I thought the paint on my 1986 El Camino was gone. It was just dull and I mean dull! I knew it was in for a new paint job. The car is Maroon & Silver Metallic. A friend told me about a 3 step process called Meguiars Deep Crystal, Step one Paint Cleaner, Step two Polish & Step three Carnauba Wax. I got all three at Auto Zone for under $18. Also my friend told me about a one hand 6" Orbital Polisher called Coleman Powermate, I got mine from Wally World for under $15. After I applyed the first step I could'nt beleive my eye's, step one sure brought the paint back to life. After all steps were done the old El Camino sure looks sharp. That Orbital Polisher sure saved a lot of manual elbow grease too! Best $30 or so dollars I spent. Hope this info helps you out as much as it did me.

What you had on your car is known as "Oxidization". It is most noticeable on blacks and reds. Just about any rubbing compound will get rid of it. The problem, however, the oxzidization WILL return, unless you get a clearcoat applied right after you have done the polishing. I use the 3M polishing compound and it does a pretty good job as well.

Hey dovehunter, did you by any chance take any pictures of before and after?

SHADOWHAWK wrote: What you had on your car is known as "Oxidization"

Does that mean that dovehunter's "clear coat" was gone? I thought clear coat protected against oxidization? I remember cars that would do that back before base coat / clear coat was so prevalent. Just curious more than anything else.


Glad your elco turned out looking good again dovehunter. :cool:

Most likely it is gone. It was until after the eighties that clear coat was used more excessively to protect the paint job. Keep in mind that constant rubbing, and waxing, will wear off the clearcoat and eventually the paint.

a73elkyss, I did not take any pictures. I should have, it would have been some good advertisement for them. The Maroon color has that deep metal flake look, Meguiars really brought the paint back to life. Before you could not see the metal flake's. Now both colors have that shiny, smooth look. I washed the car today with water only and boy did it bead up the water. The car was just dusty. I think if I keep a good wax job on it now maybe it will keep that nice shiny look.

Keep in mind that constant rubbing, and waxing, will wear off the clearcoat and eventually the paint

Not really so....It depends on what you are using. Once the cleaner/polish is used to remove the oxidization your done with the stronger abrasive compounds. Keep using it and yes you will keep cutting into the clear/paint.

At this point now that your paint is looking really good, your done with the hard work, now just maintain it. You can rub that abrasive free carnauba wax on your paint as much as you like without any harm in paint wear off. Maybe once before summer and once before winter you may want to use a mild all in one cleaner/wax if your car sits out side all year.

However at this point before you apply any protective coating in the near future, make sure you "CLAY" your paint before using any wax. Clay bar is safe and also will never remove or harm your paint. It just removes all the crap that is sitting on top of the paint, setting it up for nice coat of your favorite carnauba wax.

Before clay bars were sold over the counter it was our professional detailer secret years ago. Also a safe way to remove any fresh accidental over-spray on your paint. Clay bars are totally non-abrasive!

I do hate to tell you but, you have the two number one colors that are hardest to keep from oxidization...Red (or maroon) and silver. Sun will attack the pigment in these colors of the paint more than any others. Plus silver or the paints that have those metallic flakes add to the problem as the sun reflects off the metallic into the paint which causes those uneven color patches in unprotected paint.

Hope you car is garaged or not left out in severe heat/sun in the summers.

Wax on wax off!

Dave

This one has always been parked under a carport and had a carcover on it most of the time. Now that I have the shine back I'll keep giving it it that TLC that it needs.