Problem with Old Lacquer

[SwampeastMike]

I have '79 Corvette with nearly all of its original paint. The color is "Corvette Green" which is an extremely dark metallic blue-green.

I've been using mainly Wolfgang Concours products for years and am extremely pleased with them.

My problem are a few smallish (no more than 1/2" or so) roundish spots most all of which are on the hood. They have clearly defined edges and almost look like hard water stains--especially in certain light or angles of view they appear significantly lighter than the surrounding paint.

While the paint looked quite good when I got the car about a year ago I knew it could be much better with the proper work and products.

What I've done:

Thorough waterless cleaning (I've yet to actually wash the car even once).

Clay bar. This actually made the spots look worse.

Hand applied Wolfgang Polish Enhancer followed by Finishing Glaze followed by hand buffed carnauba wax. This helped but very little. I use microfiber for everything except wax application.

Then I resorted to hand applied polishing compound (spotty areas only) and a repeat of the Wolfgang products. A bit better still but I was still unsatisfied. While the spots were improving the overall appearance was improving even more which only made the spots even more noticeable than when I began

My last thing was to apply the polishing compound (spotted areas only) via a cordless drill and a 3M polishing pad intended for the first phase of polishing plastic headlight lenses. I then used the Wolfgang products with the pad used for final polishing over the entire car. Then a few coats of hand-applied/buffed carnauba.

In general the paint now looks nearly incredible for its age and type. A neighbor seriously inquired if I'd repainted in a different color as the paint took on almost a chameleon like color shifting quality. Regardless of lighting, photographs no longer accurately portray the color(s) I see with my eyes. The original paint now also looks much "richer" than the front and rear "bumpers" that were repainted with modern base and clear coat just before the spouse gave me the car.

While generally very pleased with the appearance the spots still bother me. Some have nearly disappeared but the worst are still easy to notice under anything approaching close inspection.

Fortunately I do not see even a hint of swirling from the rubbing compound application. I've repaired some good-sized chips in the leading edge of the hood and find that the paint is quite thick

Any suggestions to further improve the spots? I'm open to anything unless it has significant potential to damage the existing paint. I'm happy to live with the flaws instead of risking damage to generally beautiful original paint that's going on 40 years of age.

[AGOatemywallet]

Pictures Please

[Mike Phillips]

I have '79 Corvette with nearly all of its original paint.

The color is "Corvette Green" which is an extremely dark metallic blue-green.

I've been using mainly Wolfgang Concours products for years and am extremely pleased with them.

My problem are a few smallish (no more than 1/2" or so) roundish spots most all of which are on the hood. They have clearly defined edges and almost look like hard water stains--especially in certain light or angles of view they appear significantly lighter than the surrounding paint.


Any suggestions to further improve the spots? I'm open to anything unless it has significant potential to damage the existing paint.

Thanks for sharing this project on the forum.

As to the defects and the repair, because like you state, this is the original single stage paint that's over 40 years old, doing anything aggressive is going to come with risks.

There are two types of paint defects,

1. Above surface
2. Below surface

It sounds like these defects are a type of imprint rings which would mark where some type of liquid left an etching that mimics the edges of where the liquid pooled on the finish.

Here's what imprint rings look like from my article here,

3 - Types of Water Spots - Type I, Type II and Type III




The only way to remove these types of defects is to abrade the surface via,

• Compounding
• Polishing
• Sanding

Sanding would be the most dangerous as you would risk burning through the paint exposing the primer.

Compounding and polishing sounds like what you've already done. You can compound more and more and remove more paint but this can do the same damage as sanding, so be careful.

Might want to just call it patina and live with it and be happy because if you rub through the paint you might be very unhappy.


Pictures?

[SwampeastMike]

Here are a couple pictures. The spots are difficult to photograph. You must view nearly dead on for them to be easily noticeable.

The first photo (using flash) slightly exaggerates them.

The second photo (no flash) finds them much less noticeable than by the eye.

Neither photo does a good job of showing the true color of either the paint or the spots.

[SwampeastMike]

Here's an overall picture. In the world of collectible Corvettes this is a near nothing but I am a touch proud of how I have it running, looking and operating. You can easily notice the difference in paint between the original (body) and front bumper.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's an overall picture.

In the world of collectible Corvettes this is a near nothing but I am a touch proud of how I have it running, looking and operating. You can easily notice the difference in paint between the original (body) and front bumper.

Looks good to me! Here it is "inserted". I uploaded it to your free gallery here on AGO, makes it easier to see versus when pics are attached.






Hard to see the defects in your other pictures, here's an article I wrote on how to photograph paint defects.


How-To capture swirls, scratches, etchings and other surface defects with your camera


Regardless... I'll stick to what I already posted above and that is the only way to remove these defects is to some way abrade the paint and remove more of it.

That's where it gets risky and for you and this beautiful old 2-door Chevy, you might want to simply live with the defects versus risking turning a mole hill into a mountain.

If you want to try to remove or improve the defects a little more then do some light compounding followed by polishing. Then go to wax.

[SwampeastMike]

Thank you Mike!

The light compounding, non-abrasive polish and wax is exactly what I've done already. I'll probably try the process again. I also have one big bird splat to deal with (it's already much better) and the link you provided about taking photos showed an interesting process. Is it safe for single-stage paint?

I know those pictures were bad--that's why I didn't post them in the original. Something about this paint make photos very difficult as I can't seem to get a focus (yes I'm using a good DSLR) that shows the defects.

An uncle of mine who has been into the auto/speed/body business forever saw the defects and suggested one possibility: high-speed buffing to "heat up" the paint. Kind of odd coming from the man who taught me how to properly clean and wax a car and refused to let me use a powered buffer because "it's easy to burn the paint". That has stuck with me forever and even though I was about 16 at the time I've always been patient to the point of tedium. I did though introduce him to the clay bar and Langka System with a great before-and-after of my white diamond '99 Seville STS which pretty much left him speechless after telling me "We can't do it [without a full repaint]".

What do you think of the "heat up the paint" idea? If a reasonable possibility what about having a dark car in the sun before I start the process instead of working in the garage?