Polishing old paintwork

1337_KR3W

1337_KR3W

1337_KR3W

Soldato
Joined
24 Jan 2003
Posts
2,560
Location
Cornwall
Have an ex post office van, paintwork is faded to the point of almost being off white on the roof and is various pale shades elsewhere.
I don't want to spend much money on paintwork, it doesn't really worry me, but if there is something I can do fairly cheaply and without too much effort (I'm not going to spend more than half a day of a weekend on this) it would stop the kids moaning when they are getting a lift somewhere.

Not doing it has the benefit of the kids not wanting a lift anywhere... so the excuse of it being too much effort, or too expensive, might well stop it being done at all.

Is it possible to restore paintwork that faded to something close to a uniform colour, or not worth bothering?

Thanks.
 
Machine Polish with Farecla G3 or 3M Finnese-it then a good layer of wax would do the trick. Got any pics of just how faded the paint is?
 
Borrow a dual action polisher and have a go at it.
If you really aren't after a high end finish then do not bother with claying/detarring.
I really would not bother with hand polish or T-Cut as the effort and time required will have you doing it for flipping ages.

The link provided by Atari really is a good example of how good the results can be from removing faded Vauxhall paint!
 
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Thanks for the link, mine is slightly more faded than that.
I'll ask around and see if anyone I know has a polisher. I agree about not doing it by hand, I think I'll bore of it after finishing one panel, and it will only look more daft than if it had been left.
 
you can buy a polishing disc and mop to fit a drill or grinder if you have them,t-cut will do the trick though
 
I managed this after a few passes with a DA and some SRP...
Took a couple of hours to do the whole car, but relies on you knowing someone with a DA

IMG_0738.JPG
 
van.png


Edit: Have an 18v cordless drill with 2 batteries, don't think I'd like to run it for as long as it takes to do the van though. Do need to pick up a new drill though for work so this could be a good excuse to get one.
 
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You can do it with tcut, I did my old corsa with t cut by hand took couple days by the end of it. Borrowing a machine polisher would definately be the easiest and quickest way to do it. I was about to volunteer mine, right up until I saw you are in Cornwall - I don't think a 200 mile journey counts as popping it round lol.

Edit: If you can find someone with a machine polisher a DA (Dual Action) would be better than a rotary due to generally being safer for a novice to use, though it may take longer to achieve the same results.
 
2 choices.

Use a machine & scuff off all your paint around the edges because it's the first time you've used one or use T cut decent cloths & elbow grease. I've done my fair share of turd polishing & White Transits were always the easiest, Truck wash the whole thing, rinse it really well then let it dry then T cut, Trick with T cut is the cloths you use & only using a small amount on a small area. Once you create a decent patch even if it's only a foot square you'll find it a lot easier working out from it.
Also has to be said that even though I had/have access to air tools DA etc I still only used my hands & a cloth as you can literally feel what you are doing with your hands & you only do what needs doing. :)
 
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