color sanding 20 year old paint

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.
PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:19 pm
I reciently purchased an antique car that was painted 22 years ago. (still have the receipt) in Enamel. It's a metallic color. Its in great shape because the car was always garaged but looks like it lost a lot of it's lustre. Can it still be color sanded to bring back the gloss or would you just recommend buffing with compounds such as Maguires? Thanks in advance.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:47 am
Color sanding an old metallic like this is just not a good idea. Compounding might be possible. A 20 year old paint is definitely breaking down so you'll have to stay with a less aggressive compound. Body Magic makes an 800 grit and a 1500 grit compound that might work without damaging the surface. I would test an area by hand only. I doubt that you can machine compound without ripping up the coating. If you can hand compound this way then switch to hand glaze, followed by a high qualtiy carnauba based wax. One of my favorite waxes for older cars like this is Blitz Wax. I like it because it can be layered and seems to even out the gloss and defects as you build a few coats of it. You can find Blitz Wax at www.onegrand.com You can find the Body Magic line of compounds at www.supergrit.com Hope this helps.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:52 am
Almost forgot, you may have to get a paper catalog from Supergrit for their compounds and polsihes. I didn't see them listed on the online catalog but I know they are available.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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