Technical Keeping 70 Year Old Paint Shiny

Using paste wax is quite a job and often you avoid it because of the time and effort it takes.
I use meguiars spray wax alot, after washing the car just spray on and wipe off done, it works suprisingly well, you got the car waxed in minutes.
I use it on my daily aswell and even like 2 months after waxing the water still rinse off like a newly waxed car.

 

My Grandpa used 30 w motor oil on everything. Cars , trucks and tractors maybe I should also

 

Detail King has a complete line of professional detailing and car finish products.
These two products have been my go to for years now. It is easy to use...low effort hand applied, and it smells good.
It can be applied on the dead paint and wiped off...the oxidized paint will come with it. It leaves a durable shiny surface. My experience is that if you park inside it will last a year or more
Your ceramic coating will have to prepare the surface with wash, clay and then precoat and then ceramic application....
These products are top drawer in my opinion....I'd have given you a bottle If I had known when you were here....
Good luck and report on the outcome...

 

1. Wash the car
2. Hand rub in Meguiars Number 7 and let soak
3. Hand wipe off
4. Wax

I just did this to 40 year old paint and it looks amazing. It’s all by hand and it took probably 16 hours for my 41 pickup. But it’s great for delicate and thin paint as it doesn’t take any off. It restores the oils. If you eat too much linguine, you probably won’t like it though. I followed this guys advice:


https://www.youtube.com/live/yRx7VoVx290?feature=share

 

Wax on, wax off!

 

Sorry I left home 15.5 hours ago…only three more to go! I may not be right in the head anymore…

 

Safe travels!

 

My '51 was painted in the early '80's. It was not what you would call a "quality job". Nevertheless I kept it looking pretty good over the last 40 years with some of the techniques described above. About 10 years ago, I found that no matter what I did, I couldn't keep it looking good for more than a few days out in the sunlight. The paint was plum worn out, (buffed through to the primer).

It's getting a new paint job his winter. Some times you just have to "bite the bullet".

 

Looks like it is probably keeping that little blue A roadster shiny from the pic? And, if only we would have talked about this when I was there. I may have to come back for another breakfast and dinner and we can discuss.

Thanks! I will check out the video. I haven’t used Meguiar’s #7 in years, but maybe it is worth a try again. I used to use it as a kind of glaze back years ago after buffing old lacquer jobs prior to when I could wax them because they weren’t cured yet, but I quit shooting that in the mid 80’s when base/clear urethane came out.

Anyway, thanks for all the ideas guys! I will get this figured out and start taking better care of my thinning paint. I may have to paint the car someday, but I am hoping that day is still a long way out since I like it better showing some history. Once I paint it, it will look more like every other car at an event.

 

For really faded, chalky paint I like to use a type of polish that smells like a solvent with a clay polish mixed in. There several types and they all seem to work pretty well.
Try TR3 resin glaze or Nu Finish. There was another but I can’t remember the name.
It takes multiple applications to build up, but it really seems to bring back non-metallics and non-clearcoat paints.

 

Meguires once had an article that told you to use their Mirror Glaze, letting it soak into the paint. Do this several times until the paint is re-saturated. then do multiple waxes to lock it in.
Old timers used to either put kerosene in the wash water, or just wipe the car with kerosene to keep the old paints " hydrated". Probably the same idea as Meguires. Some older guys also use Butcher's Wax on the cars, which also smells like kerosene.

 

Yes and the paint on the little Roadster is*****.....the Cabriolet paint was dead too...
you are welcome back anytime or I can bring material to the Roc and we will do your car in the parking lot Thursday evening....I bet we could bust it out in less than an hour

 

Man I'm with Acres. After a good wash and buff dry, spray on Mcguires works as well as anything for me, but I have nice new paint, so I dunno about old paint. It's looks a tiny bit thin, but the car looks great to me Jeff. I sure as hell wouldn't be dumping the kind of cash a paint job takes into it.

But just like glass when paint gets thin, careful what u use on it of course. I've seen guys rubbing compound right thru their gel coat on boats eventually.... Don't Wanna be too abrasive on it....

Here's a good wash with Mcguires on mine. And chrome polish....

Shiny.

 

Meguiars No7. Put it on heavy but with no pressure downward. Car needs to be inside and preferably in air conditioned space. Let it sit all night and then I usually re-activate the first layer with another. While it’s still workable, get it wiped off. Will probably take several clean wiping to get it all back off. Just try the hood or trunk and see if it will yield acceptable results before you get in on a whole car commitment.

really good soft paste carnuba does wonders also. It will be in a can, not a bottle. Meguiars Gold Class is what I use, it’s good stuff.

 

My 39 has most of the original paint left on it. Yes it’s worn through in a bunch of spots but it shined up good. I wax it twice a year and it has stayed looking really good. I use the Meguiars gold glass liquid wax. I can watch it soak into the paint almost. When I wax it I do it 3 times back to back and really rub it in. Use almost the whole bottle each time. But it works and hasn’t faded in almost 3 years. A bunch trips to NC and TROG plus a cross country trip to the salt. It’s getting used for sure. The picture below is last week. After a quick wash.

 

I did a whole breakdown of how and what I used to polish the paint on my 39 in my build thread.

 

Jason, beautiful car!!

 

Love your 39 Jason! I don’t guess I knew that it was mostly original paint still. I’ll have to check out the details of what you did in your build thread. Thanks!

And, thanks for all the other help too guys! I’m getting motivated to get my car looking good again.

 

EVERY 4 YEARS?!?!?! lucky. I have to wax the panel every 4 or so months. Most of my cars that have or had dead paint get waxed with orbital polisher and foam pads with Meguiars Ultimate products (compound and polish). The big ticket for a deep gloss on single stage paint is Meguiars #7, it's been described as hand lotion for dry paint. I've tried different waxes (cheap to good) and it still seems to only last 4-5 months before becoming chalky again (it lives uncovered outside). I just got some Collinite #476s and I'll try it next time.

 

So, after watching the video on Meguiars #7 and being reminded of my use of that product years ago, that is going to be my first test. I will hand wash the car good and start with that to see how it does. I have never used that product for this purpose, but seems it is a proven solution that also won’t hurt anything or make me take any more paint off. More to come once I find time to actually try it...

 

Maybe I missed it Jeff, but any upkeep on polishing it between the years, or just washing it off?
And I do know about getting older and, well, uh, “broader”.
As a younger fella, was a monthly ritual to wax my vehicles. I can’t recall the last time I did it

 

Hey Jeff. I love your 56, & the color. My 52 Vicky is Carnival Red and not a GR8 job. I usedMeguires #7 and then waxed it with Meguires Gold Class carnuba pluss. After that I used Turtle Wax & Dry 3 or 4 times a year; aprox 7 months as car was stored for Ohio winters. It stayed "looking good" for a long time. Follow Meguires directions to a "t" and the results are GR8. Good luck on keeping that nice 56
NICE.

 

Oops, by the way, the Wax & Dry is so easy; spray on after a wash & dry and buff it off. Worked 4 me !!

 

Washing tends to remove all the hard work of waxing the car
What’s a good cleaner that won’t remove the wax?

 

Yea, I pretty much just wash (typically at the manual car wash) and drive and have gotten lazy enough with four kids and now a grandkid on top of job, etc. that it gets neglected more than I would like. If cleaning up for some event, I might use quick detail or something to get rid of water spots from the spot free rinse. Anyway, I think I am too used to caring for newer paints with a good urethane clear that don’t require near the maintenance.

Keep all the great ideas coming guys. If nothing else, this thread could be referred to by others with similar questions going forward. I appreciate all the information on different waxes and how folks are caring for these old single stage paint jobs to keep them nice. That is why I started this thread in the first place knowing that buffing my car wasn’t the right answer and if I kept that up, I would be painting it in the future which isn’t my intention.

I just think my car would lose much of what makes it cool to me if I made it as nice as I would by painting it. We all know how that would go...paint, all new chrome, etc., etc., and my car that I enjoy driving would be down for longer than I ever planned and I would have to worry about kids touching it, etc. after spending as many hours as I would on a show quality paint job.

 

I'm seriously wondering if we should consider a different approach to lacquer vs enamel & original vs repaint before proceeding with the many recommendations..

 

Hello,

But, from experience from all of those wax products, it was an eye opening thing to revert back to the original Carnuba Wax products. They were made as usual and were for the longest lasting protection from elements, including a daily dose of salt air, salt water and anything floating in the surrounding atmosphere. Boating has their own companies that cater to the owners. So, products are advertised, just like car products. It is a mess of products to choose from.

Having been an owner of cars since the 50s and sail boats for 20 plus years in the ocean environment, … “what goes around, comes around.” We discovered Carnuba Wax in the form of Collinite again and it has been a wonder of a product. It has lasted longer than 6 months and continues to protect those harsh elements that most hot rods and daily drivers do not see, unless you live on the water’s edge.

Salt water mist, fog, wind, salt infused rain/wind daily combination is one expects on a daily basis for the fight against surface corrosion. Let alone sailing on a “heeling angle” with the flying salt water blasting by, covering the hull, as we were enjoying an active sail to our heart’s pounding and delight. But, old boats, like old cars tend to deteriorate at a rapid rate due to harsh weather and locale influences. A dull flat surface is the same, whether cars or boats.

Collinite is sold under many company’s logo product brands.


The original works the best…

No prep work, other than wash for a clean surface. But, these advertise 7 plus months of protection. We have been getting over 7 months… But, we wash the boat after every time in the ocean or bay. Still, it sits outside in the weather all day and night.

Jnaki

We have seen pro detailers work on old faded cars with their Collinite and buffing wheels. Then one day we asked the local boat detailer what is recommended for faded surfaces due to whatever conditions. He said that with Collinite and a light touch on the buffing wheel, the dull surface will come to life. So, after lunch and a nice sail, we saw him working on the same old boat. The hull and deck was now shiny as if it rolled off of the dealer’s showroom display.

We have been using Collinite ever since. Now our daily drivers, although spending most of their lives in a garage, come to life with a coat or two of Collinite wax. It keeps the salt water/air environment off of the surfaces and helps with the longevity of the wax application. One good detail job last over a year of being outside and in protected shaded areas.

Note:
since 1936
Of course, your choice and method will vary with what you use. Colonite has been around for ages and does not get the big name advertisement as Meguiar’s, Mother’s or other big names. But, it does work and works better than those big time hot rod company products.

Our Collinite surface stays a great looking area for such a long time, that we tend to forget how long it has lasted.