but needed constant waxing to keep it that way. Maybe one of the modern waxes/poly coats will help with that, I'd do some experimentation.
Thanks for that info bud, luckily it'll get to stay inside when its not driven so it wont be a hassle to go out and wax it once a month or so. Wish I could afford to have a pro do it, but then that would cut heavily into the funds for other things on it. Plus itll be something to keep me busy at night after the youngins in bed.
Here is my process on my 56 in my avatar that was painted back in the 60's with thin paint on the trunk and in some other places. Step 1 - clay bar or clay pad as directed by manufacturer. I use a clay pad with Meguiars Quik Detailer and wipe it off with microfiber towels. Step 2 - Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze as directed by the manufacturer. If you leave this stuff on too long it's a pain to get off. Light pressure only. You don't want to see pigment on your terry cloth applicator or towel when you remove it. Step 3 - your favorite wax either synthetic or carnuba I do this all by hand in the garage so the sun isn't drying out the unguents I'm using to try to preserve the remaining paint. It takes time but the results are astonishing and will remove little or no paint if you're gentle.
The best way is by hand. I would start with 2500 wet/dry sandpaper. Go lightly over the whole car with it. Next step, good old fashioned Turtle wax Rubbing compound. The paste, not the liquid. Get a old piece of towel, keep it damp, and start rubbing, like the Karate kid. One section at a time. Next step, get some Maguire No 7, and start polishing. Last get the Maguire Mirror Bright polish/wax. This is too much work for one day, so spread it out, say like 3 weekends. After you've done that, then wax it with the Mirror Bright twice a month In between, wipe it down 2 to 3 times a week with a spray detailer. Bottom line, it worked for me. Sent from my SM-J700T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You'll find that the top surfaces (hood, roof, trunk) will need maintenance attention more than the sides. I used to hate waxing that wagon roof.... a problem that was solved for me when a guy caved in the drivers side door. At that point, I repainted the whole car rather than attempting a paint match. Cost me a princely $435 (including some bodywork!) at the Ford dealer in 1968...
maybe start with a clay bar to get the junk off then you can cut it from there. sometimes even after the clay bar its pretty enough for a real good polish i use liquid glass myself.
Fords of that vintage had thicker paint than the GM cars, so as long as you don't get carried away, you shouldn't have any issues with going through the paint... as long as you stay away from power buffers.
That's why I suggested my method. I did it and saw little if any pigment on any of my cloths either for application or removal of product. Those that have said avoid using a machine are correct too.
I had good luck with the wax formulated for WHITE cars. It comes with more cutting agents already mixed in and not for use on metallics but worked great on the dark areas that neglected white paints jobs have.
I have brought back a couple of really dead and chalky red cars using the following method. I have a buffer, but love to do it by hand if time allows. You can really feel your work and find areas that need just a little extra work. I use Meguires, but there are plenty of options out there. 1: Wash the vehicle twice. You ll be suprised how your bucket of suds dirties the second time when the paint is dead. 2: Two rounds of heavy cut cleaner, each wiped down by cloth of choice followed by a wipe down with a detailing cheesecloth (An open weave cloth. Thats the label the package had on it). It picks up quite a bit of small residue left behind by the first wipe with a very light pass. It seems to help so I use it. 3: Three coats of polishing glaze, again with a wipe down with the cheesecloth in between rounds. 4: Two rounds of wax, followed again by the cheesecloth after each round. 5: Maintain with a spray wax after every wash. Both daily driver vehicles held up to the Texas climate very well for many years with only an annual full paste wax coat. Most important, take your time and enjoy the process. Its a great way to really learn your car. She will look great afterwards.
Let me know how it works. I think that HunterYJ's advice to wash it twice might be a good first step before any of mine. I did a lot of research on Meguiars #7 Show Car Glaze before I did anything and it's pretty amazing stuff. My car was not as chalky as yours when I started but in my research I've come across at least one car that had chalky paint and they were not interested in cutting the paint at all. That's what led me to Meguiars #7. Dig around online searching Meguiars #7 and you'll come across a wealth of info. Once article I read the person put on a thick coat and let it "soak" overnight. I tried that on one part of my trunk and it brightened up that one spot. I did not do the whole car that way because of Meguiars own warning not to let it dry out on the paint. I did once and it's a bear to get off.
Also, this is the finish coat I put on it. Works well. No chalky residue in trim pieces or on weather stripping. You can apply it in direct sunlight too. I've used Carnauba wax too but this stuff seems to work as well.
Check out the forums on https://www.autogeek.net/ too. That site isn't just for selling stuff. They have info on all the latest products and techniques to make old and tired stuff look like new. Yes, many of the tried and true methods mentioned here bring fantastic results. I am not disputing that. Still may be worth ones time on that site to see other options. You'll have to dig for it though, as most of the info there centers around newish finishes.
I agree with rubbing compound followed by polishing compound if doing by hand. Use two different rags for applying the compounds and soak them in water and give a good squeeze to give the cloths a dampness. This will make it easier on your arm and cut through the oxidized paint faster. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Not that there's any bad advice here, but if you really want to save the paint, without ruining it, be very careful! As some have said, top surfaces will need more drastic action than sides. You need to find out the LEAST destructive method that will work. If that doesn't work, go down the line to the next step in aggressiveness. Keep going until you find what works. Then work your way back up the scale to the last step, preserving: with wax or glaze. Here's the order that I go in from most aggressive to least: 800 grit wetsanding, 1000 grit wetsand, 1500 wetsand, 2000 wetsand ( if it's a dark color), regular cutting compound, micro cutting compound, liquid polish (these last 3 are with a machine, but could be done by hand, just takes a LOT longer), then maybe a swirl remover, by hand or machine. Then wax or glaze.
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