Restoring & Preserving 1972 Paint

[jawsplace]

I have a very fortunate `72 International Scout II (early 4x4 “SUV”) with its completely original paint. The yellow paint is in excellent condition; no rust, serious chips, dents, or scratches beyond typical wear and tear. The original owner kept the Scout garaged and meticulously maintained. I`m working to complete what is mostly a cosmetic restoration.



I want to restore and preserve this original paint. However the hood is showing signs of the paint becoming "thin" in places. There is some slight, dark cloudiness that appears to be the primer or metal underneath. It`s not severe and isn`t noticeable until you stand up close and look at the hood`s surface. In addition along the sharp edges of the hood`s contour lines the paint appears to be weathered and/or polished nearly down to primer (or metal?). Again very slight and not noticeable unless you`re up close.



The rest of the paint including the roof looks great and shows no signs of the thinning on the hood. I`m assuming the hood has suffered the brunt of the weather, sun and 39 years of washing and polishing.



I`ve tried polishing two small test areas by hand - one on the hood, one on the side - with Nu Finish (yes I know this is likely NOT the product I want to be using) and the paint emerges looking remarkably good.



One note; when polishing the test areas my application cloth kept getting grey/black - but not the yellow color of the paint. Even after repeated gentle polishing (4 or 5 times) the cloth still came off black. Am I really removing that much grime from the paint? Or am I potentially removing more of the finish than I should?



BTW I live in Houston so no harsh winters or salt but plenty of hot sun.



Recommendations for the best method and products to gently clean, polish, glaze (?) and wax to restore the paint`s brilliance and preserve it?

[Accumulator]

jawsplace- Welcome to Autopia!



Cool vehicle, I share your enthusiasm for old, original-paint vehicles :xyxthumbs



I`ll offer some thoughts, but IMO you really oughta contact Mike Phillips, either via PM here or through his employer We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store (http://www.autogeek.net/) . He knows this subject inside-out and is friendly and helpful; you can tell him I recommended you contact him.



Even when worn down to primer, you can keep original paintjobs OK for an incredibly long time if you don`t neglect them. As I think you suspected, the trick is to be very gentle on the worn areas.



Old single stage paint seems to respond incredibly well to "old tech" products from Meguiar`s. The downside of this approach is that it needs redone fairly often.



Some of the Meguiar`s products to consider are:



-M80/#80 Speed Glaze (a misnomer as it`s really a polish, not a glaze)- This has some mild abrasives and some chemical cleaners and is pretty rich in the Meguiar`s "trade secret oils" (TSO) that work so well on this kind of paint.



-M09/#9 Swirl Mark Remover V2.0- Similar to the M80 but even milder.



-M07/#7 Showcar Glaze (and/or the similar M03 Machine Glaze, M05 New Car Glaze, M81 Hand Polish, and Deep Crystal Step #2 Polish)- Note that I used the names these products were sold under ages ago, they`re probably different now. These are "pure polishes" as Meguiar`s calls them, with no abrasives and lots of the TSO. These products are perfect for your paint. They will "enrich" it and even help keep it from drying out more. Problem is, they also wash away easily, so you need to seal them in with a wax.



-Wax. Some kind of wax, applied over top of the Pure Polish, will lock *in* that pure polish and help it last longer. You`ll still need to redo things pretty often, but I do think it`ll be a big step up from the NuFinish, especially with regard to your paint`s long-term health. I`d use a paste wax like Collinite 476S for this application, but there are countless others that will work well.



The "black stuff" you`re taking off could be contamination, oxidized paint, or even some of the primer. Hard for me to diagnose over the internet ;)



If (and I oughta say "when") you contact Mike, you might run the preceding past him and see how he`d do it differently. Especially since he`s exposed to a lot of non-Meguiar`s products now that he works for AutoGeek (he was with Meguiar`s for ages).

[TLMitchell]

I`ll offer some thoughts, but IMO you really oughta contact Mike Phillips, either via PM here or through his employer We Are Car Care -- Car Wax, Car Polish, Auto Detailing Supplies, Car Buffers & Car Accessories Store (http://www.autogeek.net/) . He knows this subject inside-out and is friendly and helpful; you can tell him I recommended you contact him.



I suspect this is the article Mike will point you to:



The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html)



TL