Anyone with tips on polishing?

[Rojas109]

Well the title says it. if you look at the pics you can see heavy oxidation as well as heave water spots. As i have stated before i bought this car from an elderly person how hasn't driven it in 3 years. So if you smart enough you can tell he never washed it. maintain it. ect... please experiance people how have polish leave me some tips. (in other words .. gearhead.. dont post just to post. since you havent owned a car. i doubt you polished your mothers van. but hey if ya wanna post use this :pw: or in the odd case you have polish leave me tips. no hard feeling right? ) thank to anyone how leave me tips.

[Pirate]

The best advice I have ever given.....

Wax on. Wax off.

[mrltd]

hard to tell in the pic, but you might be SOL. Looks more like the clear is gone than waterspots.

[gadget73]

yeah, looks like the clear is bubbling to me as well.

[zwack88]

No way to polish that clear back. It is done for.

[88Vic]

That looks pretty bad. I don't think it'll ever shine like new again, too far gone. You can try washing, waxing, and clay barring, but I don't think it'll do as much good as you hope.

[87vicFIVEO]

hard to tell in the pic, but you might be SOL. Looks more like the clear is gone than waterspots.

I was under the impression that most 80's cars had acrylic enamel paint with no clear coat. I was told this when I had my drivers door repainted. Is this not true?

[86VickyLX]

The best advice I have ever given.....

Wax on. Wax off.

Damn I was going to say that. More to add though, big circle big circle breathe in breathe out. Clockwise, counterclockwise and now :pw:


I lied












:pw:

[Rojas109]

since ive owned the car i wash it every week. ive clay bar it as well but that really didnt do anything. and i waxed the car to. sorry about the pics it was raining and dark so ill get better ones later. all i really want to do was make it look better. not all messed up like it is. but i guess theres no point in polishing then ? and besides this post was about tips on polishing not killing my hopes of restoring the car to "new car" look. man you guys suck

[zwack88]

I was under the impression that most 80's cars had acrylic enamel paint with no clear coat. I was told this when I had my drivers door repainted. Is this not true?

Yeah most 87 and prior boxes seem to be single stage and it would buff out but most of the 88+ have basecoat clearcoat and once it starts going you need new paint.

[Lincolnmania]

it's the metallics that were clearcoat.....the clear is peeling off of mine and gadgets townys

[drock96marquis]

It does look pretty far gone, but I think it can be improved. Not perfect, of course, but better than it is now.

First, wash it then clay the car.

Do you have an oribital buffer?

If so, I would grab a light cutting foam pad, and some medium cut polish, like Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #83 and go at it for a little bit. Follow with finer cut polish, then wax - or, just go right to a cleaner wax if you think it looks fine from there. I recommend the cleaner wax in this case to help remove more oxidation and swirling from the med cut polish.





Don't have a buffer?

Use Meguiar's ScratchX by hand with a microfiber or a good terry applicator (not foam, it will fall apart) on the whole car. Yes, the whole thing, just make sure to work it in fully to break down the abrasives. You'd be amazed what it can do. Follow with this a normal cleaner/wax to further remove contamination and swirls from the scratch remover.


With either method, apply more pressure/force and make more passes on the bad spots.

Again, it won't come out perfect, but I can guarantee it will look better.

[Pirate]

The problem with most 1980's and early 1990's clearcoat is due to a change in the type of clearcoat. Environmental concerns pushed for a water-based clearcoat, to replace the solvent/oil base. The water-based garbage was used from the mid 1980's until the mid 1990's, by all of the domestic auto makers. GM had a massive recall for a while, they would repaint your car for free, provided they would even tell anyone about it.

[Rojas109]

k more better pics. the hood and the top i waxed and it turned out bad. the wax actully made the waters spots look more horrible then they were before. for example the hood. you see many water spots and a few white spots. that wasnt there before just after i waxed. i tried to get it off but to no avail. i didnt do the trunk since i was afraind it would have a negative affect.

[P72Ford]

could be messed up clear, could be water spots. If its the latter, I had this prob this spring. I had a 2 foot diameter spot in the middle of the roof. Tried buffing it and shit... to no avail. Only time got rid of it for me.

Also, If its peeling clear, short of repainting it, not much can be done to bring it back really well. I stripped all of the pealing clear (and the subsequent lower layers of paint) on mine. Not fun, but probably necessary.