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

Wax it.

 

I hope that I'm not to late but what ever you do, DON'T WASH the car. Water is your life blood but water is the enemy of your car. Dust it, wipe it with these new spray and wipe cleaners but don't wash it. The window channels felts and fender welts are old and will hold water which will promote rust. I poured oil on all the welts and every winter replaced the window felts a couple at a time. If you want to know more than email me and I'll tell you how I fixed all the worn out items a little at a time and still everyone thought it was all stock. It was lowered with 15 inch wheels and posie springs which made it look so neat. Sonny

 

Man - that coupe is irreplaceable - you are one lucky dude to own that piece of history - keep it just like that and cherish it - nobody can make one like that again!

 

I'd use a clear wax. Very nice car.

 

Fantastic car man, just put an heathly flathead with vintage speed parts, new tires and go!! (don't forget some good breaks).
Keep your car dry, that's all it need.
Congrats.

 

I'd CLR the rust.Then give it a very light buffing with a non-agressive compound.
I saw a car years ago with paint similar to yours and it was killer.
2 deuces,some heads,drop the front end and boogie.

 

R U gonna show us the spot you rubbed?

 

"Don't Wash it?" What is he going to do if he gets caught in the rain?

 

Hahaha... Put it BACK in the barn so nothing happens to it!!!

 

Me too!

 

Ditto to what Jeff said, maybe a dropped front axle, new bias-ply Firestones and enjoy !

 

Along with some of the bullshit stories that come with it

 

Polish it gently. Back in the day it was an occaisional weekend event to shine up your car. Don't use a foam pad, I don't care what others say. Don't use it. Use a high-end wool finishing pad and a very mild polish. You won't be sorry. There's nothing like the pride that goes with shiney and beautiful original paint from back in the day. So much better than the latest "barn find" fashion. Doubt it? Well, here's a 22,000 original mile 32 Packard 8 I bought years ago. It was crackled and faded, had some oxidation, pinstripe was 1/2 gone, needed tires. I polished it with a wool bonnet and Meguires #3, blended the tops of the front fenders and hood tops with nitrocellulose black lacquer, re-chromed the bumpers and painted the wheels. Had a striper come in and re-stripe where it was gone which was most of the fender stripe and much of the body. No regrets and a phenominal ORIGINAL car. Here's the before and afters:

before:


after:


Why drive a dirty forgotten car when it used to be clean and shiney? The interior was beautiful too, had to hand-stitch a seam on the front seat. Wrong? You guys decide.

 

Can't argue with this...Great looking car!

 

Add me to the list
Paul

 

If a car has "real" old paint, I like mine to show their age. So don't do anything to it and I'll be over in 15 minutes to pick it up.

BTW, good score outta Nebraska. Kinda evens out the '29 Roadster Malcom swiped from Iowa soil.

 

Add me to the list. "Barn find" is getting old real quick too.
Nice score. Whatever it takes to save it.

 

Buff it, buff it, with a wool pad and fine compound! Enjoy the look of a well
carred for little Ford. Wax it, wax it and SMILE!!!

 

I love it when people say 'You'll never find another'

IT'S FORD MILLIONS SURVIVE!

In all, models, shape, and condition

Honest they ARE WONDERFUL but there are many many out there.

If no one did anything but 'shine and drive' we'd have no f'n rods and customs.

 

Exactly. Probably why it was parked, it no longer looked presentable.

P.S. That Packard is awesome! Ya did good.

 

Buff it! Just be careful not to buff too much off, but it will really shine up.

 

yep.

 

Best post on the thread by far
Paul

 

I'd buff and wax it if it was mine.

 

Polish it gently but don't try to fix the places where the paint is rubbed through.

Charlie Stephens

 

BUFF IT!

and put a dropped axle in it, done!

 

It's yours,do what YOUR heart tells you to do.Go out to the garage,bring a chair and a pen and paper.Sit down and make a list of what it's going to take to make it fun to drive.Take a BUNCH of pictures and put them where you will see them every day.I would suggest doing something with the interior soon, you will (hopefully) spend a great deal of time in there.My seat covers which looked great,when first exposed to the sun the material began to fuzz off and it looked like it had the mange,mold I think.The more you drive it the clearer your dream will be.This will be a blast,Dan

 

To answer one guy, if your caught in the rain then your caught in the rain but if your on the road the car will dry out real good anyway. In ten years of driving my forty, I never washed it and got caught in the rain only about 3 times but when I sold it this spring the metal still didn't have any rust appearing. So I would still clean the paint real good like the guy with the old black car. Good luck

 

To buff or not to buff that is the ??????? I would run it with a on my face. Oh, do you know how to run a buffer? If you do, you already know the question.

 

MAINTAIN IT. I would not buff it, but I would try to make it look more uniform as someone said earlier.

Somewhere there's a guy with a glass '40 that would love to be able to make his look like yours.

Enjoy it you lucky SOB!