Older Lacquer Paint Job - How much buffing is enough?

chrisfoot · 03-07-03, 04:58

I recently did my 57 BelAir with the PC, Finesse-It II, AIO, SG, P21S and it looks like a different car.

My brother-in-law has a 70 GTO Judge Ram Air 4. The paint is original and was in really bad shape. He has been using the PC and FI-II to remove the scratches and water spots accumulated over the last 30 years.

He is definitely taking some paint off (pad is orange). His paint is also definitely coming back. I stopped over to see his progress and there is a very noticeable improvement. But how far can he go with the PC? There are some marks that just may not come out.

How do you know when it is safe to stop?

2nd question: If he still has marks in the paint should we go with the same route I took? AIO, SG, P21S or should we go with something else that may do a better job of hiding the imperfections?

Accumulator · 03-07-03, 09:43

chrisfoot- I too work with older, single stage paint. You really DO have to be careful. After all those years, there are probably gonna be some problems that you'll just have to live with. I'm an original-paint fanatic on my '85 Jaguar, and I'm about at the point where any more polishing and I'll see primer. I HAVE cut through to the primer on our '84 Volvo, using a PC and fairly mild polish.

How to tell how far to go? Often you can't tell until you've gone too far, so err on the side of caution! The paint WILL look a little different just before you go too far, but it's a pretty subtle thing and by that time you're looking at future troubles anyhow. I'd say fill the GTO's remaining scratches/swirls with glaze. I'm debating putting some BFII on my single-stage paint after the glaze. The idea is that it might protect better against oxidation etc. than wax, thus saving you from having to polish again so soon. I'd use the BF instead of the K because I think it wouldn't "highlight" the remaining problems so much. NOT to say the K wouldn't work well (and it would certainly protect the paint for a long time). I've also had decent results using Autoglym's Super Resin Polish before the wax, but that would remove any glaze fillers/oils.

Top priority on those cars: don't run out of paint.