Let me say from the get go that I am humble and just asking for any help as I am the last male in the family and I am about over my head in this 1950 NewYorker. This is the solid,non metallic green enamel of 1950 & aside from my brother & I about waxing the paint off of it on the 1970’s to cruise around in that’s the only love the paint saw before parked in the air conditioned garage. Hoping someone has some tricks so I can just get the years of oxidation off of it so the color presents as well as possible and the wax “stains” come out. I’m disabled so I pay for every extra minute on my feet in this Southern heat (no garage) so I am trying to make it count. I have of course seen all the magic in the bottle “wipe on clear coats” but I am not about to screw the pooch on my Dads pride & joy before it leaves my hands. Sorry for the ramble (always been this way) and the odd shading from sun through the oak tree.. So: (1) 74 year old enamel solid green paint. (2) Compounding & waxing almost seems to soak down into the paint where I cannot remove it. (3) Just want the paint at least a clean & consistent shade. Thank you in advance for any help. P.S. Between typing this I tried a Meguiars #9 “Mirror Glaze” & while not perfect it is the best so far but still really need help in understanding what is going on here.
Somethings are easy to do by hand, somethings require the aid of a wool bonnet on a high speed machine (not an orbital polisher). If you are not familiar and experienced with a buffer I would also suggest hiring it out. Old, thin paint, a high speed buffer and inexperience spells burn through.
3000 to 5000 grit paper will remove the oxidation Easier to clean up than old school compounds. I’d try 5000, if that removed the oxidation then it can be easily hand rubbed from there. An orbital polisher would speed that up This 40+ year old paint was done that way. we taped up edges, trim and covered the car in sections. Saved a lot of clean up. We used 3000 then 5000 on a DA sander wet with an interface pad(that cushions the paper) Ease up on the edges then we polished it. The 3000-5000 can be used by hand. Clean residue off after wet sandung . Do not let it dry. Do a panel at a time.
The circled part in the center kinda looks like sanded thru paint. if so, no polishing will correct it
I can't tell if the paint is chalked out if it is that is dead paint be very careful polishing if it would be my car I would hand rub it be very carefully on the edges and high spots.
Have had experience with a high speed buffer and of course orbital as well as hand rubbing but yes the paint is really thin.
That's a nice car and it deserves some TLC. Ask around for a recommendation on someone local. It's sometimes called "a paint correction" but you can say it just the way you did here. I'm by no means an expert but I suggest you ask your pro if it's a good idea to tape all the sharp creases and then carefully hand rub those as a last step.
I am just taking a swag at this, but what about like a grease and wax remover from a paint supply? Try it in an inconspicuous spot and see if it works. Before I ceramic coat a car, I use a panel prep spray that removes oils from polishes and any left over waxes. Just a guess.
Be carefull with some so called wax and grease removers. Some are hotter than others. I bought some from the parts store after running out of my regular cleaner. Softened up the paint I was cleaning. Needed to clean off some base coat and that stuff removed it. Original paint. 64 Chevy. Washed it, 3000 wet on a DA then polished with a foam pad That’s all the paint would let us do. Looked a lot better.
Those stains are oxidized paint, holding wax. You need to remove the oxidized paint. Like Anthony said, very fine sanding will do it, followed by mild polishing, or compounding, depending on the grit you used to remove the oxidation. Always start with the least aggressive, to see if it works. If it doesn't, go one step more aggressive. Keep going until it works, or you start removing to much paint (primer showing).
Okay that makes total sense,thank you. Was decades ago but I did wet sand my 60 Electra 225 convertible when I realized I couldn’t hurt it (was much worse than the Chrysler) and the decent surfaces came out nice. I ordered a 3M Finess 3 stage kit but yes, may resort to some wet sanding to get the bad oxidation off without making it too thin. I appreciate everyone’s help & will post pictures of results.
I am glad you are doing this, the car deserves it. That is a big car and it's going to take a lot of time and effort to get it all spiffy. I'd suggest working one panel at most at a time. Just like Anthony showed on the Black Caddy. sand, buff, polish, protect.
A couple more things... Different surfaces on the car may need different stages of sanding or polishing. Top surfaces usually need more aggressive work to remove oxidation. Don't just use the same technique on the whole car, you might be removing more paint than necessary for some panels. Also, don't think that any compound /polish is better than sanding. The higher grits (2000 and up) are often less aggressive than some of the compounds! And you will use much less effort polishing them, if you use, say, 3000 grit.
Very good points! I was actually thinking about that as I was looking at the front clip where the paint is definitely thin after nearly 75 years. Great point on how much abrasion is in the compound/polishing products. Appreciate your mentioning that. As suggested I will just have to try and knock out a panel at a time. Once the hard work of removing the oxidation things should move along quicker on detailing but still a big ole car for a still tore up disabled guy but I’ll just do what I can when I can. Ultimate I’ll need to sell it because I have no storage or money to store it somewhere but I at least want to send it off in a way Dad (R.I.P.) would be proud. Thank you for all the help.
Another big thing that you need to do it in shade (an EZ up will work), direct sunlight doesn't help matters. It's really hard to get the old polish/compound off when it dries on dead paint. You can wet sand or scrub the loose oxidation off and polish from there. I polish up my dead green paint on my panel once or twice a year (dead as in chalky, white, dull and every hand print soaks in). I use compound, polish, #7 and wax, all put on with a orbital polisher and foam pads. Porter Cable 6 in. Variable-Speed Random Orbit Polisher Meguiars Cutting, polishing, finishing foam pads Meguiars Ultimate compound, polish and wax *Meguiars #7 "Show car glaze" I can't stress this one enough. It's the best for single stage, it's like lotion for your paint. Before: After:
That may well be the issue, paint that is actually worn though to the primer by years and years of being polished time and time again. A friend of mine who used to own a body shop back years ago told me one time that over the years he had repainted a well known local car three times because the owner hand polished it every few weeks. He said that he had told the owner more than once that he didn't need to polish it so often but that was the guy's passion along with playing golf.
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