50 Year Old Paint

[Hacka]

Mike, I have a garage find '69 Mustang coupe that I started compounding by hand with the Ultimate compound. Unfortunately I didn't see the posts about rubbing in the #7 till after I did the doors and fenders. Car is all original right down to the fan belts ,shocks and am radio. The paint is filthy, sat in my dads garage since 2000 and doesn't look like it was cared prior to then for other than an occasional car wash. Its white with a black vinyl roof, roof still looks new, question is will the paint still benefit from a soaking in #7 or should I just go to the Ultimate polish at this point. Paint has a lot of little stone chips and has obviously been hit with a machine many years ago as a few high spots have been worn to primer but I don't want to repaint as the rest of the car including the interior are in great shape and would like to keep it as a survior....Thanks for any advice.

[Mike Phillips]

question is will the paint still benefit from a soaking in #7 or should I just go to the Ultimate polish at this point.



Just go to the polish.

The pigment for white single stage paint is Titanium Dioxide. This is a very hard mineral. It makes the paint HARD when working on single stage paints. Because of the hardness and a characteristic of this pigment is that it resists corrosion and oxidation.

Any oxidation you see should be very topical - not deep. As such, compound and polish then seal.

After all the compounding and polishing you "could" do the #7 rub down and then seal or stop after the #7 if it looks good to you and will be a garage queen.






Paint has a lot of little stone chips



Get the Dr. Color Chip kit for this color of paint. See my article here,

How to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair Systems (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/83526-how-use-dr-colorchip-paint-chip-repair-systems.html)






and has obviously been hit with a machine many years ago as a few high spots have been worn to primer



See this a lot. Plus sometimes, old cars can simply have thin paint on the most common "touched" areas like raised body lines.

See this article - I'm sad to say, a few weeks after we restored the ORIGINAL paint on this all original Corvette - the Corvette was T-boned by another car and totaled. If I remember correctly, it was hit by some mundane daily driver that will NEVER have the value of a classic Corvette. Really sad.


Whisper Thin Paint on Classic Cars by Mike Phillips - Be Careful! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-mike-phillips-your-detailing-questions/104788-whisper-thin-paint-classic-cars-mike-phillips-careful.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=108735


Thin paint from normal wear-n-tear over almost 50 years of "touching".

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=108730



More pictures and information about "Whisper Thin" paint in the actual article.









but I don't want to repaint as the rest of the car including the interior are in great shape and would like to keep it as a survivor....

Thanks for any advice.




Completely understand. I've been helping people like you with cars like yours for decades now. The goal is always to preserve the original paint because that's where the true value in a Survivor Car lies.


Also the exact reason I did The Number #7 Rub Down Technique for this old 4-door Packard.


Original Single Stage - 1937 Packard - The Number #7 Rub Down Technique (https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/126206-original-single-stage-1937-packard-number-7-rub-down-technique.html)

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/4016/The_Number_7_Rub_Down_Technique_027.JPG


:)

[Hacka]

Thanks for the quick reply. All my cars have benefitted from lock down. Bought a DA and all kinds of car cleaning products- already 3 stepped the wife's Mitsubishi{for mothers day of course-also a good practice car!}, my Rebel and now I can finish the Mustang and then get to work on my '04 Red Marauder. Marauder has a lot of fine scratches and a few 'good ones'- cant wait to see it finally shine again. Thanks for all the help and videos!

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for the quick reply. All my cars have benefited from lock down.

Bought a DA and all kinds of car cleaning products- already 3 stepped the wife's Mitsubishi{for mothers day of course-also a good practice car!}, my Rebel and now I can finish the Mustang and then get to work on my '04 Red Marauder. Marauder has a lot of fine scratches and a few 'good ones'- cant wait to see it finally shine again.

Thanks for all the help and videos!




Good to hear!

Thanks for joining the AGO forum.


:D