1971 Chevy Paint

D

DrGonzo

New member
What products would i need to polish paint that has been garaged since 1971. The paint is original 71 chevy light green and it feels like 800 grit sandpaper. It hasn't had a proper wash or wax since it was new, so what products would be appropriate to make it look like new.
 
steveo3002 said:
first thing to do would be a nice wash and put something like #7 to try and get some oils back into the paint
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Yeah, that's worked well for me on dried out single stage. You put the #7 on heavy and leave it alone overnight. Then you buff it off the next day and do another inspection.



I usually go for clay in a big way, but sometimes oxidized ss just loads it up something awful and so it can be best to do some polishing first.



After that I'd expect multiple passes with #80 (or #9 if it looks fragile), then more Meg's Pure Polish, then a carnauba. Just be gentle, better original paint than a need for a repaint; it's only original once ;)



If the paint looks nice and thick you might consider #2 (new version) for the first pass, the chemical cleaners and harsher abrasives might be what you need for the rough work. Just be a little careful with products like that. Note that people like Superior Shine have done some incredible work on OE single stage with a rotary, wool pads, and stuff like #84, but they've done it before too ;) I'd rather err on the side of caution.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. The paint isn't really that oxidized, the verticle surfaces still have a decent shine, but the horizontal surfaces are in rough shape because of dust settling on the surface, and the occasional uv rays that it gets. The car has less than 50,000 miles so it hasn't seen a lot of sun. Several years back i tried some cleaner wax(pre-autopian) on one of the fenders and it didn't faze it, so i know the paint isn't fragile. I have a bottle of #9 that i was looking for a good excuse to use, i have yellow and white lc pads for use with a PC. If the #9 doesn't cut it i have #83, and perfect it 2 rubbing compound(fine cut). I also have #7, and #81, and some IHG if that would help during the process. I won't be able to get pics for a bit as the car is located 45 minutes away, and i need advice on the products to use. I was thinking of UPP, NXT wax, or #26 as a topper(thoughts?). When i detail the car i'll be sure to take lots of pics.



Two more quick questions, if i remember correctly it's got louvres on the trunk lid, how do you guys deal with those? Also, its got the original vinyl top(in great condition), whats the best way to clean that?
 
DrGonzo said:
Also, its got the original vinyl top(in great condition), whats the best way to clean that?
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A dedicated vinyl cleaner should take care of that without issues. Meguiar's makes one that should be found locally OTC.
 
DrGonzo- You'll find that the ss paint (assuming it's not white) will cut pretty easily. I wouldn't use a cutting pad, but rather a polishing pad with a more aggressive product (and even that's only if you need it). I've had good results with the 3M FCRC on ss, it almost finishes out well enough to wax if you work it right.



I'd use that and then something a little harsher than the #9, probably #80. After the #80 you'd probably be ready to wax but you could try some #7 or #81 and see if it contributes anything.



I'd use the NXT as it's most likely to be compatible with the oil-heavy Meguiar's products, which, BTW, work just *GREAT* on single stage. If time permits top the NXT with #26, man would that look good!



Louvers on the trunklid, I don't think so ;) Do you mean black louvers covering the rear window or something else?



I haven't done a vinyl top in, gee, twenty-some years and the stuff I used then isn't around any more. The trick is to use stuff that won't just run off onto the paint if/when it gets rained on, so at least buff buff buff to get any excess off.



Oh man does this sound like a neat project, you're lucky to be working on it.
 
Assuming a single stage paint;

1. Wash

2. Hand apply #7 to get the oils back in and give it a few hrs or overnight

3. Remove #7 and clay

4. Do a test spot with #80 the PC and a polishing pad. If it does not work then try #83, PC and a polishing pad. Finish up polishing with #80, PC and a polishing pad.

5. Apply your LSP.



Good luck!
 
Yeah, I somehow left out the #7 pre-treat after having mentioned it in my earlier post :o



But if it's not all that dried out I don't think I'd really bother. I think my '84 RX-7 is in about the same condition and I don't plan to pretreat its ss.



It's just personal preference, but I somehow find the 3M FCRC a lot more user-friendly than #83. While I prefer the discontinued PI-III RC 05933, the FCRC has always worked well for me on ss, but then I'm used to it too and I never did all that much with #83 before ditching it...
 
Ah, thanks for the pic! Those *are* louvers, I stand corrected. Is it a trunk lid or a hood? I'd think louvers on a trunk lid would lead to a wet/rusty trunk :confused: Well, maybe if there's a panel underneath that'd be different. Heh heh, this sure has me scratching my head!



Anyhow...just do them by hand. I wouldn't run the PC over them as the paint on the edges is likely to be *incredibly* thin and you wouldn't want to cut through. Yeah, that might take a while!
 
A before pic as promised. This pic gives you a good idea of the condition of the paint. (this is before washing) The lower portions of the car still have some decent shine, but the top portions have no shine at all. Lots of scuff marks to deal with also.



IMG_0254.JPG
 
This is sort of a during pic. This is after 1 pass with #9 on a white polishing pad, 1 pass with 3M FCRC on a white polishing pad, 1 pass with 3M FCRC on a yellow cutting pad, and 1 pass with #83 on a yellow cutting pad. After all that it still doesn't look all that great, but still much better than before. The lighting was bad for the pic but you can see that it does show some reflection. This paint seems to be very tough.



IMG_0259.JPG
 
I've ran into a problem, i'm getting streaking. Meaning that after i've wiped the polish off i can see where the pad passed over the paint, one direction is slightly lighter than the other. Doesn't matter what product i use, or how many passes i make, or if i use one product over another or use a single product over un-polished paint. It's only really noticable on the hood which was in the worst shape(someone sprayed bug killing spray and it misted over the entire hood, which created permanant stains) The sides aren't as bad but it's still the same effect. Has anyone else run into this sort of thing?
 
After many hours of polishing i finally finished. The paint on the hood and trunklid was too dried out to get much out of them, but they are still much improved.



IMG_0262.JPG




Nice reflections for 35 year old paint. You can see that i missed a little bit of wax by the door seam, i noticed that only after i took the pic.

IMG_02631.JPG




This was a fun car to work on and while i couldn't bring it all the way back, it looks a lot better than when i picked it up. The streaking issue never left the hood, but NXT wax evened it out a lot.
 
Nice job! I'd somehow missed the last few posts on this thread...I take it you got the streaking thing sorted out. Sometimes that *will* happen with SS, the best thing I can recommend is to make broader overlaps and pay special attention the the areas that get worked "twice" as a result of the overlaping.



How did the #83 and the 3M FCRC compare on this job?
 
#83 seemed to work better for this paint but i ran out, and had to use the 3M RC for the rest of the car. The 3M did a great job with the car and got almost all of the scuff marks off the side of the car. The owner was thrilled that i got one small paint transfer off of the fender and that the tires were so clean, she was so excited about the tires that she tipped me twenty dollars. That proves that even the smallest thing to an autopian can mean a lot to a customer.
 
OK, thanks for clarifying about the two polishes.



Sounds like everyone ended up happy on this one :xyxthumbs Glad to hear the customer was appreciative.
 
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