Need advice - Oxidized Paint Correction on 1968 Dodge Charger

[BrokenHero]

I did two full rubdowns, three on the driver side, which wasn’t super wet during wipe off until the third.
Perhaps I’ll do a few more? Seems to look really good upon wipe off.

[TMQ]

Humm....

Couple things in mind---2Black1 mention that paint may be too far gone. This might be the case...

Another thing---Just do megs #7, several times, rub on-24 hours and rub off. Repeat. Do as much as 4 times or more...

And then machine polish on megs yellow wax. Wipe off and Done.

No cutting of any kind.

This might work or not....

Key is getting oils saturated in paint.

Tom

[TMQ]

If it were me....

I'll prolly do up to 5 megs #7, maybe even more.

Then cut/polish/sealed with megs yellow wax....

Done....

Tom

[2black1s]

My opinion...

I understand that this is a great learning experience and so the effort you are putting in is beneficial regardless of the results you achieve. You are learning and that makes your efforts worthwhile.

But... You have to know when you've done all that can be done. I think you have reached that point.

I'd do the "protectant" method that I described earlier and call it done!

And just to satisfy your own curiosity, do a few test spots. One saturated and wiped/buffed with a protectant. And as many others as you'd like to do with polish, wax, sealant, glaze or whatever you want. See what the difference is. I can almost guarantee that the "protectant" test spot will look as good or better than the others... And you can get there with a fraction of the time and material costs of the other methods.

I am certainly not discounting some of the other recommendations you have gotten, but I do think that in the end that my simple "protectant" recommendation will work as well as any other method in your case.

[TMQ]

Dunno..but I think you can milk a little more just with #7 alone.

Then do the "protectant" on top of megs #7, which would be the megs yellow wax....

That's what I would do....

Tom

[waddell64]

1) I love that car - Dodge Chargers of that vintage are just plain cool
2) I love the fact that you are doing this all in the parking garage of your apartment complex - that shows some dedication

Keep up the good work! You might not ever achieve perfection or even close to it on 50+ year old paint. But, you'll most likely make it look better and that is what really counts.

[BrokenHero]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. Much appreciated.

Yeah I absolutely hear what you’re saying, 2black1s. I’ve know this car has needed body and paint since I bought it in 2001 so have been very happy to breathe some new life into it with the Meguiar’s 7. By protectant/armor all, did you mean something that is normally used for interior/vinyl or more of an exterior spray sealant?

That said, I’d be down to try TMQ’s idea about Meguiar’s Yellow wax with a DA. TMQ, do you think I could apply by hand as well or is the DA a lot better?

Waddell64 - yeah it gets tricky in the apartment complex garage but the guy who parks next to me was into detailing and has been really cool haha. Part of me wants to pass this off to a good detailer in my area for maintenance in the future, just because it’s not a practical or well lit space to do much.

Here’s a video of the car outside in some better light.
1968 Dodge Charger - Sunlight After Meguiar?s #7 Rubdown - 4-14-21 - YouTube

Thanks all!
I’ll post another cool pic I just took tonight

[BrokenHero]

I’d say this is a good ad for the Mike Phillips Meguiar’s #7 rubdown technique!

[2black1s]

... Yeah I absolutely hear what you’re saying, 2black1s. I’ve know this car has needed body and paint since I bought it in 2001 so have been very happy to breathe some new life into it with the Meguiar’s 7. By protectant/armor all, did you mean something that is normally used for interior/vinyl or more of an exterior spray sealant?...

That's exactly what I'm talking about. A protectant for vinyl, rubber, plastic trim, etc. The oilier, the better. One of the products I remember trying was a thick, clear, silicone gel that was marketed as a tire dressing.

The oils in the protectant are what gives some life to the otherwise compromised paint. I've never seen a wax product do much for paint in this condition and more often than not, they will actually make it look worse, especially any wax that dries to a white haze.

It's been about 20 years since I've actually done this process. I used to do it on a original paint 69 GTO I had and others. There are many products today that weren't around back then. Some of today's spray sealant/coatings might work well once you saturate the paint with oils from the #7 and/or the protectant.

EDIT: I just looked at your "sunlight" video after writing the above. From the looks in that video the paint looks like the BF did make some improvement and maybe the paint can be polished somewhat. Truthfully, I think you are in a predicament where only some experimenting will reveal the best course forward. But remember... You're never going to get anywhere close to perfection so keep your expectations real and do your best to determine when enough is enough.

EDIT #2: I just noticed that you are in Encino. I'm in Simi Valley. If you ever want to drive it over here and get a real world assessment and try some different processes and products, I'd be glad to help out. PM me if you're interested.

[Mike Phillips]

I’d say this is a good ad for the Mike Phillips Meguiar’s #7 rubdown technique!

Not only looks great! Looks respectable!





Need a larger before and after in same position like above.