Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

[Chadb1988]

First time on this thread and need some advice. The paint it chalky/rough to the touch and has some smaller spots that are a darker gray than the rest of the paint. Should I start over with a new paint job or try and do something to this one?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

If that is single stage (sure looks like it) then you are in business. That looks like a great candidate for some serious clay bar action, followed likely by some M105, then maybe #83, #80, (Or possibly replace #83 or #83 AND #80 with D151) #7, and finally a wax of your choice (NXT 2.0, Gold Class, D151, etc)

[Setec Astronomy]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

It's always worth a try before a new paint job! That front bumper insert will need some trim dye or paint to cover where the yellow urethane is peeking thru (or is that some sort of rust stain from something?)

[AeroCleanse]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

Looks like an ideal candidate for the Extreme Makeover section when your done!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

This car looks like it has a light metallic blue single stage finish that's been neglected for years.

While many non-metallic single stage finish paint can be restored as we've demonstrated on this forum multiple times, you usually can't do this with a single stage metallic finish. The reason for this is because back in those days aluminum particles were used to create the metallic flake and these metallic flakes will oxidize just like the paint oxidized only you can't polish each flake to remove the oxidation and restore brilliance you can only polish the surface of the paint and what's going to happen is you're buffing pads or your wax applicators are not going to turn blue when you start rubbing some kind of paint cleaner against the paint, they're going to start turning black.

This black you'll see coming off the pad is oxidized aluminum, just like when you polish an oxidized aluminum wheel with a metal polish.

The end result is that sometimes you can make the surface shiny again, but you usually can't restore a clear, vibrant finish like when the paint was new, like you can with a oxidized non-metallic finish.

Like this,

Blast from the Past! - The dead brought back to life!

Before - Yes the paint is actually turning from red to white in some places


After




Nick Chapman had some luck restoring a similar type of metallic paint finish using our M86 Cut & Polish Creme with a wool pad and a rotary if memory serves me correctly.

1960 Olds Ninety Eight Extreme Makeover

Before



After



On this forum we teach people to do a Test Spot, that is test the products you're thinking about applying to the entire car to one small area or spot. Apply the product according to the directions for using the product and then inspect your results. Technically you would perform the entire process to the test spot and thin do a final inspection.

For example, if you're going to use ScratchX, M07 Show Car Glaze and then M26 Hi Tech Yellow Wax, then you would apply and remove all of these products to the test spot and then inspect the end results because in the real world this would be your Final Results.

Make sense?

Make sure you and your skills and abilities and the products you have chosen to use can make one small area look good before going over the entire car. If you can't make one small area look good you certainly won't be able to make the entire car look good.


Best of luck to you and make sure you update this thread with what you find out.

Thanks,

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

Good Photo Netiquette for posting photos on discussion forums

Just a friendly tip on sharing photos on discussion forums.

I have a 21" monitor with the resolution set to 1280 x 1024 and I find I'm having to horizontal scroll in order to see all of the shot in some of the pictures you've posted.

A good rule of thumb is to resize your photos to around 700 pixels wide, maybe 800 pixels wide if your really want to show a large photo. By doing this, the majority of the people in the world will be able to see the entire picture without having to horizontal scroll.

Anytime someone has to horizontal scroll to see an entire picture they can't really see the entire picture because as they scroll to one side on their monitor to see what's not on the screen, a portion of the picture on the opposite side of the screen is disappearing off the monitor. Therefor they can never really see the entire photo which kind of takes away from the value of the photo and usually the goal of the poster, (to show a photo, not a portion of a photo)

Just a friendly tip...


This is 700 pixels wide



This is 800 pixels wide



Both photos were resized from the original using a free software program called Easy Thumbnails which really works great to resize photos without distorting them.

Here's a short how-to article on how to use this software to insure great results starting the first time you use it.

How to resize your photos before uploading

This will help you on any forum you post to.

[Chadb1988]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

Thanks for the tips...Luckily I bought this car from my grandfather for 300 dollars and it runs strong. The only downside was the paint and quarter rag top which has been scratched up by a cat. I got an estimate from an upholstery shop for 350 to do the top so it will be done in a couple weeks after i actually save my money instead of blowing it on stuff...*cough*(women)lol.

BUt the original paint you see on the car is a slate gray non-metallic paint as on my grandfathers original receipt from 1985 so I believe I am going to try the before and after for this lead sled. My question to you all is what would be the best route to attack this monster as in products and techniques

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

BUt the original paint you see on the car is a slate gray non-metallic paint as on my grandfathers original receipt from 1985 so I believe I am going to try the before and after for this lead sled.

My question to you all is what would be the best route to attack this monster as in products and techniques

If this is a non-metallic single stage paint, (my mistake, looked like a flat metallic finish from the picture), then you want to get some M80 Speed Glaze.

This is a cleaner/polish in the Meguiar's Professional Line and it contains diminishing abrasives and a rich content of Meguiar's trade secret polishing oils and together this combination works really well to remove oxidation and restore the richness of color on a single stage paint.

For example we used M80 for the red Mercedes-Benz in the picture above.

You can apply it by hand, DA Polisher and a rotary buffer, so it's quite versatile. If you're working by hand then you might want to get a quart of M105 and rub the paint out first with this to cut off all the dead, oxidized paint and the rub the paint down with the M80 Speed Glaze to bring out the color and bring the finish to a higher gloss and shine.

Then top with your favorite wax.

Before starting all of this you'll want to wash the car really well and inspect the paint to see if it needs to be clayed, if it does then pick up some detailing clay and clay the paint after washing and before any paint cleaning steps.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

The words Clean and Cleaning as defined by Meguiar's terminology


Words: Clean, Cleaning, Cleaners
Products: Compounds, Paint Cleaners, Cleaner/Polishes and Cleaner/Waxes



In Meguiar's terminology,

Cleaning means removing defects like swirls, scratches, etchings, stains and oxidation, it doesn't mean to wash the car.

Since 1901 Meguiar's has pioneered the use of diminishing abrasives to clean or remove defects out of paint coatings with the idea being to remove the defects without leaving behind defects at the same time.

Over the course of automotive paint polishing history, most of the companies that offered some type of product to remove a defect offered products with names like rubbing compounds or polishing compounds. Some were for machine application and some were for hand application but in simple terms were talking about, rocks in a bottle,( or a can).

While these products will remove defects, the problem is they will at the same time leave swirls and scratches behind in the paint. When clear coat paint technology came along in the 80's these other polish manufactures were forced to look for better ideas for removing defects because the clear layer of paint made it very easy to see the swirls and scratches left behind by other companies compounds and customers would not accept these kind of results.

Meguiar's was already way ahead of the competition because they took a different approach to the polishing process since the time they first entered into this industry.

Starting with Meguiar's first product a F01 Furniture Cleaner for cleaning lacquer, varnish and shellac finishes, Meguiar's used diminishing abrasives that cleaned or remove defects gently to enable people to clean the coatings on their furniture without scouring and scarring the finish.


Meguiar's Mirror Bright Furniture Cleaner and Furniture Polish





When Meguiar's transitioned from manufacturing furniture products to manufacture automotive cleaners and polishes, they continued with this same practice of using diminishing abrasive and the same philosophy of creating products that remove swirls and scratches without leaving them behind in the process.

Early Meguiar's Automotive Polishes




We've come a long way since those days but we continue to create and offer products that will clean automotive finishes and when used correctly they won't leave behind more scratches than they remove. This is called the cleaning process, the removal of defects.



* Cleaning means removing defects using some type of paint cleaner, this means removing paint.

* Washing means removing loose surface dirt using car wash soap and water, washing doesn't remove paint.


All throughout this forum you often see us recommend to our members that they clean their car's paint as a part of their detailing process, so just so everyone is clear, when we type a recommendation that tells the person that they need to clean the paint, we mean they need to use a product that will remove below surface defects, not washing the car.



we talk about cleaning paint, we're not talking about washing the car.

Hope this helps...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

If you haven't already, be sure to read through the below thread as it will bring you up to speed on the topic of product categories and the order in which to tackle a project.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle


And the below links have tons of information to help you...

Have Questions? Looking for Answers?
So much good, practical and helpful information in these two forums
Hot Topics
How To Articles
List O' Links 2.0

[Sal329]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

I would definatly try some products before getting it painted. From the pics it looks like it can be brought back to life

[AeroCleanse]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

Its worth trying before you go for a new paint job, thats for sure.

[Chadb1988]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

OK looked closer and found out the paint is metallic. On the receipt it said MET which i thought stood for metal colored gray...I feel so stupid.

So dont hate me for what i went out and bought(yes turtle wax). I was excited and they didnt have the best meguiars selection at advanced or autozone. I got a rubbing compound, a polishing compound, color x and some cleaner wax.

Oh and 2000 grit sandpaper and a buffer thingy.

So i decided to try and do the right half of the hood to see what would happen. It was sunny and the hood was warm so I was neglegent but did it anyway. I started off with a bottle of soapy water and some soaked 2000 grit as a wet sand. I think it was too fine of a grit being it clogged almost immediatly. but i finished.

Then i took and hand scrubbed/polished the rubbing compund on.

Wiped that off and followed with the polishing compund. Again wiped that off and treated with color x.

Lastly used the cleaner wax. Not a huge improvement but you do have to think I was using inferior products and I never got to use the buffer...waiting on some pads and the good stuff to come. So here are a couple pics for you to enjoy* I guess * and let me know what you think. Also being metallic paint what do you suggest product wise to bring a slightly better luster?

Edit: I removed all the code that caused our members to go to Imageshack to see the larger photos, and the Imageshak buttons and then edited your Image URL Addresses to just simply show the pictures. Spend a little time looking at the code that's in your post now and you can see that all I had to do was remove this

th.

which forces a thumnail to show up, (th = thumbnail), and this will help you to post photos without causing people to go to Imageshack and have Pop-Ups, pop-up -Mike Phillips

[retrofinisher]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

There should be a O Reilly Parts store in your area, they carry a good selection of polishing materials in 16 oz sizes. It is displayed in the paint areas.

Look for #2 (Fine)

I'm not sure that buffer will do a thorough job, but give it a shot.

[Setec Astronomy]

Re: Is this worth saving or Need new paint?

Ouch, wetsand and rubbing compound! Listen to Mike Phillips.