90 Mustang GT Needs Help or new paint

[charlie]

Just arrived here...what a great resource! Amazing info and advice. I may be beyond help. I have "reclaimed a 1990 Mustang GT I bought 14 years ago. It has been and continues to be a daily driver, but in my hands since my wife got her new car.

I've been through it mechanically...done the mechanical items that a 14 year old car needs. She runs GREAT, no oil burning, fluid leaks, smooth as silk now. I'm posting a link to photos I took. The car was seldom garaged, but washed regularly and waxed a few times a year....but, as I said, driven daily for 14 years. Due to home remodeling, I'm probably a couple of years away from getting a repaint on it. I do love the car and will keep it rather than opting for a new Mustang. I love the Fox Chassis GTs. Just turned 100,000 on the odometer. Any suggestions on where to start are appreciated. I'd just like to get it to look as good as it can look until handing it over to a good paint shop down the road.

Should I try to remove old wax and attempt polishing? Is this the dreaded "clearcoat failure" I've read about? If there's no hope let me know...if I can improve it so it looks better, I'm not immune to hard work!


Link to photos: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cspedd...bum?.dir=/e41c


Charlie

[travisdecpn]

It looks like some cc failure on the trunk lid, and maybe slightly on the hood too. However you can still make the car look a lot better with some hard work. If you are working by hand you should give colorx a try, a lot of people have been gettting great success with it. If you have a rotary polisher or PC you can try some aggressive compounds/polishes like #83 followed by #80. I would start by claying the surface before either method, and end both with NXTx2. Good luck, and nice GT.

[Lt1Corvette]

Hey charlie,

This is my reccomendation for the play it safe approach.
1. Wash car
2. Clay
3. #80 or color x
4. #7 showcar glaze
5. Nxt x2

This is not really going to help very much with swirls of scratches, however I used this same line up on a friends 1976 Porsche. It had been sitting outside for five months with no prtection what so ever. When we finished the car looked awsome. I will try and post some pictures if I can find them. Good Luck.
Joe

[charlie]

Thanks Travis,

I do have a two speed rotary polisher that a friend gave me...he bought it with every intention of using it, but only did once. I'm seeing alot of reference to using foam pads...they must do a better job than the older "wool" pads? I'll look for a dealer who carries the Quick Clay here in the Sacramento, CA area. There are a couple of reputable paint suppliers that carry detailing supplies as well. I'll do some searching here also for some additional tips, techniques before diving into this.

Will the claybar remove wax from the car? I know I'll need to get through it and down to the clearcoat before anything improves in the finish.

[charlie]

Originally posted by Lt1Corvette
Hey charlie,

This is my reccomendation for the play it safe approach.
1. Wash car
2. Clay
3. #80 or color x
4. #7 showcar glaze
5. Nxt x2

This is not really going to help very much with swirls of scratches, however I used this same line up on a friends 1976 Porsche. It had been sitting outside for five months with no prtection what so ever. When we finished the car looked awsome. I will try and post some pictures if I can find them. Good Luck.
Joe

Thanks! I'm always on the cautious side when it comes to this car. I've already been using the Meguiars products on my wife's new Accord...it gets washed once weekly and waxed monthly...after a year it still looks showroom new.

I'm feeling good about your recommendations. I don't want to strip the clearcoat from the car...just get the best results possible.

I was able to find out that my '90 GT was the first year that Ford used clearcoat finishes on the Mustangs...lucky me...if I'd just bought this one year earlier...

[charlie]

It may be blasphemous to say this here, but I can live with some swirls and minor scratches...it's not a showcar, but I do want to repair what finish damage I can and once I get that done, I can keep it clean and maintain what I have.

I've seen a few guys turn a $200 detail job into garbage after letting it go, not washing or waxing for weeks or sometimes months after paying someone to put a mirror finish on their cars...that is NOT me. I wash mine 2 or 3 times a week if needed...and use Quick Detailer in between....great product, BTW. I've just been unsure of how to tackle restoring the finish...this forum seems like the best place to begin.


Thanks for the suggestions!

and...Thanks in advance for anyone else who'd like to help with this project

[travisdecpn]

Claying will remove most of the old wax along with contaminants on the surface of the paint left after washing. Claying isn't going to remove any of the clear. If you want to use that rotary Meg's makes a backing plate and pads for it. You would probably want you use a cutting pad with the #83 and a polishing pad for the #80. If you want to invest a little more money into the project you could always pick up a PC 7336 DA polisher for around 100 bucks.

[charlie]

Originally posted by travisdecpn
Claying will remove most of the old wax along with contaminants on the surface of the paint left after washing. Claying isn't going to remove any of the clear. If you want to use that rotary Meg's makes a backing plate and pads for it. You would probably want you use a cutting pad with the #83 and a polishing pad for the #80. If you want to invest a little more money into the project you could always pick up a PC 7336 DA polisher for around 100 bucks.

I'll look into the polisher as well....thanks again. I downloaded a list of local dealers that carry the consumer and professional products. Looks like I should be able to pick everything up locally here.

[charlie]

Started this afternoon...mixed results...

This afternoon I washed the car thoroughly, clayed-amazing stuff, talk about clean and smooth. Clay kit is the way to go before waxing if you've never used it before!

I used #83 with a rotary, low speed until product was almost gone, only pressure being the weight of the polisher...very careful as always. The "cloudy" patches didn't budge...the pad also picked up some color which leads me to believe, of course, that the clear coat is very thin and failing in places. I also noticed a slight "orange peel" effect after using the #83-only one application, followed by Show car glaze applied by hand.

Should I give up, wax it after one polish and glaze and just live with it until I can get it painted?

Any ideas appreciated!

[travisdecpn]

Sometimes polishing can expose more defects in the paint. I would say go over the car again, and follow with a polish/glaze, then nxt. IF you get a lot of paint transfer, you may not even have clearcoat, it may be ss. IF the transfer is isolated in certain areas, then it most likely due to a loss of the cc. Good luck

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

Firstly, if you are new to the rotary buffer, you need be VERY careful. There are literally hundreds of things that could go wrong if you do not have experience with it.

Looking at your pictures, it is very hard to tell what the damage is. Do you have any real close-ups? When looking at the cloudy areas, do they have any cracking patterns, looking like a snowflake? The cloudy patch could also be very thin paint.


Tim

[charlie]

Originally posted by 2hotford
Hey,

Firstly, if you are new to the rotary buffer, you need be VERY careful. There are literally hundreds of things that could go wrong if you do not have experience with it.

Looking at your pictures, it is very hard to tell what the damage is. Do you have any real close-ups? When looking at the cloudy areas, do they have any cracking patterns, looking like a snowflake? The cloudy patch could also be very thin paint.


Tim

Believe me, I'm being very careful Tim. I'll take some pictures closer up...on the hood, you can actually feel a slightly rough texture to the cloudiness...not so much on the roof. I'm thinking clearcoat failure the more I read and look at it. Funny thing is that on the roof the cloudiness looks as if it is under the clearcoat...just a description of the appearance.

I haven't done any more polishing since going over it one time following claying...I figured I'd wait for the weekend when I'd have more time to invest in it. When using the rotary, I'm not bearing down at all...letting the machine do the work so I won't burn the paint or rub through it...if anything, I'm being overly cautious and in control of the polisher at all times.

Not sure how to proceed at this point, so I'm doing alot of thinking and reading as much as possible. I don't know if anyone has had any success in blending in or repairing clearcoat wear on a car, if indeed that's what I have here.