Getting the shine back in my 20-25 year old paint?

[72Blazerod]

Hi Guys,

I have a 1972 Stingray that was painted bright yellow in the early to mid 1980s (originally it was Ontario Orange). It looks good from a distance but when you get right on top of it, the hood, and the tops of the front fenders are a little more dull than the rest of the car. I am about 90% sure that this paint job was not a base/clear coat paint job. I have tried some pretty top-end waxes but they do very little to improve things. Is there anything I can do, such as wet sanding it with an extremely fine sandpaper that can give it some more life for a few years? I am going to paint it but need to save up for a few years before that happens.

Thanks,

Rod

 

[JJU]

It depends how much trouble you want to go through to get your paint to a level for, let's say, a high end car show.

I wouldn't wet sand it unless you have deep scratches. I'm going to assume that you don't have this problem.

Since you've indicated that you don't think it's a clear coat, I would probably get yourself a buffer and a polishing compound to remove surface scratches or take it to a professional.

Since I'm biased to the Zaino product line, it would be something like the Z-PC product but there are others out there like Finesse-it II from 3M. For other than the Z-PC, I wouldn't go with anything harder than 1500 grit. Finish with a 2000 grit.

If you've never used a buffer before, work on a small area low to get used to the buffer.

Make sure the surface is clean before applying your protection product of choice.

Make sure that the towels that you use to wash the car are high quality. If you like cotton, stay with 100% made in the USA Supima cotton.

If you like the 70%-30% polyester-type, don't get them from Walmart. Go with PakShak or neatitems.com.