Can I Do Much More With This Single Stage?

[William D.]

Hi all,

About a month ago, I bought a 1979 Lincoln Continental as a project.




As you can see, the paint was the least of this car's problems, however, most of which have been worked out. Some minor body work and a top are all that's needed now to make it a presentable "driver".

My question lies with the paint. It was originally a medium grey, which was repainted sometime in the 80's in this single stage silver. I know ultimately a repaint will be required, as it's worn off the roof and hood in a couple areas, but the sides were still there.

So far, I've clayed it (ha!) used Meguiars #7 on it, followed by some 3M Super Duty Compound and a yellow Lake Country pad on my Griot's DA, then a few orange pads and Optimum Compound II to bring it to this point:





The reflection is fantastic in shots like these, and the metallic flakes just "pop" under the lights, but my issue is, the whole side looks like it has a "haze" on it. The reflections are really muddy looking, you can see in this night photo, it's not really a clear reflection of the lights, just a broad shiny area. I've previously used OCII and a orange pad on the Town Car in my avatar photo, and it made the paint look factory fresh without the need for a further finishing product, which is why I was a bit surprised by the haziness I see.




I know it's silver, so it won't ever look as "deep" as gloss black, but I think there's a bit more potential left in the shine, what would you all recommend I try to improve it?

[eaglefan]

That is a cool car. And a really long car! Less cut pad, less cut polish, both together?? Or, maybe, what you have is all you will get out of it. Tape off a couple sections and play with some different combos.

[William D.]

The thing is, the car has sat outside in the sun since 1999. The paint came back shockingly well considering, but it's not 100%.

I'm just trying to get it as nice as reasonably possible for the time being, then a repaint down the road is a possibility.

[JamesBCo6]

Im with Eagle^. Sounds to me like you just need to go that extra step and start polishing the paint?

[expdetailing]

Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection looks fantastic on any color, and will amp-up the gloss. I have a silver vehicle, and four star leaves the best shine of all the products I've tried.
So far I've tried: Dodo Supernatural, BFWD w/ BlackIce, JetSeal, Collinite 915, Klasse sealant, etc.
The only competetor to 4* in my arsenal in Liquid Souveran w/ a dose of Polycharger.
I'de really like to know if I can get more gloss than 4* provides from a coating, but it will be awhile. I have too many sealants to go thru.

[Setec Astronomy]

As others have said, you need to finish up with a lighter polish/pad combo. It may be your other town car responded better to the same combo because it's BC/CC and the paint is harder.

Holy cow that thing is long! I didn't realize downsizing hadn't hit that car yet in '79. As I recall they went completely the other way within a few years, as of course most of the US cars did by '85 in anticipation of $4/gal gas. That's why all the cars are so small now since we had $4/gal not long ago...huh?

How long is it, anyway? I'm not even sure that would fit in my garage.

[dad07]

Holy battleship Batman...LOL!

nice project you got there. Here is a great read from Mike P. on SS paint.

The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints




How many treatments of megs#7 did you use?


You used a heavy compound first 3m Super duty (rocks in bottle) then followed up with another compound........did I read that right?

You can improve the gloss using a polish to remove the haze.......then put on your favorite lsp to make it pop.

[Ebg18t]

I agree with the others. You need to use a polish now and test should remove the haze.

I used to work with a guy that had a town car as a summer cruiser. It was almost twice the length of my VW Golf I was driving at the time.

[William D.]

As others have said, you need to finish up with a lighter polish/pad combo. It may be your other town car responded better to the same combo because it's BC/CC and the paint is harder.

Holy cow that thing is long! I didn't realize downsizing hadn't hit that car yet in '79. As I recall they went completely the other way within a few years, as of course most of the US cars did by '85 in anticipation of $4/gal gas. That's why all the cars are so small now since we had $4/gal not long ago...huh?

How long is it, anyway? I'm not even sure that would fit in my garage.

What color/grade of pad is recommended, white? I think I have a few of them somewhere, along with some Optimum Polish II.

1979 was the final year for the full size car. Ford held out longer than the rest, but by 1980, it was inevitable. The Town Car was still big from 1980-onwards, but it never had the imposing side the older ones did.

It is 234" long.

Holy battleship Batman...LOL!

nice project you got there. Here is a great read from Mike P. on SS paint.http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...ge-paints.html


How many treatments of megs#7 did you use?


You used a heavy compound first 3m Super duty (rocks in bottle) then followed up with another compound........did I read that right?

You can improve the gloss using a polish to remove the haze.......then put on your favorite lsp to make it pop.

Yes, I've read that article multiple times, it's really a great resource. I followed his instructions on this one, however with the paint just having sit in the sun for *so* long, the results weren't the same. I did it three times, the third time I didn't notice a real improvement in the paint, so I let it be after that.

I went with 3M Super Duty because none of the other compounds I had really seemed to cut into it well. It did a great job on the sides, as shown. The OCII Compound has diminishing abrasives in it. It's less aggressive than the 3M, and the abrasives get finer as they break down, making it a bit more ideal.

Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection looks fantastic on any color, and will amp-up the gloss. I have a silver vehicle, and four star leaves the best shine of all the products I've tried.
So far I've tried: Dodo Supernatural, BFWD w/ BlackIce, JetSeal, Collinite 915, Klasse sealant, etc.
The only competetor to 4* in my arsenal in Liquid Souveran w/ a dose of Polycharger.
I'de really like to know if I can get more gloss than 4* provides from a coating, but it will be awhile. I have too many sealants to go thru.

I'll have to look into that, thanks!

[allenk4]

I thought you might find this interesting

There is a whole series on restoration of a similar Lincoln

This is the 1st installment

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkf_CYQmNbs"]Restoring a Classic: Diamond in the Rough Episode 4 - YouTube[/video]