Mortimer452

I'm going to second Rich.  I'd call Adams directly or ask someone.  For that great of find, I'd hate to screw anything up.

Just remember to "go easy" with that old paint.  Todays chemicals aren't necessarily made for lacquers and really old paint.

This is a 1947 Plymouth "barn find" I picked up about two months ago, it's been sitting for the past 20+ years. Mechanically speaking, finally got it into road-worthy condition over the weekend and gave this car it's first wash in two decades.

 

The paint is lacquer with no clear coat. Pretty sure at least portions have been repainted at some point years ago, but some of it may be the original paint (note the cracking on the trunk lid)

 

I have some experience with paint correction but never on old lacquer like this, and nothing this severe. Looking for advice on a good plan of attack to get this finish looking great again. It looked amazing wet but dried a bit chalky, and there's a lot of weird spots/stains/scratches everywhere from sitting in a barn for so long. Clay bar and hand polish seems to be doing a fairly good job of pulling up some of the spots & stains, but others (see pictures) are much more stubborn.

 

Not looking for absolute perfection, mostly just hoping to get rid of these stains and bring back some depth to the black color. I have a cheap random orbit single-speed buffer, might finally pull the trigger on something nicer like the Porter Cable 7424 (always wanted one) if it would make a big difference on a project like this.

It actually runs pretty well, starts up really easy.  Like I said, been sitting for 20+ years, all I did was change fluids, new fuel pump, new plugs, cap & rotor, new clean gas and it fired right up.  Needs a little tuning, maybe a carb rebuild, probably running too lean.  Doesn't want to stay running unless the choke is partially closed.

To be honest, I wouldn't do anything more than wash it and wax it to protect what's left. That thing is stellar and in great condition.  Making the paint look brand new will diminish it if you ask me. I might try some Bleech White or Tilex on those whitewalls though.  But not too much so you don't crack them. Let the car stand for what it is and show it off.  That's a pretty nice barn find.