kurtis
08-15-2006, 08:59 PM
I recently purchased a 96 Mustang GT:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/toast523/xbxrna.jpg
As you can see from a distance the paint looks decent. However upclose its a different story. The paint really shows its age IMO. On the front are some lovebug splatters that are burned in, although Im not sure how deep. On the hood and roof there are marks that kind of look like water spots that stay there even after washing, claybar, and a very mild polishing. I also have little white marks scattered over both the hood and roof that I heard someone refer to as "spider webbing". Over all the paint just doesnt have the same mirrior like finish of other black cars that Ive washed for friends and such, even after a 6 hour day cleaning it up. I did notice that when I was going over it with the clay bar, I really wasnt picking up that much stuff, and overall the paint was suprisingly smooth. However, when I started polishing my pad got very dark, very quickly. The polish was also somewhat difficult to take off. This kinda made me think that maybe the clearcoat was shot or something? I thought it would have lasted longer than ten years though unless the previous owner was very hard on it or something.
I really dont know that much about paint, and am still learning about detailing, especially when it comes to older cars with less than perfect paint. So I dont really know what my options are here. But Im looking to restore it back to a mirrior like shine. I picked up a yellow pad for my porter cable and right now Im using the full menzerna product line, with both the final polish II and the intensive polish. I plan on really focusing on the hood tomorrow just to see if the paint over all is salvageable, but I wanted to get some opinions first, before I possibly make something worse or waste time trying to fix things that arent easily fixable.
At this point I was thinking of three possible options: 1)getting it wet sanded and re-clearcoated (I dont know anything about painting cars to know if that is even possible or how much it would cost), 2) trying to fix it myself after getting advice from here, 3) taking it to a professional detailer if you guys think they could fix it with a high speed buffer or some other tricks of the trade. Sorry for the novel/lack of detailed pictures, but Id really appreciate any help or advice you guys could give me.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y295/toast523/xbxrna.jpg
As you can see from a distance the paint looks decent. However upclose its a different story. The paint really shows its age IMO. On the front are some lovebug splatters that are burned in, although Im not sure how deep. On the hood and roof there are marks that kind of look like water spots that stay there even after washing, claybar, and a very mild polishing. I also have little white marks scattered over both the hood and roof that I heard someone refer to as "spider webbing". Over all the paint just doesnt have the same mirrior like finish of other black cars that Ive washed for friends and such, even after a 6 hour day cleaning it up. I did notice that when I was going over it with the clay bar, I really wasnt picking up that much stuff, and overall the paint was suprisingly smooth. However, when I started polishing my pad got very dark, very quickly. The polish was also somewhat difficult to take off. This kinda made me think that maybe the clearcoat was shot or something? I thought it would have lasted longer than ten years though unless the previous owner was very hard on it or something.
I really dont know that much about paint, and am still learning about detailing, especially when it comes to older cars with less than perfect paint. So I dont really know what my options are here. But Im looking to restore it back to a mirrior like shine. I picked up a yellow pad for my porter cable and right now Im using the full menzerna product line, with both the final polish II and the intensive polish. I plan on really focusing on the hood tomorrow just to see if the paint over all is salvageable, but I wanted to get some opinions first, before I possibly make something worse or waste time trying to fix things that arent easily fixable.
At this point I was thinking of three possible options: 1)getting it wet sanded and re-clearcoated (I dont know anything about painting cars to know if that is even possible or how much it would cost), 2) trying to fix it myself after getting advice from here, 3) taking it to a professional detailer if you guys think they could fix it with a high speed buffer or some other tricks of the trade. Sorry for the novel/lack of detailed pictures, but Id really appreciate any help or advice you guys could give me.