Elbow Grease – Polishing the paint
My car is old, and when I bought it the paint showed a lot of oxidation and some fading (along with a few dents, lots of chips, etc.), particularly along the tops of the fenders and the hood. I’m not certain if the paint is original, but I’ve looked pretty closely and can’t see much evidence of a respray. If there has been one, it was a long time ago. The car hasn’t been restored, so I’m inclined to believe the paint is original, but I’d like to do some research to figure out if there is some way to know for sure. Edit: I’m now pretty sure, with further inspection, that it is was repainted at some point, in the original color.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
I wanted to see what could be done with some good old fashioned elbow grease to clean it up. Armed with a polishing compound, Meguir’s Color Restore, and Meguir’s Gold Wax, and an army of polishing cloths and pads, I went into the garage last night and spent quite a few hours polishing. I did two passes with the polishing compound, and could see improvements. When the surface was still moist, it would look nice, but dry quickly and not look that great. The the third pass was the color restore, which worked, I think, but I’m not certain it did a lot. When I finished with these three steps, I’ll admit, I was a little worried. The car looked better, maybe? At this point, it certainly didn’t look good and I did have some very real worry I’d made things worse. It had sort of a dull look to it.
I put on a layer of the Meguir’s wax, and then left it to dry overnight. This morning I went out and wiped the dried wax, and it looked really good. Followed with a polishing pad, and it looked even better. A few more swirl marks than I would have liked, but overall, a dramatic improvement.
I wish I’d taken better before and after photos, the light wasn’t great, but you get the idea.
Overall, I was pleased with the results. My wife was amazed when she saw the car this morning, and truthfully, I think the improvement is more dramatic in person than in the photos. I wasn’t 100% happy, in sunlight there are more “swirl” marks present than I would have liked, but I’m 95% happy. It certainly looks significantly better than it did.
No related posts.
I think it looks great. A little patina never hurt anybody.
Ray
Looks terrific and much better than it was when you started. If that is original paint, its far better than most survivors of this age.
I have a 59 that I have owned since 76. I stripped it to metal when I realized how one fender wasn’t original and the driver’s door had a half inch of bondo near the leading edge. (The doors hood and deck lid in shiny aluminum was a lot of fun for a couple of days)
The subsequent lacquer job is now over 30 years old. It has dull and pitted bits, and people seem to like it like that- weathered.
A full spray on an ‘A’ loosening all the fenders, opening up and replacing the welts, removing all the bits that need to match is a big job. Having done it, I find a great deal of satisfaction in the car showing its age.
I’m not an expert, but the concept that paint is a flexible coating with a chemical life helps me make choices about how to handle paint- especially old paint. So the thing about paint – kind of like skin- you have to feed it. Rubbing and polishing with abrasives removes whatever you have. Color restore and wax fill and feed.the chemistry of whatever you have there. Sometimes there is enough there to take layers of dull off, in which case working a spot until you have jewelers rouge will get you shiney paint and occasionaly metal.
Fortunately my car is black, so it has been easy to match and cover spots like stone chips.
Great to see your account. Look forward to your future chapters.