Maintaining 55 yr old orig. lacquer

Newbie here, although I`ve been obsessing about paint on my old cars for many years. I recently acquired a mint original mint `61 Cadillac with its original black lacquer. Guy I got it from, who won a number of awards with it, told me the only way to care for the paint is Megs #7 followed by quality carnauba like Pinnacle or P21S. This makes sense to me, but I`m wondering if an intervening step like Klasse SG would help. I`m a long time fan of AIO + SG + a coat or two of P21S as a regimen for garage queens with more modern two stage paint paint, although I would not use AIO on this old lacquer unless there was a real need for polish, which there isn`t.

Is this strictly a show car or is out in the bad weather?I would likely follow the recommendation of the seller and keep it real simple. I don`t believe I`d be considering any sort of "sealant".

Here`s the most comprehensive article you`ll see on antique single-stage paints: The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints

I used Mike`s tutorial years ago to take my El Camino from a oxidized, fading embarrassment to a trophy winner. Applying the the #7 and letting it soak in, overnight at least, makes the paint much more receptive to any subsequent compounding or polishing steps. I`ve tried a number of products, both waxes and sealants, with good results. My primary criteria for choosing a last step product is streaking, or lack thereof. These old, permeable paints get very finicky in that regard. I`ll often use Collinite 915 for its durability, then top with a "beauty wax" such as Souveran, Fusion, Dodo Juice or even Meguiar`s M26 for the additional glow.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/attach...id=32627&stc=1

Bill

The first question I have is where are you storing the car and how was it stored previously?

Your paint is constantly oxidizing and a light non abrasive polish is needed at least yearly to keep the high gloss ...

We deal with paint much older at the shows we attend and mostly recommend Polish w/ Carnauba and then top with a Natty`s

Sevillian- Welcome to Autopia!Some people have used the Klasse twins on (older) single stage lacquer but I`ve never tried it (despite liking/using/recomminding them for b/c paint).I lean towards the M07 + wax approach as the Trade Secret Oils in the M07 really *do* "feed the paint" to some extent and can help with the way (older) lacquer just keeps dying back all the time.FWIW, KAIO is more-or-less a functionally nonabrasive product. Pigment transfer from using it on single stage is virtually all a result of some minor cutting from the application/buffing media and/or the primarily chemical removal of oxidized/"dead" paint. As with the Meguiar`s Pure Polishes (e.g., M07) the KAIO isn`t a "polish" in the sense that it does its polishing via abrasion.

I would just polish it to abraid away the oxidation, then ceramic coat it with some pearl nano HD
Then you`ll have some legit uva/b protection

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Originally Posted by nothingface5384

I would just polish it to abraid away the oxidation, then ceramic coat it with some pearl nano HD
Then you`ll have some legit uva/b protection

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Gotta disagree with ya on this......

Classics DEMAND WAX !

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Originally Posted by Poorboy

The first question I have is where are you storing the car and how was it stored previously?

Your paint is constantly oxidizing and a light non abrasive polish is needed at least yearly to keep the high gloss ...

We deal with paint much older at the shows we attend and mostly recommend Polish w/ Carnauba and then top with a Natty`s

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That`s some good information. I didn`t think of it when I typed my post, but Natty`s Black plays real well with my Camino`s burgundy.

Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ronkh

Gotta disagree with ya on this......

Classics DEMAND WAX !

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I gotta go with Ron on this.

Bill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Billy Jack

Here`s the most comprehensive article you`ll see on antique single-stage paints: The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints

I used Mike`s tutorial years ago to take my El Camino from a oxidized, fading embarrassment to a trophy winner. Applying the the #7 and letting it soak in, overnight at least, makes the paint much more receptive to any subsequent compounding or polishing steps. I`ve tried a number of products, both waxes and sealants, with good results. My primary criteria for choosing a last step product is streaking, or lack thereof. These old, permeable paints get very finicky in that regard. I`ll often use Collinite 915 for its durability, then top with a "beauty wax" such as Souveran, Fusion, Dodo Juice or even Meguiar`s M26 for the additional glow.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/attach...id=32627&stc=1

Bill

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Best advice you can get right here by Bill. Meg`s #7 is great for Lacquer Paint and the only reason I have ever owned a bottle. Let it soak in overnight to let the oils soak in and I bet you will be surprised how well it turns out. That`s the first step I would take before any type of abrasives.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ronkh

Gotta disagree with ya on this......

Classics DEMAND WAX !

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Agree with Ron as well.

Coatings don`t do well on single stage paints in terms of longevity.

Thanks, all for the outpouring of info. As for how the car is maintained, I live in N. Calif., so the car can be enjoyed year round. It will be driven only on nice weekends for fun and local shows; garaged the rest of the time and will never see rain (or water for that matter, except for wash, perhaps once/year). The prior owner was pretty meticulous about the paint (and everything else), and the paint has no obvious oxidation. After looking at that article and the discussion above, it sounds like Meg`s #7 is certainly the way to start, followed by something (AIO or a very light polish), and then wax. I`m not familiar with Natty`s, but will look into that as well.

"light polish" are keywords here. Old lacquer paints are a completely different ballgame than the modern clears we`re used to. My favorite polishes are the oil-laden old-school Meguiar`s products, such as M02, M03, M09 and the unfortunately now-discontinued M80. You can vary the pad selection to vary the cut. Just remember that an old, soft paint job has been likely polished enough over the years to make the paint super-thin, so tread very lightly when polishing.Bill

Whether to follow M07/etc. with an AIO or polish will, IMO, be situational. Sometimes you want to leave the TSO on/in the paint while other times you don`t.IIRC Meguiar`s has discontinued my favorite Pure Polish- M05 New Car Glaze. Easiest stuff to use ever IMO, and it`s the one Pure Polish that`s allowed to dry before you buff it off. Can be layered too.

M09 Swirlmark Remover v2.0 is worth considering as it contains (at least it did the last time I discussed it with Mike) the same TSO as M07 but does a fair bit of filling. The abrasives in it are usually way too mild to actually remove swirls (unless used aggressively as in rotary/wool) but rather just make for an easier buff-off. One could do worse than maintain ss with M09 topped with a wax, perhaps after a M07 pretreatment.

FWIW, I don`t do what I usually recommend to others on my single stage lacquer Jag. Rather, I use AutoGlym Super Resin Polish topped with a wax. SRP is a bit different as AIOs go, *very* mildly abrasive (not enough to be a paint-thinning threat) yet can be layered if you do it right. I get the feeling I might be the only Autopian who uses the stuff. I have never treated the Jag`s (utterly terrible from the factory...real "story car" with regard to its initial build) ss lacquer with anything like the Meg`s TSO yet it hasn`t had any awful issues, just a *little* bit of crazing in a few places. Surprises me as that Rhodium Silver Metallic paint was so problematic (even when the initial build was OK, and mine was NOT) that Jag discontinued it shortly after mine was built.

I know this thread is two years old, but I started it, and it popped up when searching for answers, so here goes: After claying the car, I went ahead and did the M07 “soak” followed by a glaze and wax, and then last Spring did a conventional M07 treatment (per the bottle), followed by glaze and wax. I’ve been happy with the results so far, and am now gearing up for the cruise/show season. My questions are 1) whether it would be beneficial to do the soak again, or whether, having done that once, and kept up with annual applications of M07, another regular application will suffice, and 2) whether it would be beneficial to clay the car again, or whether that is subjecting the old, thin in places paint to unnecessary abrasion. This is original black lacquer on a show-quality 24k mile ‘61 Cadillac that never sees rain (or other water; waterless wash only) that is always garaged, often covered, and driven about 1200 miles a year.