A regular buffer is different. It will absolutely burn a spot in the paint if you leave it in one place too long. Can never happen with a random orbital buffer. Pros use regular buffers but not me.

Good to know. Thanks for the info. The Porter Cable 7424XP is pretty reasonably priced too which is nice.

Also there's a big difference between buffing out wax or whatever and using a cutting compound to actually remove paint to make it shiny. Anything that has levels, like medium, fine, etc., will remove paint.

I'm not exactly saying cut and buff the thing. I'm referring to using a light finishing pad to apply #7 or a light cut polish type deal on a low speed.

In my experience hand applying anything besides your final coat of wax does pretty much nothing and comes out blotchy and in even.

#7 never worked for me how everyone says it does. I just don't see how it's possible to cut thru oxidation without literally cutting it.

But ya I still think just getting a paint match is your best option and bet. If your body is straight you can get a spray for pretty cheap.

What about trying some cheap polishing compound or a clay bar?

That sounds reasonable.


Funny that you say that. I actually did a little test run with #7 on my trunk last weekend and although it did bring some life back into the paint, it did come out a little blotchy and it was a little difficult to remove. The article recommends leaving it on for 24 hours before removing it which I did but I also left it in baking in the sun which probably wasn't a great idea. I think that contributed to it being difficult to remove.

Yeah, I had my car done professionally a while back and I'm pretty sure they did the clay bar and polished it and it looked great but didn't last long which is why using #7 is supposed to help. It's supposed to actually revitalize the paint before polishing it.

Once it’s polished just wax it now and then. It’ll stay shiny

You still haven't said if it's metallic paint or non metallic. That makes a massive difference. If its a non metallic it should not have a clear coat on it and it can be made to look like new with a bit of effort. If its metallic it will have a clear coat and that's a whole different situation.

A decent pic would be very helpful. Does the car still have the datacard?

- Peter.

Rustolium has a product called Wipe New that they recommend for several applications. They have one that they recommend to restore the color and gloss to old paint. It is like a wipe on clear coat. They have another recommended for bringing back the color to plastic automotive trim, and a third to coat headlights after they have been wet sanded. I have used the trim variety to renew scuffed areas of the clear coat on my old truck. It made the clear coat look new. I doubt that it would work well over a waxed surface, but if water sheets out on the surface, it might be just what you are looking for.

Make it easy
 

Here's what ya do......

1) wash the car lightly to get most of the dirt off.

2) Go to Walmart. Buy Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound. It'll cost you maybe $3. This will get the top layer of oxidized paint off. Use a rag and work in SMALL areas like 2 feet by 2 feet IN THE SHADE. You don't want any of these products drying out on you. Once you've completed an area, use another rag to wipe the stuff off.

3) When done, wash the car to get the remaining rubbing compound off.

4) If you want to go the easy route, just wax the car. I used to use the once a year synthetic wax which is maybe $6/bottle.

5) You're done.

If you wanted to go a bit harder route, then call Meguires and see what they recommend.

Life can't be this easy, can it? Also, won't compound take off too much paint?

If the car hasn't been cut or buffed before, there should be plenty of paint left to perform a cut/buff/polish/wax, which will restore the paint and if kept waxed will last a very long time.

I went after my 300SDL with failed clear coat and physically rough paint (felt like sandpaper) with aggressive cutting compound, a random orbit polisher, and aggressive pads to knock the paint down and got it nearly glossy. I never burned through the paint anywhere on the car. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

LOL Some people just look for the hard way to do things. I'm not one of them.

My exact thoughts, all of the recommended advice is entirely contingent upon what type of paint is on the car. Start with figuring out what your paint code is, and post it here. Otherwise, everyone is pretty much wasting their time here.

Single stage and base coat clear coat paints are completely different from each other. Seems that no one here is recognizing this paramount factor.

Literally said that in the very first reply, as did others throughout. I've noticed that nobody reads replies before posting around here, however. Based on the OP not saying that it was peeling or anything a clear coat does, rather just saying it looks "flat," if I had $100 I'd bet $80 on it being single stage, also owing to the fact that I believe they only made one metallic blue at the time, with 3 or 4 non-metallics.