Restoring Faded Paint

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1974Alfa5spd
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Restoring Faded Paint

Post by 1974Alfa5spd »

So the Merc is finally being brought back into action and I've noticed that sitting outside for so many years has really taken it's toll on the trunk lid. The paint is really, really badly faded there and is almost to a matte finish. Is there any way (aside from sanding and repainting) that I can bring it back to it's original luster?
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by LHOswald »

get a new trunk
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mtheis
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by mtheis »

Somewhat relevant:

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theholycow
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by theholycow »

My entire 1980 Buick looks very chalky and flat.

I assume that it needs to be polished, buffed, and waxed...or something like that.
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1974Alfa5spd
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by 1974Alfa5spd »

After some googling I actually found a very good guide for doing just this. :D Not to mention they repeat it for both orbital and circular polishers.
I'm just gonna plug them here for anyone else:
http://www.properautocare.com/usdualpol1.html
http://www.properautocare.com/uscirpol1.html

I think I know what I'm going to do this weekend.
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by theholycow »

Oh, now I understand how it works...I need to take it to a body guy and pay him.
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1974Alfa5spd
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by 1974Alfa5spd »

Ashish, it's a lot better than that land rover. Nowhere near that severe, just years of sitting in the Kalifornya sun has taken it's toll on it. It's definitely rescuable, it'll just take some elbow grease. I also need to find a place that can colormatch the car and give me some touchup paint. Image
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by theholycow »

Oh...comparing my Buick's paint to the Land Rover:
- From far away it looks worse
- Up close it looks better
- It's approximately the same color
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Re: Restoring Faded Paint

Post by comingbackdown »

paul34 wrote:You'll need to use some aggressive pads and polish to remove the oxidation
Ever seen a Crown Vic LTD in that robin's egg blueish kinda color? I had to repair oxidation on that. Couldn't completely repair it, but I did my best, and it looked good, just not as good as a new coat of paint would've. I started that one off with some coarse rubbing compound.
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