Polishing a classic car

[swami]

Hey guys...Noob here trying not to make a mistake that I'll regret. I recently picked up a PC7424XP, some pads, and some 105 and 205. I did a test run on an 04 Subaru and although the car was in rough condition, came out pretty good. I inherited a black 66 Ford Galaxie 7-litre that while not absolutely perfect, is close. It has 33K on the clock and is totally original. It was washed occasionally with one of those brushes you hook a hose up to and needs some correction. I'm dying to get started on this, but don't want to damage the paint. I'd appreciate any advice I can get.Feed back please

 

[rohnramirez]

Firstly, welcome to AGO!!!

Don't be scared. A DA/ROP is almost fool-proof. Even if you kept it on your paint stationary for 30seconds, it's not gonna burn through. Just don't try a stationary approach on plastic.

Anyway, do a test spot on the Ford out of direct sunlight, but in a well-lit area. Grab your 205 on white set it on 6. Do 2 section passes, if you're not seeing results, jump up to 105 on orange. Figure out what would be the best pair that would work on your finish and do it to the rest of the car. Good luck.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I inherited a black 66 Ford Galaxie 7-litre that while not absolutely perfect, is close. It has 33K on the clock and is totally original. It was washed occasionally with one of those brushes you hook a hose up to and needs some correction.

Hi swami,

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:

Just by coincidence, I just finished writing an article on how to restore antique and original single stage paints. I need to do some editing this morning and then it will be ready to post.

I've had the good fortune of restoring a lot of single stage paints on antique and classic cars and I understand the importance that most people place on doing the job right the first time so you don't ruin the paint.

Here's an excerpt...

What to do
If preserving the original paint is important to you then the first thing you want to do is condition the paint before working on it. Most people just jump right in and start rubbing some type of abrasive compound over old, dry, fragile paint and this will remove a lot of paint quickly and possible remove too much. Instead, take the extra step of conditioning the paint and bring it back to life with product that's been around since cars and thus car paints have been around.

Below I will share the product and actually a technique that may restore your car's paint to your expectations without using any abrasives at all. In the car detailing world we're always talking about the idea of,


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

In this article I'll show you at least one way to put that philosophy into practice.



What not to do
The first thing most people do when trying to restore an old, oxidized finish is reach for some rubbing compound and try to rub the dead, oxidized paint off the car. While this will work, it's the caveman approach because it's too aggressive, it will remove too much paint and because there's a better, safer approach that will provide a better chance at preserving as much of the original paint as possible which is the goal if you're trying to preserve the "originalness" of the car.

So if you're reading this and you have an old car out in the garage that has oxidized single stage paint, let me share with you a way of conditioning the paint in a non-abrasive way that will make your car's old, tired paint come back to life. Then you can either stop at that point if you like the results you're seeing and apply a coat of wax or I'll share with you how to machine polish the paint to squeeze out even a little more depth, shine and gloss.

So hang tight...

 

[TheCougarGuy]

I inherited a black 66 Ford Galaxie 7-litre that while not absolutely perfect, is close. It has 33K on the clock and is totally original.

Can you post some pictures of your car. Is that an R-code 427?

 

[rwright]

Hi swami,

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:

Just by coincidence, I just finished writing an article on how to restore antique and original single stage paints. I need to do some editing this morning and then it will be ready to post.

I've had the good fortune of restoring a lot of single stage paints on antique and classic cars and I understand the importance that most people place on doing the job right the first time so you don't ruin the paint.

Here's an excerpt...






So hang tight...

In your own words Mike:

What a cliffhanger...

Looking forward to another great article!

 

[swami]

Can you post some pictures of your car. Is that an R-code 427?

Actually the 7-Litre designation means it's a 428.

 

[swami]

Thanks for the advice guys. I definitely want to hear what Mike has to say before I proceed. I'll try to post some pics of the car as soon as I wash it. Maybe this weekend.icture:

 

[richy]

It sounds like the advice I was going to give you is going to be covered by Mike..no sense re-inventing the wheel.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Just posted the article to the "How To Articles" forum group...


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


The part that applies to you is the part about conditioning the antique paint before working on it, the idea being to do everything in your control that you can to make the paint more workable before actually working on it.

After the conditioning step I list a number of ways to machine polish the paint and for this step you can substitute similar products of your choice, the key is to rub the paint down first with #7 Show Car Glaze.

 

[swami]

Thanks for the tips Mike, I'm glad I didn't just dive right in with the PC. I'll pick up some #7 glaze this weekend. As far as the wash goes, I may have to get this wet as it's been sitting uncovered in my pole barn for a year or so. I'll be purchasing a cover soon so the waterless car wash will be the norm after that.:thankyousign::urtheman:

 

[Jenn1270]

A 66 Galaxy would make my dad salivate. He got rid of his pride and joy 68 Galaxy when I was born for a station wagon. Even though I am nearly 40 years old....I wish I had the cash to buy him another. He LOVED that car.

Jenn

 

[rohnramirez]

Thanks for the tips Mike, I'm glad I didn't just dive right in with the PC. I'll pick up some #7 glaze this weekend. As far as the wash goes, I may have to get this wet as it's been sitting uncovered in my pole barn for a year or so. I'll be purchasing a cover soon so the waterless car wash will be the norm after that.:thankyousign::urtheman:

The recent 1958 MB 120D i worked on had been repainted with polyurethane a few years back, the PC was all i needed to get that black to shine and glimmer. orange and white with 105/205. Anyway, sorry to have given the wrong advice, i didn't know there was a special technique to work on old single stage paints. Good luck!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Thanks for the tips Mike, I'm glad I didn't just dive right in with the PC. I'll pick up some #7 glaze this weekend.

It sounds like from your description the paint on the Galaxie is in much better shape than most antique single stage paints BUT the point is if preserving the original paint is important to you then taking a simple precautionary step can't hurt and because paint is thin to start with the idea is to do everything you can to preserve it.

As far as the wash goes, I may have to get this wet as it's been sitting uncovered in my pole barn for a year or so. I'll be purchasing a cover soon so the waterless car wash will be the norm after that.

Sounds like a good plan. Sometimes washing is the right approach.

The recent 1958 MB 120D i worked on had been repainted with polyurethane a few years back, the PC was all i needed to get that black to shine and glimmer.

An old car with new paint is an old car with new paint, an old car with antique paint, paint that's either in good shape or hasn't past the point of no return, that's a completely different coating to tackle.

i didn't know there was a special technique to work on old single stage paints.

As I wrote in the article, most people just dive in and start compounding the paint or abrading it in some fashion and a lot time that will probably work, the article I wrote is for the person that wants to everything they can to preserve the original paint and is willing to take an extra step. Key word in the last sentence would be wants.

 

[swami]

The recent 1958 MB 120D i worked on had been repainted with polyurethane a few years back, the PC was all i needed to get that black to shine and glimmer. orange and white with 105/205. Anyway, sorry to have given the wrong advice, i didn't know there was a special technique to work on old single stage paints. Good luck!

No worries man...That's why I posted the question as I wasn't sure what to do either.:xyxthumbs:

 

[swami]

It sounds like from your description the paint on the Galaxie is in much better shape than most antique single stage paints BUT the point is if preserving the original paint is important to you then taking a simple precautionary step can't hurt and because paint is thin to start with the idea is to do everything you can to preserve it.




Sounds like a good plan. Sometimes washing is the right approach.




An old car with new paint is an old car with new paint, an old car with antique paint, paint that's either in good shape or hasn't past the point of no return, that's a completely different coating to tackle.




As I wrote in the article, most people just dive in and start compounding the paint or abrading it in some fashion and a lot time that will probably work, the article I wrote is for the person that wants to everything they can to preserve the original paint and is willing to take an extra step. Key word in the last sentence would be wants.

That's exactly what I want to do, even though it's going to be alot of work. The car has lived most of it's life under a cover in a barn, it's had 10K miles put on it in the last 25-30 years. I want to keep the paint as original as possible. I'm only going to drive it 5-6 times a year, so I want to do it right. Once I get it done it's going under a cover. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[rohnramirez]

An old car with new paint is an old car with new paint, an old car with antique paint, paint that's either in good shape or hasn't past the point of no return, that's a completely different coating to tackle.

That's what i was trying to get at, cause all the old cars i do have new paint jobs. Either they're well maintained by the collectors or they're show cars.

As I wrote in the article, most people just dive in and start compounding the paint or abrading it in some fashion and a lot time that will probably work, the article I wrote is for the person that wants to everything they can to preserve the original paint and is willing to take an extra step. Key word in the last sentence would be wants.

Yeah..i understand. I guess i never had any experience with neglected single stage old paint yet. Hmmm..that gives me an idea, may be i can get something in the scrap yard. A panel really old, beat up and truly neglected. But i'd rather do it by hand, dowana ruin any of my pads.

 

[swami]

Can you post some pictures of your car. Is that an R-code 427?

My apologies to TheCougarGuy. I knew there were 8705 7-Litres produced in 66. What I didn't know was that a 427 R-code was available as a special order. It appears only 38 were built, 36 hardtops and 2 convertibles. The rest were 428's. Knowing that, I wish mine was a 427 R-code. I'm in the process of claying the car today which will be followed by glazing with Megs Show Car Glaze #7 as per Mike's instructions. I'll try to get some pics up post claying, pre glazing if I can figure out how to post them. I'll read the sticky and cross my fingers.:doh:

 

[swami]

Cars been clayed, next up the glazing.