Can this paint be repaired?

The paint on the roof, hood, and trunk of my '55 has degraded significantly over the past few years. It's s single stage enamel that is now checked over the entire horizontal surface. I've tried waxing, cleaner waxing, and machine polishing. They all get rid of the oxidation, but don't help minimize the appearance of the cracks. If anything, them make more noticable because the buffing compund dries white. The paint looks great when it's wet, but dull and lifeless when it's dry. Can you recomend anything I might try to help bring some life back into this old paint? Thanks for the help.

 

coloured wax, it will fill in the cracks, you have to slather it on maybe a
couple of coats, i have done a few old cars with crappy paint and it made them
look pretty good, the first layer will look kinda crappy but dont worry just lay
it on even thicker.

 

doesn't look salvageable.those checks go all the way to primer.

 

Is it sprayed over Laquer? If so it tends to do that over the course of time.

 

This won't help bring the paint back, but you could try some Wizards Wipe Down to get rid of the excess compound.


You could also try some Shine Master breathable polish to bring back some of the shine, but it won't save the paint or make it look like new in this case.

 

It's gone. Time to reshoot,,the only other thing I know is to hit it with Paint Thinner (Not Lacquer Thinner!) and a toothbrush and use the colored wax that was mentioned earlier.

 

can't be saved, strip back to metal and bring it back up with new product

 

paint it flat black. it will look like a vinyl top.

 

No... that indicates a failure of what the enamel was sprayed on top of....

 

Man, that is patina. Rugged patina.

 

If billy mays was still alive he'd have a fix!!!

 

Soda-blast it. Re-paint.

 

strip and repaint is the only way its gonna be right.....


skull

 

I'm going to agree with most others, unfortunately, it is time to repaint !
I own a hobby body shop you are more than welcome to come use and I will help, but unfortunately, I am in Wisconsin !

 

if you call now, it's only $19.95 !!

 

There isn't enough car left for a repaint. The body needs a serious amount of metalwork before it's paintworthy. I drive the car 40 miles daily, and don't currently have the time to "do it right." I buffed the crap out of it using way more pressure than I would normally be comfortable using on regular paint and some 3M rubbing compound. It was enough that the cracks shined up. They are still there, but way less noticable. It actually looks pretty good for what it is. I'll get a pic posted up tomorrow so you can see the results

 

Nu-Finish. See it restore the shine to even this weather-beaten old car!

 

id repaint it. nothing looks better than fresh paint.

 

Here's a pic from today. It looks better in the pic than real life, but it's still MUCH better than it was. Plenty shiney for a rusty old plymouth I'm pleased with how it cleaned up. I tried to get a close up pic of the paint, but the lines wouldnt show up(they are still there though). We'll see how long it lasts.