1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille - Original Paint

[chipintexas]

1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille - Original Paint


I'll start by saying I've bookmarked and read the long thread on how to restore single stage paint and remove oxidation.

That has some amazing advice. Now, I recently acquired this amazing 1958 pink caddy coupe DeVille and the paint is pretty oxidized. Photos attached:

So, as you can see, it's the original paint and it needs some help.

My question involves a few spots where the paint is missing and there is bare metal exposed. There is not much, but here is a zoomed in image of one of the sections.

I think buffing over those with the show glaze throughout the bulk of the car is not going to be a problem, but along the trunk and in certain places, the original paint is really dry and cracking/crazing/whatever you want to call it. I'm concerned that using a power polisher is going to tear it up.

Any suggestions would be great.

The car is in Houston, Texas too, so I'm apt to need some help restoring the paint once I hear from you on suggestions to preserve the paint.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Wow!

What a find! I've been hoping and waiting for a car like this to restore the original paint on all my life.

This is actually what I was looking for when I wrote this article,


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


I never wanted the ugly gold 1979 Lincoln Continental with the single stage metallic paint but that's what I had and I practice using what I have.

You lucky dog.


Here's what you want to do... rub the paint down using a heavy or wet application of the #7 Show Car Glaze using a terry cloth wash cloth like I show in the Wayne Carini paint restoration project here,

Wayne Carini 1954 Hudson Hornet Original Paint Restored by Mike Phillips



Terrycloth Wash Cloth - This is your Abrasive

In my article, I use and recommend terry cloth wash cloths to apply the #7 and the reason for this is because the nap, that is the tiny little cotton loops will work to not only agitate, loosen and abrade dead paint off the car they also help to really work the oils into the paint.

Microfiber towels would be too gentle. Microfiber towels would however be the right tool to remove the future polish and wax we apply.

Heavy Saturation of the #7 oils
The car is literally soaking in a heavy saturation application of the #7 while we go off to buff out a Ferrari and a Corvette.

I continue to use a single side throughout the entire application of the #7

Then use a clean terry cloth towel to remove the oily residue. Terry cloth works better for both steps because the cloth is NOT gentle like a high quality microfiber towel and you want the stoutness of the cotton terrycloth loops to be working for you.

Then it's possible after doing this step 2-3 times you'll be happy and simply move on to waxing the paint.

If you do want to polish it then follow this sage advice...

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"



For MOST of Wayne's car we machine polished the paint using the Porter Cable 7424XP with white foam 5.5" LC polishing pads and Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover which is a medium cut polish followed by Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish which is a fine cut polish and this combo SAFELY brought the clarity, gloss and shine up on the old single stage paint (after rubbing with the #7 first).

For the hood and front fenders, because the paint was so thin, I only used the same Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and carefully polished out the paint by HAND. With Wayne watching me carefully the entire time.


From the above thread....

Later in the day, after we wiped off the #7 that's when I switched over to Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish. We used the swirl remover for the roof, sides and back of the Hudson. For the front clip however, because the paint was incredibly thin, ONLY Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish was used and it was hand applied ONLY.

I don't blame Wayne for being watchful over the process, one mistake and the original paint would be ruined. The goal here was to PRESERVE the original paint. The last thing Wayne or any car collector would want to do is to repaint this survivor 1953 Hudson Hornet.

Now you can see the paint is turning clear as we bring out the full richness of color...

Machine Polishing
After wiping the Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze oils off the paint THEN I hand rubbed the paint on the hood and front fender using

First - Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover
Second - Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish
Third - Machine applied Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax

Machine = Porter Cable 7424XP and 5.5" Lake Country Flat Pads



Finished!

In this shot you can see Wayne's hand as he's walking down the side of the car inspecting the results and giving the paint a final wipe....

And this my friends is one of the most rewarding pictures I've ever taken. This shot was taken after we finished polishing every square inch of paint and then applying a coat of Souveran Paste Wax.

This is what I'm talking about....

You can do it! :dblthumb2:


I'm already waiting for the after pictures. If I lived closer I would gladly give you a hand.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

And since this is your first post...


Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:



One more tip... get up high so you're looking down on the hood and the trunk lid and take GREAT before shots BEFORE you or anyone starts rubbing on the paint.

The goal is to capture the car and the paint in its full ugliness so the after pictures are the most dramatic possible.

See my article here,


The power in the after shots is created in the before shots

 

[AZ Mike]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Welcome to Autogeek. That Caddy looks to be in good shape. Nice find.

 

[chipintexas]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Thanks guys. I'll take plenty of pictures. The car was holed up in that storage unit in the first picture for nearly 20 years. It hadn't seethe light of day in nearly 2 decades, so you can imagine it's pretty dusty. At the same time, the paint is OK because it had not been exposed to anything for 2 decades also.

Mike, I used to live in FL, and if I still did, I'd drive this old girl to see you. The before shots are not bad, but once I polish it up and get the chrome cleaned off too, I think she's going to sparkle. Because of the chips in the paint, it will never be perfect, but certainly better than it is now. the engine is currently being rebuilt, so I have some time before I get into messing with the exterior.

 

[chipintexas]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

One more question: would you still recommend claying the car before applying the #7 show glaze to smooth it out, or glaze first?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

One more question: would you still recommend claying the car before applying the #7 show glaze to smooth it out, or glaze first?

Believe it or not... it's possible to rub paint out like this and then afterwards clay it and still remove bonded contaminants IF they didn't come off during the rubbing step.

I know... I've done it to an extremely oxidized Kawasaki Green 1970 Mustang while I was working at Meguiar's.

Here's the deal though...

Claying before rubbing with #7 means loading your clay up with dead paint.

Claying after rubbing with #7 can be difficult if you don't get off all the oily residue.

One alternative would be to rub the paint down using LOTS of lube and a Nanoskin towel. This would act to remove any contaminants, (rub the chrome and glass too), and some of the oxidation.

THEN start in with the #7.

My guess is and what I would do is simply start massaging the paint with the #7 and use it heavy or wet. Rub using terry cloth and rub a lot and then let the #7 soak in.

I'm pretty confident you and all of the rest of us are going to be blown away.


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Here's the pictures and write-up from my September Detailing Boot Camp Class where the class had the VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY to restore the ORIGINAL paint on a 1967 Lincoln Continental.


I'm pretty confident that this is highly likely the first detailing class of it's kind where students used #7 to hand rub out original single stage paint and then go on to machine polish it to perfection. Especially since I'm really the only guy that teaches this practice.

Here you go....

Rupes Bigfoot Polishers Detailing Class & Extreme Paint Restoration

This is going to be seen on TV too... My Classic Car.

 

[chipintexas]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Thanks again Mike. It may be a bit before I can get some pictures done because the engine re-build is set to continue for several more weeks. However, once that is done, I'll take pictures as I go. I have to be honest, I'm a little nervous about doing it myself, but it will be fun to see it all done.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Thanks again Mike. It may be a bit before I can get some pictures done because the engine re-build is set to continue for several more weeks. However, once that is done, I'll take pictures as I go.

I have to be honest, I'm a little nervous about doing it myself, but it will be fun to see it all done.

This is an amazing find. Can you share the story about how this hidden Cadillac came to be in your possession?


Also... check your PM's


:xyxthumbs:

 

[JHL88]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

lol Mike is excited about this one! Me too! can't wait to see that color shine again.

 

[chipintexas]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

I posted the story on how I came into possession of the car on a different forum. I don't know the rules about whether I can link to the other forum, so I'll just cut and paste my post from that forum on here with the complete story. I'll just say that I was really lucky, and definitely in the right place at the right time.

History of the car:
The grandmother of a former client of mine originally purchased it from a dealer here in Houston in 1958. She passed it down to her daughter, who gave it to her son. Upon the son’s death, his wife moved back to France, and the car stayed back in the US. The car has never been in an accident, is 100% all original including the paint, and was running. (WAS is the operative word). There is no rust on it anywhere, which is a huge relief.

How I got it:
It’s been sitting in a storage unit in Houston, TX un-driven for at least 20 years. About five years ago, the former owner asked if I wanted to buy it, and I declined. I think she wanted to sell it after that, but there were no takers. Years passed, and shortly before Christmas I get an email from her saying she was serious about selling the car now because of storage costs, not living in the US anymore, etc. and asked if I wanted to buy it. I declined again, but mentioned it was such a neat car and that I’d be happy to help her sell. I just needed the mileage, make/model, etc. The next email I received shocked me. She knew I had kids, and said I could just have it, and wouldn’t that be a great Christmas present. I’m not a lucky person, but I was thrilled and couldn’t believe it. About 1.5 months of continued emails between Texas and France led to me holding the title in my hand.

Here she is after sitting in this storage unit for 20 years:

Engine plate:

Seeing the light of day for the first time in two decades:

Future owners getting their first look at her:

Condition of the car:
It “was” running. It had 87K miles on it, and after sitting for so long, the piston rings were shot, and the manifold was cracked, so off it has gone for an engine re-build. I say it was running because it started up fine, ran for about 2 days of some slow cruising around the neighborhood, and then it started smoking like chimney. Other than that, everything is working. Power seats, windows, radio, etc. All great. The paint is the only thing that I really am torn over. The bulk of the paint is fine. It’s oxidized from sitting without a wash/wax for so long, but fine. There is some crazing and a few dings where the paint has peeled off. The tires look fine, but are likely old and I know they have not been used in years. The interior’s only real blemish appears to be a small hold in the rear seat where someone in the past likely dropped a cigarette.

Engine rebuilding process:

Back from the machine shop:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Great pictures thanks for sharing the behind the scenes story....

Good talking to you on the phone also. Here's the article I mentioned....


"Taking your car's paint to it's maximum potential"



And I already shared the link to this article but this is what I was talking about, how it's important to get great before pictures and capture the total UGLY before you even "touch" the paint.



The power in the after shots is created in the before shots

 

[chipintexas]

Re: 1958 Pink Cadillac Coupe DeVille original paint

Mike:

Here are the shots of the really bad parts of the car. Most of the paint is in fine shape, but there are some sections as you can see that may be beyond help. I keep telling myself this is an old car, and these issues are to be expected of something that was used for 40-50 years and then put away for 20. Anyway, here are the worst of the worst.

Thin paint by tail fin:

Dry/cracked/thin by fin:

If you look at the portion of the trunk in the shot above to the right, that is indicative of the bulk of the paint condition. It's all intact and certainly salvageable.

Bad section by rear bumper:

This is the worst of the worst here with some paint flaked off and bare metal exposed:

This panel has lots of pits in it. Again, I'm not sure this is salvageable, but I'm hoping this old paint can be saved:

Sure it can all be sanded o bare metal and repainted, but I think you lose some of that original character to the car. I hope you can shed some light on bringing this old girl back to life.

 

[Pinpoint_Precision]

Great buy and you will have fun on this trust me. Single stage and rare cars like yours makes a perfect detail stand out from the Rest. Please make sure you take lots of before pictures and after shots. Good luck and follow Mike Phillips step by step. I am still amazed of the power of Meg's #7, what it can do to safely bring out the gloss on single stage paints.

 

[carnie]

I think I'm gonna get sucked in watching this thread , very interesting read

 

[custmsprty]

Great buy and you will have fun on this trust me. Single stage and rare cars like yours makes a perfect detail stand out from the Rest. Please make sure you take lots of before pictures and after shots. Good luck and follow Mike Phillips step by step. I am still amazed of the power of Meg's #7, what it can do to safely bring out the gloss on single stage paints.

BUY? LOL Free is FREEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Jaretr1]

Something tells me Mike wants to get his hands on this car badly!

 

[Mantilgh]

Never been much on pink, but I'd take that one in a heartbeat. That is one cool Cadillac, enjoy!

 

[chipintexas]

BUY? LOL Free is FREEEEEEEEEEE

Thanks for all the comments. Yes, it was "free" to get, but after the engine re-build....whenever it ends....it's an arm and a leg. However, I'm not really complaining. I think we're still weeks away from finishing that engine work, then when it is released back to me, I am going to photograph the heck out of the car. Up high, down low, in close, etc. It's got 57-year-old paint with about 20-25 years of dust/dirt on it. Despite all of that, the last pictures I added were the worst of the worst. The majority should shine right up. At least, I think it will. I will continue to update this thread and there will definitely be before and after shots.

We might be looking for assistance in the Houston area, so stay tuned for more.