Can I put a Clear Coat on Faded paint to make it glossy?

[lindajane]

Hi,
I've got an 83 diesel...blue, an it's pretty faded. I cannot afford to get it
painted properly. Is there anything I can spray on it or rub to at least give
it a gloss. Some kind of sealant that provides a shine? Something stronger
than polish, since polish doesn't do alot with the old paint. thanks

[Rogviler]

If it's the single-stage paint (generally the non-metallic colors) then I would highly recommend Meguiar's #7 Glaze. It's a restorative polish rather than one that just removes layers. Follow it with a wax.

If it's a base/clear (metallic colors) then that's a whole other process that isn't in the cheap/easy category.

I definitely do not suggest sanding or buffing, as you'll only make the paint thinner and weaker and accelerate its demise.

[Mxfrank]

Begin by using a clay bar from Meguiars or Mother's.

[SonnyMorrow]

Post a picture of it, so we can see what you're working with. The metallic colors on Benzes of that era were often base coat clear coat. The solid colors were usually single stage, meaning there was no clear coat from the factory. This style of paint is often "fixable" depending on how far it has oxidized and/or how thin the paint has gotten over the years.

Your same thought has occurred to me before, but I've not heard of anyone trying that. I doubt it will look good. But be sure to check what kind of paint job the car has first. Either post a pic below or do some research on your paint code.

[tdoublenastywitit]

No u cannot do that! U need to buff it out or get a professional detailer to buff it out. The gloss will come back.

You kinda of have to keep on it every 3-6 months or so to keep it glossy but the first time is the only hard oart

[tdoublenastywitit]

U can't just throw clear over oxidation and make it gloss. Gloss is glossy because the surface is flat.

If you want to do it right it take a very long time and a lot of skill. I would definitely Google the huge long meguirs Bible to restoring single stage paint. It's a LONG tutorial but that is how you do it right.

You can decide if there are some steps you wanna skip depending on the quality you want.


But all in all no matter what you do it's gonna cost you 200-300 in materials or a detailer would charge 300 or you can just goto macco and get the 300-400 paint job.

[Rogviler]

Do not buff it.

[lindajane]

I need time to take a pic and I'm not home..It's an 83 Diesel 300D..the paint is the blue
original. Very flat, and oxidized. I took it once to get detailed and the guy laughed and
said you don't want to rub hard on that car!...so i thought if I could just polish...
but Not with Paste...I've tried, sorry not strong enough to do a good job.
I bought Meguiar's #26 Hi-tech Yellow Wax, And Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze...
Do you think these are sufficient...I was wondering also if someone makes a Spray glaze,
to seal things...Thank you!

[Rogviler]

Yes, the #7 does a great job. For the worst paint you can really paint it on and let it soak in, then wipe off any that doesn't get absorbed after awhile. Think of it like lotion for dry skin. But you definitely have to wax it good afterwards to seal it in.

[johnbob]

I have an 81 300D with single stage paint (Orient Red) that is a little dull and oxidized. I took it to a "pro" about a year ago and they made it look great but I put it through a car wash and it basically stripped it off all the wax and brought it back to dullsville. Obviously my fault, lesson learned. The paint is not that bad but I wanted to get it done again and I started to look for more info online so that I could do it myself. I came across this article, https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/66800-4-steps-restore-single-paint-paint-1972-mercedes-benz-280-se.html that breaks it down to 4 steps and the first step is to cover it with a heavy coat of Maguiar's #7 (as previously mentioned in this thread) and to leave it on for 24 hours in order for it to absorb into the paint and condition it. I'm not sure what the "pro" used when I had it done a year ago but I doubt he did the Maguiar's #7 step, or if he did, he certainly didn't leave it on for 24 hours because my whole car was done in 2-3 hours. I want to try the whole process in this article but I'm a little confused because steps 2, 3, and 4 involve machine polishing but I've also read to not use a buffer on single stage paint. The article is very informative and it seems like the go-to article for restoring single stage paint so I want to trust it but the machine polishing has me a little concerned. Has anyone else followed the 4 steps from this article?

[Clemson88]

Originally Posted by johnbob

I have an 81 300D with single stage paint (Orient Red) that is a little dull and oxidized. I took it to a "pro" about a year ago and they made it look great but I put it through a car wash and it basically stripped it off all the wax and brought it back to dullsville. Obviously my fault, lesson learned. The paint is not that bad but I wanted to get it done again and I started to look for more info online so that I could do it myself. I came across this article, https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/66800-4-steps-restore-single-paint-paint-1972-mercedes-benz-280-se.html that breaks it down to 4 steps and the first step is to cover it with a heavy coat of Maguiar's #7 (as previously mentioned in this thread) and to leave it on for 24 hours in order for it to absorb into the paint and condition it. I'm not sure what the "pro" used when I had it done a year ago but I doubt he did the Maguiar's #7 step, or if he did, he certainly didn't leave it on for 24 hours because my whole car was done in 2-3 hours. I want to try the whole process in this article but I'm a little confused because steps 2, 3, and 4 involve machine polishing but I've also read to not use a buffer on single stage paint. The article is very informative and it seems like the go-to article for restoring single stage paint so I want to trust it but the machine polishing has me a little concerned. Has anyone else followed the 4 steps from this article?

My black 1985 w126 sat in the sun on two occasions. The first time it sat for 10 yrs and I bought it, drove it about a year and it sat until last year when I snatched the gas engine and replaced it with a 617 turbo diesel. Over all it sat for 25 years.

My sons asked what I was going to do with the paint and I got a rubber sanding sponge out with a pieces of 2000g, 2500g and 3000g paper and a bottle of soapy water.

After sanding the truck lid I wiped the mess off and buffed it with a few different foam buffer pads on a DA buffer from Horror Fright. I use the three stage 3m products xxx60, xxx61 and xxx62 and it looked like a new paint job without the orange peel typical of new BMWs and MB.

Imo, the guy in that video is blowing smoke about which product to use. It's not what you use it's who you are and whether or not you know what you're doing. It might make you feel warm and fuzzy to use Meguires but I'm satisfied there are other comparable product.

[johnbob]

Originally Posted by Clemson88

My sons asked what I was going to do with the paint and I got a rubber sanding sponge out with a pieces of 2000g, 2500g and 3000g paper and a bottle of soapy water. After sanding the truck lid I wiped the mess off and buffed it with a few different foam buffer pads on a DA buffer from Horror Fright. I use the three stage 3m products xxx60, xxx61 and xxx62 and it looked like a new paint job without the orange peel typical of new BMWs and MB.

So, essentially you just wet sanded the whole car and waxed it, correct? I was actually considering this option too. Although I've never done this with a car, I have done it with a number of guitars.

I have some questions regarding this method. How has it held up? Are you able to maintain the look by periodically waxing and polishing it? Did you get any sand-throughs? Did you take that opportunity to touch up chips and scratches with touch up paint knowing that you were going to wet sand it anyway?

Originally Posted by Clemson88

Imo, the guy in that video is blowing smoke about which product to use. It's not what you use it's who you are and whether or not you know what you're doing. It might make you feel warm and fuzzy to use Meguires but I'm satisfied there are other comparable product.

Are you saying this because you think the products he mentioned don't work very well or because they are expensive and the 3M stuff will do just a good of a job for much less money?

Also, can you tell me the specific 3M numbers or product names? I was trying to find them and although I found plenty of 3M products, I wasn't finding the ones that ended in 60, 61 and 62.

Thanks for the advice/input!

[Rogviler]

I would never remove paint (cut & buff) on an older car. Those things are for new paint jobs to remove orange peel. You WILL weaken and further damage the paint by doing this. Just because it looks good (temporarily) doesn't mean it's healthy.

Anyone who says Meguiar's #7 doesn't work has never tried it and there is literally zero skill involved in doing it. You slather it on, wait, wipe off the excess, wax. No rocket science needed.

[tyl604]

I agree with the advice not to use a buffer. However an orbital buffer is different. It can be used by a novice and it does an excellent job. I bought mine maybe thirty years ago at Sears and it still works like new.

They also sold in a bottle a somewhat liquid product that you would apply in a swirl to the buffer pad (after painting on some paste wax) and I think it was a sealer. Have not been able to find that for years but wax and orbital buffer still do quite a good job. Also very easy.

[johnbob]

Originally Posted by Rogviler

I would never remove paint (cut & buff) on an older car. Those things are for new paint jobs to remove orange peel. You WILL weaken and further damage the paint by doing this. Just because it looks good (temporarily) doesn't mean it's healthy.

Anyone who says Meguiar's #7 doesn't work has never tried it and there is literally zero skill involved in doing it. You slather it on, wait, wipe off the excess, wax. No rocket science needed.

Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by tyl604

I agree with the advice not to use a buffer. However an orbital buffer is different. It can be used by a novice and it does an excellent job. I bought mine maybe thirty years ago at Sears and it still works like new.

I think this is where I get a little confused. I always thought they were kind of the same thing. In the article, steps 2, 3 & 4 require machine polishing and it mentions that they used a Porter Cable 7424XP Variable Speed Random Orbit Polisher which I'm assuming is fine and falls under the category of orbital buffer. I obviously don't know much about this stuff but I was always under the impression that a buffer was a buffer and that they were essentially the same.