Original 40 Ford Coupe, Buff it or leave it alone?

So I sold my 56 Chevy a couple of weeks ago and just picked up this 40 Ford Deluxe coupe. It was a 1 owner car that has sat inside storage since 1963! My plans are to try and get the original flathead running again. I never will paint this car and never do any interior work, I like it just the way it is. I am just going to go all through the mechanics to make it safe to drive again.
So here is my question, do I leave it as is or do I buff the paint? I am leaning towards leaving it as is but would like to get some opinions. It looks like it has had some paint work done a long ass time ago because the fenders look a different shade than the body?
Let me know what you guys think. Here are some pics...

 

Leave it don't buff...Cool car thats my dads dream car I would like to get him one some day....Now that my .02

 

Very nice!

Unless you can buff a shine into the rust, leave it alone.

 

The only thing about leaving it alone is that once you start driving it and gettin git wet an dwashing it, it WILL start to deteriorate at a fast rate. If you buff and wax it to protect what is left of the paint it will still have the vintage 'survivor' look but you can keep t old paint a lot longer. Personally, I think it's neat to have a car with old paint on it, but it doesn't have to look like you just pulled it out of the barn....I assume you won't be buying dust to put on it for each show??? Just my thoughts...

 

leave it alone....if it ain't broke, don't fix it !!!!

 

leave as is, I love it

 

I wouldn't "buff it" but I'd probably give it a good coat of cleaner wax. I love the old paint and patina but I don't want it to look like it is neglected. You will never wax away the patina of a genuine survivor. Even with a hand wax job the age and beauty will show through. Right now it looks to me like the car is not loved anymore. JMHO

You are a lucky sumbitch.

 

For right now I would leave as found. Like you said, get the mechanicals up to date and make sure it's safe to drive. After driving it for a period then you can decide how far you want to take the exterior finish.
How does the interior smell? I had one almost like it many years ago and it smelled so bad you couldn't drive it with the windows up. ended up doing a stock replacement interior and it didn't loose any old timey feel but sure was miles ahead when it came to enjoying the car. You've got a great car there, just be cautious about going too fast with the changes as you'll never be able to duplicate the look you have now.

Frank

 

Man... What a car.

Can you do a little test wax on a place that's not noticeable?

I like the look as is but it may go south quick when exposed to sunlight since it's been out of the sun for so long.

I say don't buff it with heavy compound or a wool pad but use a foam pad and some fine polish. Talk to a good detail guy that knows what he's doing. Wax it up so it will be uniform and have some protection.

There's a 70 something Chevy truck running around Austin that is shiny all over but on the hood the primer shows through. Looks killer! Wish I could replicate that look for my whole car.

 

The wax will look like crap on every speck of rust or chip in the paint. The white crust that sticks under the edge of the paint will ruin the look of the "barn find".

Trust me, I know what you are trying to do, but I've never seen a way to wax the car to preserve the old paint, without ruining the "untouched" look of the car.

On the old painted car I drive we just wash it very seldom, and keep it inside. Yes, the rusty specks will get larger. Yes, the old paint will deteriorate more. But, I can't see any way around it. Just keep it as dry as you can. Someday it will need a repaint, but hopefully it's a long time from now.

 

Barnfind 56
Never is a long time. It would be great to leave it "as is" but that would require storing it. It's a nice car enjoy!

 

That is beautiful! I would wax it ,personally (see avitar.) Enjoy! That is a real gem of a find.

 

I'd buff it. I really like old paint, but I like it too look cared for. just my .02

 

Decisions......... Decisions........
I think that you should probably sell it to me and then you won't have to agonize over it.
Nice Find!

 

I don't understand most the responses to leave it looking like ass. When I was a kid, low on money, the least I could do was keep my car as clean as possible. Ignoring it like the last guy did makes no sense to me. BUFF IT!

BTW, there's a recent thread (Stole this from another site-check it out) where a guy used CLR on the surface rust on the fender of his 59 Elcamino, and it left more paint visible than you may have guessed, and it looked really good

 

I would wash the car and wax it but don't use white wax,,use one of the clear type that is one the market. HRP

 

Leave it! You can never go back.

 

I'd get some shine back to get rid of the haze. It will look better and keep it from getting worse.

Patina, IMO, is not having a car that looks like the person is lazy.


Too bad there is no way to photoshop a little shine on that car, rather than that dull haze....I am sure it would look beautiful, even with a bit of surface rust.

If the tires were covered in cowshit, would you clean them

 

My Nomad has 25-year-old paint. Being red, it gets chalky looking over time. I rub it out by hand using a polish and then hand wax it. Paint still looks old (patina), but better than leaving it looking badly oxidized.

 

Actually Groucho junk and I were talking about this just the other day when I cruised up to get some glass fom him. He has got a pretty slick rusty binder by the way. That was what got the discussion started.

The Stude I am working on needed some hood repair because of an old blower install. Now this car is really covered with surface rust it sat in a field for 7 years that iknow of before it sat out again for at least another 4. Anyway long story short I was going to clean up the rust with a cup brush on my angle grinder before I started welding the patch in. There was good solid paint under the rust. I had to go after it with the grinder to make a clean spot to weld.

A lot of the time unless there is body damage or a major scratch there will be paint under the rust. Old paint is pretty porous and needs to be sealed to remain intact.

 

It will continue to rust unless painted. Remove the chrome. Fix the rust and body sheetmetal. Then paint it epoxy primer.

 

I'd buff it (or at least a really good cleaner wax).
I love the car!!

 

Very cool 40! I would wash it and buff the paint out. The way it is now just kinda looks dirty and chalky. You might be surprised how shiny you can get the paint w/ some medium cut compound and some finishing glaze. I cleaned the old paint up on this 40 awhile back.

Before:


After:

 

I'd make that old paint look as good as possible - whatever it took.

It'll still have the patina but will look amazing.

JH

 

I agree there is a world of difference between 'patina' and 'neglected and unloved'.If it were mine (and it's not) I would give it the buffing of its life,and then use Turtle wax 'Ice',which is completely clear and leaves no white stuff,as often as possible to try an slow down any further deterioration.
Hell,I sound like a commercial.
Great find.
Of course, I'd retract all the above if shiney paint was an option!
Paul

 

I'm going to go with what these two have said. Why wouldn't you care for it? Protecting the "old" finish is just another part of maintaining the car.

I don't think that there is so much rust that it'd look odd.

 

Mcguiers used to make a paint "conditioner" that had banana oil in it. Kind of a rub it on, rub it off deal. Not really a polish, just a conditioner. It took the white haze off the paint and left the paint looking as good as it could without repainting. If the Ford were mine and I wanted to leave it original looking, I'd see if they still made it.
I'd also consider a dropped axle and maybe aluminum heads/multi carb setup, but that's just me.
Larry T