1970 Mark III - Paint refurbishing

[BigBlockHead]

Hey,
I am not sure familiar when it comes to paint and detailing. My Mark III has decent re-paint (has some flaws, like fisheyes). It is not very shiny. I assume it has been repainted in early 90s.

I was wondering, if there is any way to make it better. One of the restoring experts was suggesting wet sanding. What might be the approx. price for this, and will that make a difference?

Thanks.

[onedollarbob]

Not every paint job can be wet sanded, but done right, yes, it will make the biggest difference over anything else you could do. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself without a lot of practice first. This is a job that falls somewhere between a professional detailer and a body shop. Around $1000-1500 was the last estimate I got for this a couple years ago, but it's not easy to find someone that will do it.

There are also some fantastic compounds in the professional market that, while not removing orange peel like wet sanding will, can at least give you a glassy shine. I had a car done this way by a detailer and the result was so good I didn't need to wet sand. About $300 for a 24 hour job.

[tomo]

Try these steps.

Wash the car
Use a clay bar to remove surface dirt and overspray
Use a tar and bug remover to remove the tar and bugs
Use a good paint cleaner like Mcguires fine cut cleaner - use a foam polishing pad on an orbital polisher- polish until the shine is even over the car.
Use a good paint polish like Turtle Wax paint polish- use a different foam polishing pad on your orbital polisher - polish for a nice shine.
Use a paint glaze like Mcquires Show Car Glaze - apply very thin coat by hand. The thicker the coat, the harder to remove the residue. This will give your paint a wet look shine
Use a good carnuba wax like Mcguires Yellow wax professional grade or Mother's to protect the shine.

The investment in a good variable speed polisher, micro fiber towels and pads, will be about what a professional detailer will charge to do the job once. But you can use them over many years to keep your collection looking great.

I would like to post photos of before and after of my 53 Capri, but I don't know how to on this forum.

[Dan Szwarc]

You need chemicals and a power buffer. You can practically polish a turd with the right tools, from what I have seen online.

[onedollarbob]

You need chemicals and a power buffer.

For true wet sanding, you use wet/dry sandpaper in a bucket of water and lubricant and work your way up to 3000-ish grit. Then at that point you buff it out with chemicals and compounds.

I'd also mention that wet sanding is pretty much only for clearcoat paints. To the above '54 Capri, single stage paints like enamels and lacquers only need gentle compounding and polishing and are much easier to pull out a shine. I would think a '70 Mark would be single stage, and for that reason tomo's post above is more appropriate than wet sanding. As an aside, Meguiar's Show Car Glaze ("#7") is fantastic at finishing off a polish job before waxing and is even better on these old single stage paints than it is on clearcoat finishes. A bear to remove, though--apply it in small patches and work quickly before it dries.

[66Lincoupe]

I have wet sanded extremely oxidized single stage paint jobs. I have brought back many paint jobs that were considered dead that a simple cut and buff couldn't revive.

Once paint has chalked or oxidized there is no real way to bring it completely back but you can make it worlds better and very presentable.

[Dan Szwarc]

I used to think that, but I have seen some miracles on Reddit with people using power buffers and various liquids of various cutting strength.

[66Lincoupe]

I used to think that, but I have seen some miracles on Reddit with people using power buffers and various liquids of various cutting strength.

Lots of work with compounds but very doable.

Meguiars and Mothers both used to make some serious compounds. I just feel more in control wet sanding.

[tomo]

You will remove more paint by wet sanding than you will by the steps that I posted. The orbital polisher and foam pads give you great control when you use them with cleaners and polishes designed to work with them. Wet sanding can give you some surprises on older paint. You can go through a thin spot with 1,000 grit paper with just a couple of passes. I would put wet sanding in the same class of danger to the paint as using a high speed buffer, wool pad and rubbing compound.

When my Mercury was repainted, we wet sanded the color and the clear coat to get the look that we wanted. There were extra coats of paint applied to compensate for the sanding.

Here is a photo of my Lincoln after polishing it. Before the polishing, the paint had a low luster and you could see damage from the acid rain. The damage is not noticeable now, but can be seen in certain light conditions.

[BigBlockHead]

When my Mercury was repainted, we wet sanded the color and the clear coat to get the look that we wanted. There were extra coats of paint applied to compensate for the sanding.

That is a nice photo, thank you for sharing!
So, I can use clay bar to remove paint from chrome pieces without damaging the chore?
I think I will try to polish it first and see how it turns out. What type of polisher would be a good purchase? Any suggestions?


I attached some photos of my car, unfortunately it looks better, than what it is. I would also like to detail engine compartment, after I get a heated garage.

[tomo]

Clay bar will remove fresh over spray easily. After the paint has cured, I like to use acetone on a Scotts paper rag to remove the over spray. Follow with Mother's chrome polish to restore the shine.

I use the Porter Cable 6" orbital sander with foam pads from Mcguires. Here is a link to one supplier.

http://www.autogeek.net/dual-action-polishers.html

Here is a link to a discussion on the polishers

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/que ... isher.html

I like the Porter Cable, because the price is right, parts are easy to obtain and it is probably the easiest to handle, due to its light weight. Do not press down on the polisher, let the pad, polish and polish er do the work.

[tomo]

I just had a chance to look at the photos of your Mark III. I think that polishing the paint will give your car a nice shine. The paint appears to be in good shape, without excessive oxidation and should polish up nicely. You will never get the wet look of current paints, but a nice shine.

[dcm5652]

That car can be brought back easy, Look at my post ( Look at What I Found ) and see what I brought back with a wet sand and buff. I bumped it up for you. The car still looks that good.

[BigBlockHead]

Thanks for all the tips so far. I finally got started last weekend.
Here are couple pics after washing the top and the car with degreaser. The paint photo is after polishing the paint with Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound (compare left and right arm).
But I really want to try the clay bar.

I will follow tomo's instructions and see where I will end up

"wash the car
Use a clay bar to remove surface dirt and overspray
Use a tar and bug remover to remove the tar and bugs
Use a good paint cleaner like Mcguires fine cut cleaner - use a foam polishing pad on an orbital polisher- polish until the shine is even over the car.
Use a good paint polish like Turtle Wax paint polish- use a different foam polishing pad on your orbital polisher - polish for a nice shine.
Use a paint glaze like Mcquires Show Car Glaze - apply very thin coat by hand. The thicker the coat, the harder to remove the residue. This will give your paint a wet look shine
Use a good carnuba wax like Mcguires Yellow wax professional grade or Mother's to protect the shine."

dcm5652, great job with the Mark V!!!

[papawayne]

If you don't want to spend the money on a clay bar...I've heard that plumber's putty is pretty much the same thing...Wayne