Restoring aged original paint

[malibubronco]

Any tips on restoring an aged original paint finish? Thanks..

 

[Slowleak]

Check this out. It was recently posted....

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302073

 

[helo-mech]

I use Adams compound and polish to get mine to come back to life. It's a little pricey, but I have had great results with it. It was recommended to me by a friend 15 years ago, and I have used it since.

https://adamspolishes.com/collectio...products/adam-s-complete-5-5-pad-polish-combo


I started by using a clay bar on the entire body with Mothers spray polish from the local auto store. I sprayed a small area of a panel and the clay itself, and then work the clay in a uniform direction until it removes the heavy oxidation and wear. You'll feel the difference after doing 1 or 2 spots. After each area, just work the clay like putty to clear it up and prep it for the next area.

Once I had the entire body clayed, I moved on to the correcting compound and the polish from Adams with a variable speed electric polisher that I picked up from either Harbor Freight or Sears. I always spray the body and the pad with a spray polish as I move to each new area.

You'll want to be careful and really pay attention as you go to see how much the correcting compound is cutting into the paint. Mine was dragged behind a RV most of it's life and probably only washed once a year. In some areas it didn't take very much effort/time/cutting to go from heavy oxidation to patina.

 

[EODMike]

Check this out. It was recently posted....

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302073

Malibu, I posted the original question in the link that Slowleak attached. I used McGuires #7 Show Car Glaze and it worked really well, although ultimately I have decided to go ahead on a total repaint due to the overall issues with my paint. The areas that I did clean up looked really good.

I cleaned up the areas with a car wash solution, then used a clay block to remove grit and grime (I wasn't super impressed with this part) and then I followed the directions of the McGuire's product. The reason I didn't continue with mine was that I had bare metal spots and larger rusted areas which I wanted to alleviate while I am doing the frame off restoration and not have to readdress it a couple years down the line after all the time and money invested now.

 

[malibubronco]

Great advice! Thanks....and thanks for the great photos! Nice Bronco!

 

[pcf_mark]

Depending on how bad it is / tired the paint is a classic wool pad can do wonders. 3M has a compound "Perfect It" that does really nice work. The wool can get the paint hot so you need to feel the panel regularly with your bare hand and spritz with a little water to keep the compound flowing / not chunking. It can take all day to do one car! But the wool pad can save a lot of time and material versus a foam. Then finish it up with a foam pad and some finer stuff that is a polish. Take your time, watch the panel temp (wool or foam), keep your towels clean. Great arm work out.