Best compound for original paint?
 

I'm hoping someone has a suggestion for the best compound they've used with good results. My paint is original and doesn't appear to have had any buffing/waxing in quite some time. It's not really that chalky but it is oxidized and I've heard not to go too aggressive with the cut unless you need it. I started with Meguiars Ultimate Compound (see picture below), and wasn't that thrilled with results. I'm thinking I need something with more cutting. Thanks for the help.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

There is a lot of good info in this. The long and short of it is that you want to treat the paint first before you go working old dry paint.

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...ge-paints.html

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Chemical guys look them up. alot of videos on line. I bought the 4 step kit and was amazed at what it did for my old no shine paint.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I really like Mothers Carnuba Cleaning Wax,works good on a polisher

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I have used liquid Bar Keepers Friend (Purchase at Grocery Store) on some of our older tractors for oxidation then buff out with light polishing compound. It removes the oxidation and cleans surface before buffing. Cuts buffing time by 2/3's and results in a nicer finish. I have also seen people use liquid Comet before buffing on Facebook.

I recommend try a small spot before applying like wax!

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

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All I have ever used is Turtle Wax White Polishing Compound by hand. Works good for me. I never use a machine on old oxidized paint. Too much chance of polishing through the paint. If you do that there's no chance of going back.....

Here is the hood on the '70 I polished out. I'm not looking for a show shine, just to clean off the oxidation. Your mileage may vary.

Just my 2¢ worth.

LockDoc

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Doc, I kind of want that hood/bug deflector....

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Thanks for the responses. I started with an original paint hood I found in the same color as my Blazer (medium olive). The hood had a ding that went in sharp, and when in did it cracked/flaked the paint. To keep that edge from peeling more I wet sanded down the edges to smooth and feather it back it so it wouldn't keep flaking. Besides the dent, that area looks amazing, almost mirror like shine. The rest of the hood with the compound I posted the picture of above, looks okay, still dull in comparison to the other. I don't really intend to wet sand the entire hood.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Sometimes a light sanding with 2500 or 3000 grit is best . Most modern compound is made for new paints and not aggressive enough . I used a rotory with a lambswool pad on my 68 but I did sand it with 1000 up 3000 paper . Lambswool is much more aggressive than a foam pad . Did you use a cutting pad? rotory buffer or an orbital buffer ? Makes a huge difference with type of buffer and pad choice. After the lambswool I went with a polish bad on the rotory then finished with an orbital buffer. No clear used in the truck just lots of wax after I got it shined up


Thread on my buffing the 68
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=822190

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

That makes me wonder if someone else hadn't tried wet sanding just with a coarser grit. The paint has that cloudy look you get after sanding to remove orange peel. I was using a foam pad, two types actually, one for buffing and one for polishing.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I can't stress enough.. do not sand it!!
choosing a compound will depend on, are you doing it by hand or machine?
If by machine..orbital or direct drive?
I can help you from there, also what color is the truck?

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Why No sanding ? Stay off the edge just like buffing and lightly sanding with 2500 or 3000 makes it easier to buff . Been doing it for over 40 years that way on old school paint. Either way with a factory metallic paint you can and most likely will get some mottling .

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Pictures of what your working with would be helpful .

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

It really all depends on what's left of the original paint. Does it seem thin in places or primer showing through ?

I too would wet sand, that's really the old way to get the old dead paint and chalky look off of it.. but there's gotta be enough paint there to do it or you'll blow through it pretty quickly.

Post up a couple pictures of it and we can help you more.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

It's medium olive.., here are some pictures. I haven't done anything to the body yet. I recently found an original paint hood (Blazer had some homemade scoop hood when I bought it). All my work so far has been on the hood. Meguiar's Ultimate compound (posted picture at beginning of thread) with a foam pad and rotary buffer. And I've wet sanded a few edges of dings to smooth where the paint had cracked from the dent to keep it from chipping/peeling. That's it. I'm not sure if you can tell from the hood photo which was taken at night. Thanks for all the input.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I would never sand it because the paint is less than paper-thin and it is metallic; that color was so translucent when it was new and fresh.
If all you want to do is give it a little shine use a dual action polisher with a light-duty compound and you will be fine. I will say because of the chalkiness of the paint it will get dirty and plug up the buffing bonnet.
We all have opinions, but do what works for you after you try it on a test panel.
Good luck

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

As someone suggested above, start with a fine compound and move up as required. For example, polishing compound before rubbing compound before even 2000 grit sandpaper.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Original Medium Olive is a single stage metallic, so you have to know on the front end that when you buff it (using electric rotary buffer), the metal flake will "pile up" and give a mild swirling look. You also have to know that you will be removing a lot of PAINT when buffing, and will more than likely burn through to the primer coat beneath.

That said, I love the look of SHINY original paint, including all of its defects and character. And even a paint job that has been "burned through to primer", can look beautiful..

Here are some pics of my '70 C20 I put some shine back in. Truck came out of Idaho, and was parked outside its' entire life. Not a lot of paint left when I started. Especially on the hood and top sides....

First pic is side shot of how dull she was... And a couple of before/after pics of the hood.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

This is how she turned out in the end...


I spent 4 years as a detailer just out of highschool for both Chevrolet and Porsche. I've got a lot of time behind a buffer and trying out different brands of chemicals.

My process is 3M Perfect-It line of products finished off with Jescar Powerlock and Collonite Insulator wax as the final step.

This particular truck took a LOT OF BUFFING to get the primer to shine, and HOLD the shine. This also meant that there is some bare steel now showing.

If I had a dollar for everyone that asks what kind of Clear Coat I used for that "Patina", I'd be a rich man... I was even called a liar for telling a guy that it was just buffed/waxed... :lol::lol:

A coat of Jescar and Collonite keeps the flash-rust at bay on edges and thin spots.

I think that your Blazer would look AMAZING all shined up....

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I get the same comments on my 68 that I had to clear it . At the Carlisle truck show I actually showed people with a piece of steel wool on the slight rust on the bare steel . It gets some when its outside and the dew sits on it . Little steel wool and wax good as new.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Your truck looks great. I'm hoping for good results. I think the body might be better simply because the paint doesn't appear to be as dirty. Before doing anything to the hood, I spent a few hours just cleaning it. It was very dirty and stained, but that's gone. As I mentioned before, I know what's capable because the few spots that were wet sanded to smooth the edges where it had chipped looks as shiny as your pictures. I started with a foam pad on rotary with the Meguiars I pictured in the first post. I don't think this really took much if any off. I guess I'll go with a little more cut next, just not sure what to use.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

My own approach is that I would rather retain as much paint as possible. At the risk of stating the obvious, when the original paint is gone, there's no getting it back. I think some of the examples here speak to trucks where the finish coat is worn through to the primer in quite a few places already. I want the process to be something I can do once a year without concern. I realize I may not get all of the oxidation off the first time I do it or have an immensely shiny result, but I won't hesitate to do it year after year for as long as I own the truck. Getting it as clean as I can and adding clarity and then protecting it is my approach. So I will put in another vote for the McGuire's number 7. Multiple applications with terry cloth will remove some paint, but will condition the paint that remains. From there, if needed, the ultimate compound that you have has worked well for me. After that, it's just a matter of protecting it with whatever wax or sealer you like best. On any paint without a clear coat, I only work by hand. And while I'm at it, backing up to the beginning, I first use an iron fallout remover which immediately deepens the color and adds clarity by removing decades worth of embedded contamination. Then I use a clay bar to remove contamination that is stuck to the surface of the paint. In my experience, each of these steps adds to the vibrancy of the paint. From there I like the McGuire's number 7 for conditioning and then finishing it out like I talked about above. Even if the paint doesn't end up shiny, the wax or sealer will add luster to it. Good luck!

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Again, thanks for all of the replies. I'm thinking that my cautious approach didn't take off that much and I need a little more cutting.., but not much. Here is a photo of what the hood originally looked like. Notice the rattle can primer in the middle. I had to carefully wet sand that off. That section now looks better than the rest of the hood, it has a mirror like shine. The rest of the hood looks so much better than before, just not at the same level where I had to do the wet sanding. I didn't set out wanting or looking for a mirror shine, but now I'm just trying to get the best match across the hood. And then replicate that effort across the rest of the Blazer. What do you think? Thanks!

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

There are some good videos of this on Youtube by pros. It's called paint correction or restoration.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Good thread. I’ve always just used 0000 steel wool and CLR mix on original paint, carefully by hand, but the truck I have now in storage waiting til I have time needs the paint refreshed correctly.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I started on one fender with the original paint. I'm still using the Meguiar's ultimate compound and foam pads. I was very surprised with the results. Two separate cycles of about 5 to 6 slow passes each resulted in a nice shine/gloss. The paint has many nicks/gouges/scratches and I never intended to try and get those out, just clean it up as best as possible. I think the only issue now is that the paint on the hood that I started with isn't as sun faded as the rest of the panels on the Blazer. I'll post some pictures soon.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Any updates?

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

I take back what I said above about sanding with 2000 grit as a last resort.

Even 3000 is meant to remove orange peel on multiple coats of NEW paint.

Stick with polishes to renew original paint!

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

One issue with using a really mild polish or Meguiars #7 is that it probably won't get quite all of the oxidation off- the more you lightly polish it the more gloss it will have, but it will be nearly impossible to have the same level of gloss over the whole truck. I fought this on my original paint '64 VW for years when I was using a really mild cleaner wax that never got all of the oxidation off. It was blotchy, even using an orbital and making multiple passes over the panels. An oily glaze/wax like #7 or Zymol cleaner wax would mostly hide it temporarily but after it was in the sun for a week the oils dried out of the oxidized layer and it would be blotchy again.


We bought a '74 C10 in 2020 and have been tinkering with it recently. A good bit of the paint is already faded to primer so we decided to buff it pretty hard and get all of the oxidation off. I started with 0000 steel wool and CLR on the rusty spots to remove light rust and stains, then 2000 on a thin/flexible plexiglass block to sand the heavier rust down flat, then Jescar Correcting Compound and a wool pad on a rotary to remove all of the oxidation and bring out as much gloss as possible. I went over that with a swirl remover and foam pad, then Meguiars #7 to finish it off.

https://i.imgur.com/joQfmaWh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SZFE5nmh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ktGGUOLh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PDdCTGvh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5Y6bGkFh.jpg

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Thanks for sharing. That turned out great. My next project will need something similar.

Attachment 2185518

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

#7 is an interesting product. It actually "absorbs" into ol school paints and will bring some life and workability into them.


I used to use it exclusively, but found that modern products actually do a better job of protecting and sealing "patina" in. Some paints don't respond to #7.

Astronaut's '74 C10 is the look/finish that I love getting out of old paint!!

Jescar powerlock, followed by Collinite Insulator wax, I have found is the BEST final seal after putting the shine back in.......

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

Another fan of 0000 steel wool here on the initial cleanup. Not so much a fan of CLR though. Not that CLR does not work, it's just weak. I personally use Metal Prep phosphoric acid solution by Blue Lightning and it goes to town on the surface rust without thinning out what's left of the original paint film. Polishing later with 3M products. I find that virtually any polish/compound found on the shelf at your local chain stores isn't nearly as effective as what is available to the professional through paint suppliers, or online.
IMPORTANT: The aforementioned Metal Prep is aggressive and needs to be tested first in an area not seen. NOT RECOMMENDED for metallic finishes! It kinda bites into those metallics and can streak permanently. Don't ask how I know. Doh!

I'll include pics showing a comparison between CLR and Metal Prep on UNTOUCHED original (non-metallic) paint. That is, nothing done but spray it on and wait. No rubbing except with a soft sponge to wet it out evenly.
The acid works especially well to bring back the brightness of white areas that have turned lightly orange with surface rust.

The pic of the front panel in the bed with the two bottles shows what each product does to the oxidation after about 1/2 hour of just sitting while kept wet with a sponge. Obviously, the CLR does not do much.

Re: Best compound for original paint?
 

More pics.