One of my regular customers just bought a 1979 Fiat 124 Spyder from the original owner. He bought it for his fiancee and then found out she didn't like the driving position, so he's cleaning it up to sell. He brought it to me to ask what I thought could be done with the paint. Being a tad crazy like I am and not afraid of a little challenge, I said "let's try it and see how good we can make it". Worst case is that it's not salvageable and the car needs painted or I go down to primer in way too many places and at that point, it needs painted. Anything better and I save him a trip to the paint booth. He agreed to try.....
I prefer to work on old, single stage paint with a PC7424 and a 4" pad, wiping off polish after each pass. It cuts slower and is easier to determine your progress. Of course it takes longer, but a more aggressive approach would result in a trip directly to the paint shop.
The owner was very pleased with the level of gloss and shine I was able to achieve and although there are quite a few scratches that still remain, it's a good "10 footer", maybe even a "5 footer" at this point. All of the oxidation and haze are gone as are about a dozen of my 4" pads, both orange and white!
Trunk Before w/ original badge
Trunk After w/ new badge installed
Front Fenders complete, Wiper cowl ready for final polish, hood untouched
Question
Odds and Ends
One of my regular customers just bought a 1979 Fiat 124 Spyder from the original owner. He bought it for his fiancee and then found out she didn't like the driving position, so he's cleaning it up to sell. He brought it to me to ask what I thought could be done with the paint. Being a tad crazy like I am and not afraid of a little challenge, I said "let's try it and see how good we can make it". Worst case is that it's not salvageable and the car needs painted or I go down to primer in way too many places and at that point, it needs painted. Anything better and I save him a trip to the paint booth. He agreed to try.....
I prefer to work on old, single stage paint with a PC7424 and a 4" pad, wiping off polish after each pass. It cuts slower and is easier to determine your progress. Of course it takes longer, but a more aggressive approach would result in a trip directly to the paint shop.
The owner was very pleased with the level of gloss and shine I was able to achieve and although there are quite a few scratches that still remain, it's a good "10 footer", maybe even a "5 footer" at this point. All of the oxidation and haze are gone as are about a dozen of my 4" pads, both orange and white!
Trunk Before w/ original badge
Trunk After w/ new badge installed
Front Fenders complete, Wiper cowl ready for final polish, hood untouched
Link to comment
Share on other sites
6 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now