How to handle worn lacquer (I think)?
 

A couple weeks back DUB was kind enough to spend quite a bit of time on the phone discussing the paint on my '64. At his suggestion I picked up a nice Makita buffer and was preparing to bring the clear coat back to life if it could be done. Now things are a bit different and since I can't send him pics over the phone (nor by PM either) here's where I'm at and would welcome suggestions to help my learning process.

Car has been repainted once, no idea how long ago. My plan is it will be a driver, not show or judging. So a friend who has done some painting says the car looks like it's lacquer, not BC/CC.

The paint is badly faded and rough EXCEPT where the soft top protected it. There, it's nice as can be. If I could get the rest of the car that nice, I would probably drive it a year or two before going for a repaint.

I followed DUB's advice and advice from video etc, and started with 1000 grit wet. Followed with 2000 and then 2500. That's as far as I am not altho I did try a small spot with polishing compound. The results are that while the COLOR comes back pretty well, and it feels smooth to the touch ( about like the part that was protected) the shine is not there. From some angles I see a big difference, from other angles not. In the pics below, imagine the soft top on the deck lid. The part behind that, on the driver's side, is the area I have been doing. Note the fourth pic at a low angle shows quite a gloss on the part I worked on.

My question is should I use the buffer, or a finer grit wet paper, or polish, and keep going with this procedure? Or just smooth it all off and put BC/CC over it? Or......??

Thanks!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...17dda4e25b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f87a4566b1.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...aeb02a8d33.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b5de9ae724.jpg

what are you polishing with? after 2500. Wool and cutrting compound? or foam and fine cut stuff? Do the pads turn blue from the paint?

if you got to the fine polsih stage. and it is single stage. divide that test section in half and maybe try megiures #7 glaze. I use it on my old vw finish. the paint seems to dry out and the glaze helps to rejuvenate it, almost like re-oiling an old leather glove.

you have to work it into the paint slowly. usually by hand as directed, but you can do slow machine.

you can probably try it before sanding. but maybe clay it at least, to remove oxidation and gunk so you dont embedded further into the paint.

If it is cleared, the paint has failed and is cloudy. pretty much completely oxidized, clear is dead. no matter how much polishing you do, it will not cleat up and will remain cloudy to the basecoat. but maybe glaze can help

ive tried bunch of stuff for years on single stage paints and seems like this may help. good luck

what products are you using

I'm new to paint/body work, just learning. DUB guided me through some basics of buffing on the phone but this is my first hands-on following what he said. He did recommend 3M Perfect-It but I have not used it yet - I wanted to be sure that was the next step after the 2500. Meguiars seems to be popular as well. Also in that conversation we were thinking the repaint had been BC/CC but a friend told me it looks more like lacquer to him. Not sure how much that changes the process but apparently that's the same.

I did try out a small area where it's less obvious to the eye, but when you get down out of sight the fading is not as bad so it's hard to say whether the look is because of what I am doing, or because it was not blasted by the sun.

DUB suggested a decent buffer, I got a Makita and will give it a try later today and report back. :thumbs:

Yeah. I like to use the perfect it stuff too, its a little pricey but cuts nice. If you cant get 3m meguires is good too, i used 105 and 205
I just looked at the pic again, it looks, like youre not cutting the sanding marks out.
Ican see orange peel sand marks on the good paint. So its likely youre not taking out the sand scratches and is why its foggy. THe shineyness at angles is because the sanding marks are so fine its naturally smooth/slick.

be careful polishing the edges. i wouldnt necessarly sand to the edges and peaks. maybe leave about half inch, and just finish sand with the finest paper you have.

Put a tape line down the half(or multiples) of your test stop and try your new machine and proiducts on one side of your test panel, so you can get a better idea of whats working when you lift the tape edge. when you get a good results you can start doing full panels with confidence.

Well, that went well. All the reading and videos do help, but getting out and DOING it is the best teacher. I certainly don't claim to be an expert after 1 day but here's 1 fender as is and the other one after I went at it:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...32f0c0cf69.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...42cd6412bc.jpg