- Joined
- 2 Mar 2004
- Posts
- 11,918
- Location
- SE England
I made some progress today - by breathing some life into the paint. My real reason for doing it was to get it some protection, as it's been stored so long I don't want it all peeling or cracking in the harsh sunshine we're having at the moment, plus I hoped it'd make it look a whole lot more respectable.
Consequently, a good T-cut was required (as I'd already given it a thorough wash) to get all the crud out of the paint and bring the colour back a little, followed by a wax job to shield the paint. Later I think I will get a clay bar on it to haul even more debris out of the paint but this will do for the meantime.
Some going on:
The difference after a quick rub down:
Spot the polished area!:
.....and finished:
The roof still needs cleaning more deeply (might get the aforementioned claybar on it) but I ran out of T-cut, although it's still a vast improvement - and in very good condition.
The only bit I haven't really been able to improve is the bonnet and front wing tops - they've gone really flat and even after a few applications were still decidedly greyed:
The shot exacerbates the effect slightly but still, this can always be repainted or just left as is for the meantime. I might go over them again, just to see if I can lift them any more.
Some comparison shots:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
It isn't perfect but it has done the job and is a considerable improvement over the previous condition, plus it has a little protection now.
Part of me is now thinking that at some point, maybe prior to going into storage, the car was parked outside near something chemical, or at least, something that dropped ash or corrosive material onto it - like a chimney stack.
It might go some way to explaining the weird state of some of the rubber, the really heavy pitting on the rear chrome boot handle and why it, at some point, had a fresh coat of paint put on (although slight pitting is evident underneath that in places).
Tomorrow I will quickly clean the interior out so it's relatively tidy and then start on the mechanicals - brakes first!
Consequently, a good T-cut was required (as I'd already given it a thorough wash) to get all the crud out of the paint and bring the colour back a little, followed by a wax job to shield the paint. Later I think I will get a clay bar on it to haul even more debris out of the paint but this will do for the meantime.
Some going on:
The difference after a quick rub down:
Spot the polished area!:
.....and finished:
The roof still needs cleaning more deeply (might get the aforementioned claybar on it) but I ran out of T-cut, although it's still a vast improvement - and in very good condition.
The only bit I haven't really been able to improve is the bonnet and front wing tops - they've gone really flat and even after a few applications were still decidedly greyed:
The shot exacerbates the effect slightly but still, this can always be repainted or just left as is for the meantime. I might go over them again, just to see if I can lift them any more.
Some comparison shots:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
It isn't perfect but it has done the job and is a considerable improvement over the previous condition, plus it has a little protection now.
Part of me is now thinking that at some point, maybe prior to going into storage, the car was parked outside near something chemical, or at least, something that dropped ash or corrosive material onto it - like a chimney stack.
It might go some way to explaining the weird state of some of the rubber, the really heavy pitting on the rear chrome boot handle and why it, at some point, had a fresh coat of paint put on (although slight pitting is evident underneath that in places).
Tomorrow I will quickly clean the interior out so it's relatively tidy and then start on the mechanicals - brakes first!
