33 year old paint

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damon23

New member
Hello everyone. I dropped by to get some tips on trying to revive and maintain the original paint on my '78 Trans Am. It is a gold edition car not a black car. The paint was not taken care of very well. I dont know if the original owner knew what a coat of wax was. When I got the car the paint was oxidized pretty good. I washed the car and did a test spot with my buffer at about 2k using 3M perfect it 2 compound. I got pretty good results. I did'nt get any gold paint just contamination that turned my pad black. I worked the whole car (it snowballed on me) and it had a even color to it. I then used mequires #7 on it and was happy. I followed that up with their gold class wax. Some spots had a nice reflection, some were still dull. That was almost a year ago. Fast forward to today. I went out and happen to run my hand across the quarter panel and it felt gritty. I'm sure I hit this spot but it used some mequires carnuba on it by hand and the pad was black again but back to a good shine with still a slight gritty feel.

What type of product out there is good enough to preserve this old paint that does not cost the moon? Or am I just sweeping the beach trying to keep this old paint up? I'm no expert at this, I just try different things and listen real well. Any advice would be great.
 
Old paint of what you speak of does dry out. Did you take a clay bar to the car? Contaminants tend to bite in more to older softer paints. If you just buffed the car w/o claying there will be peaks where paint was removed but not contaminants.
On another note once you have the paint where you like it I have had great results using a good quality sealer then wax.
 
well Damon welcome to DC :welcome:

your gold single stage was a great paint in it's day. the reason your pads turned black is because the gold, silver and other metallic paints used aluminum in the paint, so seeing black and not gold is a good thing. To maintain the shine and smoothness you desire, you must polish the car at least once or twice per year if it is a daily driver or at least once if it is a garage queen.
I would suggest Pro Polish which is a chemical polish vs an abrasive polish. I would use as little abrasives as possible on 33 year old paint as you will not know where it is thin (usually roof and trunk since you have a huge logo over the hood. You can use most good sealants or waxes, but you will need to strip it off once or twice per year and polish again.
ps guess why we have clearcoats now lol
 
Addicted2Bling said:
Why may I ask do you want to restore old paint???
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I think the better question is why would you NOT want to restore old paint? If original paint is salvageable, especially on a collector car, it's better to keep it because that originality is worth more than doing a restoration that involves refinishing work.

Damon- Steve is dead on, but you might find this article by Mike Phillips particularly useful as it goes even more in-depth:

The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum
 
Thanks so much. Shiny is right. I want to keep it up for as long as I can. They are only original once and the paint is not all that bad. No low or faded spots and detailing is cheaper than the $6 grand it is going to take to paint it. It is not a daily driver, more of a weekend/nice day cruiser. So, what i'm doing wrong is waxing it and not polishing it. I have some reading to do then looks like more work to do. Thanks again. I'll post up some pictures when I get started. Next I get to tackle my wifes car. 2004 GM black paint that has only seen the local drive thru car wash for the last 6 years.
 
damon23 said:
Thanks so much. Shiny is right. I want to keep it up for as long as I can. They are only original once and the paint is not all that bad. No low or faded spots and detailing is cheaper than the $6 grand it is going to take to paint it. It is not a daily driver, more of a weekend/nice day cruiser. So, what i'm doing wrong is waxing it and not polishing it. I have some reading to do then looks like more work to do. Thanks again. I'll post up some pictures when I get started. Next I get to tackle my wifes car. 2004 GM black paint that has only seen the local drive thru car wash for the last 6 years.
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yes, throwing wax over it may make it look shiny for the short term, but a good polishing will last much longer and then put a coat of wax or sealant on to slow down the oxidation ..remember i said "slow down" not stop ;)
 
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