[Aceswild 02]

Now that the car is running great (for now...lol) its time to give it the attention it deserves and has needed for so long. I started working on the paint today...wet sanding, compounding and polishing the hood and fender to get an idea of what kind of results I can expect. I also did a very quick 2000 grit polish on one of the hub caps...I am going to sand them all down with 800 and work up from there and finish them off to a mirror polish.

Today I just tried some different things to get a feel for what the best approach is going to be. This is going to be a pretty lengthy process, and I plan to update this thread as I go. It should be a lot of fun though!

Here are a few pics from todays activities:

The current condition of the paint:



Im not expecting perfect results, but I know can get rid of a lot of the rough spots with some work.

Wet sanding:





One pass with Menzerna's Power Gloss with the DA (50/50):




Half of the hood after the Power Gloss:


Fender after wetsanding:



And after Power Gloss:


Hub cap (before quick 2000 grit "polish"):


After:


Well, I think today was a pretty good start! My goal is to complete the initial paint work by next Friday, doing a little each day. Next weeekend I want to be able to polish with Menzerna's Power finish and then Super finish and get everything sealed.

Then I will start the wheel restoration project...which will include refinishing the wheels with a high gloss black paint and mirror polishing the hub caps.

Wish me luck!

[sikedsyko]

Wow, that thing is going to be a beauty to behold once you are done. What is the paint you're dealing with now? is it factory paint? Old Restoration paint? or a recent paint that you're cleaning up?

But either way, you should post it up in the "detail of the month" section over at DetailingBliss, you would win for sure, once this thing is done.



edit: Also curious what pad you're using on the DA with the Power Gloss to take out wetsanding

[Aceswild 02]

Thanks man!

The paint is a bad re-paint from the late 70's. The guy that paint it did a shot job and then skipped town before my grandpa could make him re-paint it. It's a 2 stage acrylic with a tone of "dust bumps" or something. There is no way for me to make it perfect, but it will be a huge improvement.

Believe it or not, I'm using the white pad that came with the DA. It seemed a little more aggressive than my yellow pads. I know it's not the best pad, but it is great for what I'm using it for.

[sikedsyko]

Cool to hear. I've been looking into removing wetsanding with a da and was thinking about trying the white pad before buying any new pads

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[ChrisJ]

Very nice