Polish and paint question

[crowvet]

Hello, I purchased an all original 65 Riviera. The paint is original and in my opinion needs a repaint. I would like to polish out the original paint in the time being, without impregnating the original paint and causing fish eyes and other problems when it is time to respray. The paint on it is pretty much void of any product and that seems to me like a good way for it to be concerning a repaint. Any thoughts?  The paint looks better in pictures than it really is.

[falcaineer]

Sorry, I can't offer any inputs for that car/paint, but she's a beauty and I look forward to future updates! 😎

[RayS]

I do a lot of vehicles in the 20 or more year old and only a couple that are over 40 years old.  With the ones with bad paint, it came down to what had to be done for the repaint.  Some of them only need to be sanded to get the crud off and others had to go back to metal.   If the paint is pitted and you can see metal or you have rust spots, the best thing to plan for is a full strip, fix, prime and paint.  As long as you don't apply a ceramic or material that is difficult to sand off, you shouldn't have to worry about temporary sealants up to HGG. 

 

With the exception of one of those $299 paint your car places, you should be able to get a qualified inspection of the vehicle and quote for what is needed fully correct and spray the vehicle.  This is a pretty big car, so you can expect a lot of labor if all the parts need to be removed.  If some or most can be taped it will save a significant amount of labor.  When you talk to the paint shop it may be worth asking them the price difference if you remove the parts vs having them do it.  If you remove the parts, it gives you the opportunity to clean and if needed have them re-chromed.  However, some paint shops also have good connections and discounts on re-chroming.  

 

Look for rust, that is the biggest thing and you want to know every place that it exists.  Whether it is surface rust, just under the paint actual holes, it has to be completely addressed and not just covered up.  The $299 paint places won't hesitate to spray over anything that is there, even bumper stickers and dealer decals on the body - know that one for a fact.   The Mustang convertible we just had completed was just under $4,000 and it didn't need any body work and there was no rust.  As you can image, being a convertible, there was not a whole lot of body to cover and it had zero chrome to be removed. 

[crowvet]

5 hours ago, RayS said:

I do a lot of vehicles in the 20 or more year old and only a couple that are over 40 years old.  With the ones with bad paint, it came down to what had to be done for the repaint.  Some of them only need to be sanded to get the crud off and others had to go back to metal.   If the paint is pitted and you can see metal or you have rust spots, the best thing to plan for is a full strip, fix, prime and paint.  As long as you don't apply a ceramic or material that is difficult to sand off, you shouldn't have to worry about temporary sealants up to HGG. 

 

With the exception of one of those $299 paint your car places, you should be able to get a qualified inspection of the vehicle and quote for what is needed fully correct and spray the vehicle.  This is a pretty big car, so you can expect a lot of labor if all the parts need to be removed.  If some or most can be taped it will save a significant amount of labor.  When you talk to the paint shop it may be worth asking them the price difference if you remove the parts vs having them do it.  If you remove the parts, it gives you the opportunity to clean and if needed have them re-chromed.  However, some paint shops also have good connections and discounts on re-chroming.  

 

Look for rust, that is the biggest thing and you want to know every place that it exists.  Whether it is surface rust, just under the paint actual holes, it has to be completely addressed and not just covered up.  The $299 paint places won't hesitate to spray over anything that is there, even bumper stickers and dealer decals on the body - know that one for a fact.   The Mustang convertible we just had completed was just under $4,000 and it didn't need any body work and there was no rust.  As you can image, being a convertible, there was not a whole lot of body to cover and it had zero chrome to be removed. 

Thanks Ray, the car is rust free as far as needing floor pans or patch panels. Most solid 53 year old car I have ever seen. The original paint has some tiny chicken feet looking rust stains that would probably buff off but reappear. I am planning to have it resprayed, but want to buff out for a better look until I do, but I do not want to introduce anything to the existing paint that would make the paint job harder to do or cause the new paint to fisheye. Maybe a buff, with no wax??

[mc2hill]

Congrats Daryle, beautiful car!  

 

As far as polishing it, just use the least aggressive method, and plan to use lots of pads if it is single stage.  And no need to skip the wax, the painter will wipe down the car with a prep product before they start work on it.  

 

 

[RayS]

Concur ^^^