Quote:
|
Originally Posted by 1985Az300DTurbo
I did the experiement using "TurtleWax POLISHING COMPOUND". I just happened to have a can sitting around. I used a damp cotton cloth and rubbed real hard on the body behind the right rear wheel. Results: No paint color on the cloth. Only some grey oxidized glaze! It's hard to believe, but if you guys are right, this is not the original paint. The test experiment area doesn't look any different than before the experiment.  Any other clues that would tell me the paint is not original?
Thanks for your help! |
To determine if the car has been repainted is quite easy but you need a careful eye to detail and look at the unusual places. Look around the window seals, use a credit card and slightly pry the seal away from the body and look for signs of paint lines left over from taping. Another good area to check is clean along all of the seams, trunk, hood and doors, and look for signs of overspray or orange peel (bumpy surface not smooth), if so the car has been repainted.
On the issue of paint, if the structure is intact, meaning not peeling cracked or whatnot, it can usually be saved, but it will be a lot of work. Go back to your test area and use the polishing compound again, remember to be agressive with this stuff, just work on a small 4x4 in. area and rub the heck out of it, looking for improvement. If you can bring this area back you will likely be able to bring the rest back as well, and the work spent on that little area will help guage the work needed to restore the entire car.
If you can save the paint, don't be overwhelmed by the work, take a panel by panel approach to get the roughness out and split your workload. When complete, redo the entire car or have a pro polish/detail it for you.
If you are OK with spending a little money, you can always have the polishing done by a detailing shop. But don't stop there, redo the whole thing yourself afterwards or take it back a few times. The key is removing the damage in layers, but you can only get so much off at a time, thus the need to repeat.
Good luck