Restoring heavily oxidized paint?

brondondolon

brondondolon

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So im in the process of starting a detailing business however id like to get some good before and after pics to show my work. My grandpas truck is a perfect candidate. Its a red nissan pick up truck that hasnt been washed in prob over 10 years. The paint looks almost like it has a custom flat paint job. Tomorrow im going to tackle it and make it shine again. My question is how aggressive do i go at it? I feel like its not even possible to clay because its just so heavily oxidized. I have iron x but i feel like at this point it might remove the paint. Since the condition is so bad should i just hit it with a DA using an orange pad and a polish or should i go at it with a rotary buffer wool pad and compound then follow with orange pad on a DA with a polish? I think the clear coat is completely gone at this point so im not sure how aggressive i should go.

Thanks guys
 
brondondolon said:
I think the clear coat is completely gone at this point so im not sure how aggressive i should go.

Thanks guys
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I'm sure you'll get lots of help here, but if it had a clear coat and it's deteriorated, then the base coat will not come to a shine. Nothing you can do with polishing will help.

On the other hand, if it's a single stage paint, then you have many options. Mike always stresses to use the least aggressive method first. So with that advice, I'd pick a test area and have at it.

First decontaminate then try your least aggressive pad/polish combination and work your way down until you get the results you are looking for.

Back before I had a machine, I did my Grandmother's 64 Falcon with single stage paint. It looked like flat paint before I started, but with a lot of elbow grease and some polishing compound it looked almost new again.

Check out this makeover Mike did on an old single stage paint: 1960 Ford Ranchero - Extreme Makeover - M105/M205 Tag Team

There are MANY more articles out there to help you decide.

Be sure to post photos of your project!
 
Your first step should be Scholl's Concepts S0 aka Liquid Sandpaper (1500 grit) Follow with their S3 and you may be LSP ready. If not, CarPro Reflect is the best finishing polish I have used to date and Ive used many.
 
I would try on the tailgate first to figure out your process.

I would start with an apc to washit down, see if its just serious contamination from not being washed. Then I'd try to claybar to remove as much crud from the paint as possible.

Check to see if its SS or clearcoat with a towel and some compound. If you transfer color, and the paint begins to shine, its probably SS.

If its looking better after that, I'd hit it with a light cleaner wax on an orange pad, I use xmt 360 and Meguiars d151. See where that gets you, and assess the situation then report back.

You always want to try the least aggressive approach first, then amp up with your aggressiveness to get your desired results.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
Even if it's clear coat it can and will become oxidized so if the clear is still present then you have a shot in making it look better.

If its CC wash it well, clay and work a small area to see what happends.
I take it you know how to use a rotary?
If so I'd use it along with a wool pad and some 105, it sure would make it faster and easier.
then follow up with 205
If it's single stage paint then read up on one of Mike articals.
Same, wash, clay but then get yourself a bottle of Meg's #7, rub it into the paint , really work it in well.
Let it sit over night then remove it.
Then again use the rotary with the wool pad.

Ten years is a long time so you have some work ahead of you but it can be corrected as long as the clear is still there, if it's cc.

Can you post some pics for us?, sure would help us to give to better advice:dblthumb2:

Once done with the rotary for the first step then you can go down to a DA to finish it.
 
thanks for all the help guys. im not sure if its ss or cc its a 1987 nissan hardbody so im assuming cc but if i take a towel and run it across it dry the red transfers. The reason i dont think i should clay it is because i cant even imagine how many bars id go through being as the paint transfers. What im going to do is wash it, dry it, use my PC DA with a LC orange pad and wolfgang duo on a fender and see how it looks. If im happy with the results then ill do the whole truck.

This was my plan for today but unfortunately i woke up to it raining outside... I swear it never fails. If i even think of detailing a car it lightly rains. If i full on detail a car it will rain mud or something lol. Mother nature has a vendetta against me
 
The car I did in the photo I did not clay the hole car only parts that were not bad
 
yeah im going to get on it right now. Ill post the pics soon. It prob wont be for a few days though because the internet here which is connected to my moms company has been hacked or has a virus idk... when ever you go to a website it re directs to some "linkbuck" site and wants to download stuff. Its annoying so im having to run through a proxy and stuff which would make it really inconvenient to load the pics at this time. should be fixed tomorrow though.
 
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