Paint restoration process?

[nimo]

Thanks for offering this forum!

I'll just get right to it.

I detailed cars for 10 years about 10 years ago and we did it all I would assume. Wet sand, buff, full inside out restorations, etc.

My brother had a Supra Red colored mustang and he has basically neglected for the last 5 years. I just finished the interior and now I am onto the exterior paint.

If I had to guess the paint doesn't have a clear coat.
It has light to slightly medium oxidization on roof and trunk lid.
The paint has light to medium defects

I have a buffing wheel, but had the paint checked for thickness and have eliminated the use of laying the buffer on the paint.
So, I am down to the good old elbow grease option. What do I use to to address the ox and minor defects?

This is where my brain is at, but why not ask the makers right.

Gold Class Car Wash
Clay Bar
Ultimate compound or ColorX?
Ultimate polish or Ultimate wax?

I cannot buy a DA polisher, just not in the budget.

Just trying to smooth out the most defects by hand that I can and give it a shine as much as possible.

Any help would be great!

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Any chance of a pic or two?

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

I have a few more coming. On the pinkish Ox if you rub with a bit of pressure on your finger 70% comes off.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Here are 3 more...

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

I hope I am not bumping this to soon, but I really need to order the products I will need. Also, I wish I had more experience with Megs, but we used other products from Production and Blue Coral back in the day. Unfortunately, I didn't have much say in that matter.

Thanks,

Nimo

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Ehh, sometimes stuff just slips out of sight..

I would be surprised for a Mustang to not be clearcoated, unless Saleen (unless its just body work) had it repainted. Do you have any paint cleaner from anyone on hand now, or a cleaner/wax, etc? It would be nice to get some on an applicator, and work it in, and see if there is any red transfer.

Otherwise, clear-coat doesnt usually oxidize, and is more likely to be failing. Which has me worried about that roof and trunk and so on. You could try a few close up pics maybe, or do a search for the Clear Coat Failure Archive, to get some various example pics.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Murr,

Thanks for the reply.

I should have known red paint would've come off if there was no clear coat. (as air seeps into my brain) There is no red paint residue coming off.

The car had been repainted by a previous owner, its obvious because they didn't repaint the engine compartment.

My brother had some Turtle Wax "Polishing compound and Scratch remover" Lol! So, I did a spot and here are the results. Note: I wasn't overly aggressive when working it in.

Inside the black lines I polished briefly.

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Ok, so maybe just heavy dirt where it looked the worst, and not failing.

I would want to start out with:

1. Wash - Gold Class soap, good towels/mitts, 2 buckets, etc.
2. Clay
3. Clean - I would want Ult. Compound for the heavy cleaning. Swirl Removal might be hard, but you can at least work in the UC a bit. Looking old and dried out, some Ult. Polish after would be a good thing.
4. Wax - Could use your favorite wax here... Ult. Wax, Nxt 2.0, etc...
5. Wax - 2 thin coats are best.

If as you are doing the cleaning step, you see somewhere that looks to be failing, you will just want to wipe gently over that area and move on, not work product into it.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Thanks again Murr!

Should I error on the side of liquid or paste wax?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Nimo, your word "neglected" is apt in this case - that paint looks horrible and Mustang fans all over the interwebs are crying right now!

Due to the level of defect and depending on the hardness of this paint, you've got your work cut out for you if you're going to do all this by hand. We would go straight to Ultimate Compound here, working it pretty vigorously in small areas and wiping off before it dries. Optionally you can follow this something like Ultimate Polish before going to your favorite wax.

Out of curiosity, what did the paint measure out at? If you're skilled with a rotary buffer, and given your background we'd assume you just need a little time to reacquaint yourself with it, using one here will make your life a whole lot easier. It may mean using different products than those mentioned above, but it might be worth reconsidering.

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Whichever you like best. If you go with the Ult. Waxes, be sure to read up on them some, since they apply a bit differently.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Nimo, your word "neglected" is apt in this case - that paint looks horrible and Mustang fans all over the interwebs are crying right now!

Due to the level of defect and depending on the hardness of this paint, you've got your work cut out for you if you're going to do all this by hand. We would go straight to Ultimate Compound here, working it pretty vigorously in small areas and wiping off before it dries. Optionally you can follow this something like Ultimate Polish before going to your favorite wax.

Out of curiosity, what did the paint measure out at? If you're skilled with a rotary buffer, and given your background we'd assume you just need a little time to reacquaint yourself with it, using one here will make your life a whole lot easier. It may mean using different products than those mentioned above, but it might be worth reconsidering.

Michael,

I agree with your "horrible" statement I would never let my car get to that point. I am going to take it and have another reading done on the thickness. If I decide to take the chance and lay the wheel on it. What material and process would you recommend? What would be your minimum paint thickness recommendation. I can still buff away like I did back then, so I am not worried one bit about my ability. I was only worried about there not being enough there to buff.

If I buff it are any of the materials you recommend prone to leaving wheel marks? I have a solid style of buffing which I never had issues with wheel marks, unless it was material related. I have wool and grey foam pads to buff with.

Heading to town to check the thickness and will check to see what you say while I am in there, if you get the time.

Thanks Nimo

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Wool may be overkill here - it's just really hard to say without getting our hands on the paint and doing some testing. Still, how aggressive you get with the wool pad, or any pad for that matter, is sort of up to you; how much time you spend, tool speed, liquid used, etc. We are willing to bet, however, that this paint is pretty well dried out and, if that's true, product selection will be even more important. M105, for example, is a very potent compound that can actually finish out extremely well, but it's not a big fan of dry paint at all. While we don't actually recommend Ultimate Compound for rotary use, we've seen plenty of anecdotal evidence of it working quite well. Given it's much "wetter" formulation than M105 it may actually work quite well for you here.

The grey foam pad you mention, is this a finishing pad or a polishing pad? If a polishing pad it may do the trick with M105 but if, as we suspect, it's more of a finishing pad then it's probably too mild to really get the job done. We'd like to see something something between the two extremes of wool and finishing foam, but if that's all you've got, then that's all you've got.

If your paint thickness readings are reasonably uniform, and it might be a bit tricky getting a good series of readings with the paint as dirty and exposed as it is, and they're in the range of 5.5 (or thereabouts) or slightly higher then you shouldn't have any issues with the rotary and a careful run with the wool pad.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Whatever it takes to get the job done without dropping more than 2 to 3 hundred dollars. If I am going to do this and get it done right, then my brother is just going to have to cough it up. I am not a fan of hack jobs landing in scenarios like this for that main reason. As long as I can get the material within a few days. I have 4 to 5 places around here that carry most of what you guys sell. Whatever process you recommend. I know fully well you can't tell a cars paint just by it picture. Just asking for your best humble opinion and the rest is on me. If I need to order product, polish or cut pads, etc then so bee it.

I do prefer compounds/waxes that are more workable than not. I was never a fan of products that diminished quickly.

I was thinking that a slow to medium speed wool buff following by the same with a polish or finish pad.

Whatever the end result is. That's on me!!! I won't come crying back saying you told me blah blah blah. I just have little to none experience with your products.

[nimo]

Re: Paint restoration process?

Its a water color matchbox car wooohooo! hehe (sorry had to do that)

Here is the end result without going into all the details.

Elbow grease city!

Applied by hand...

The top is still pinkish because the CC is lack luster at best.
It only had a 4 reading on the thickness for all primer, paint and clear.

Ultimate Compound followed by Ultimate Polish applied by hand. Thought my elbows were about to fall off!







You guys have some pretty impressive products! Especially considering the horrible condition of the paint and only using elbow grease. I guess that will make polishing my car up a cake walk.

Thanks for all the help,

Nimo