Smoothing out "barn find" paint

I was thinking about throwing a "wet sand" party this weekend to wet sand this car down. Of course I'm not looking to try to restore this original paint job, just want to smooth it out. I think the look will be pretty cool, but then on the other hand, maybe I should leave it alone? Any thoughts? Any pics of cars this has been done to?

 

Wipe it down with WD-40 and enjoy the comments!

 

I've used Scotchbrite pads (with the sponge on the other side) and Ajax powder on cars with paint like that, and had pretty decent results. After you hit it with that, rinse the car down well, then wash it normally. Dry it well, then spray with WD40, and wipe down. You'll be amazed at how much more presentable your car will be.

This is my old '62 Pontiac (after). Before, you could barely tell the color. The hood is what the entire car looked like! Once done, it looked great!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1188&pictureid=101198

This was my 1963 Dodge Custom 880 wagon. It sat under a huckleberry bush for 10 years before I rescued it. It was black as night, and I thought it was not going to be possible to get the car clean. This is the first car I washed as I described above. The results are pretty evident!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1188&pictureid=9522

 

Wow.. I've never heard of the WD-40 trick! That is a great idea! My issue was that if I sanded off that nice crusty coat, it would leave nothing but the light orange color, and not that aged dark brown... WD-40 would definitely solve that issue. I also didn't know if it was some sort of sin to knock down a bit of that patina! But again, my goal is to retain the aged look. I want the the car to look old and crusty, just nice and smooth too!

Patrick.. beautiful wagon! That had to take you many days to clean!!!

 

WD40 is a bad idea if you ever plan on painting it. Use Gibbs if anything.

 

i say give it a real good scrubing at the coinop car wash and then rince it with the wax spray, then just let it dry, another option is to use colored wax, even if you have to mix a couple colors together to get a close match, the color goes into all the cracks, chips and rusty areas, lay it on thick.

 

Well I am partial to the patina, However I think a repair to freshen it is all it needs, Heres mine, before and after.. ps I never worry about doordings or rock chips!!

 

use wood bleach with warm water, will clean it up great.

 

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL CAR! Yes, I love the patina on my car too. I don't want to change that at all. Just smooth it down like it looks like on the body of your car.

 

Mine had been painted black with a brush years ago, so after fixing a few places and hitting them with some touchup paint that had been mixed to match my paint and put in a spray can at the local autopaint store, I went over mine wet sanding with 180 using more elbow grease in some areas.

I also went over the new paint spot ins to dull it back down to match better.

When I washed it the first time this summer, I went over it all again lightly with some 400.

 

Bon Ami used like rubbing coupound only wet.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?p=245938#post245938

 

The easiest, cheapest way to go is CLR. I've done it and it works great.
Check the link out and see how Mr1961 got down with it.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5739785&postcount=15

 

have a 1950 chevy and i used CLR and also SOS pads! It made my paint come back.

see the clean square above the wheel were i started with the CLR

 

Personally, I would rather see it sanded and shot in colored primer to match your wheels...