Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 What to do about my car's sunburned areas?

Too late for Coppertone!

I need an effective, easy, and cheap, DIY solution. So...

I looked for ideas online.

I found a video that promised to improve oxidized paint, but ultimately the video showed the owner respraying more than 50% of the car's surface. That wasn't a fix per se, it was more of a repaint. Nothing really wrong with that, it's just that the video promised making an improvement by treating the oxidized areas. Refinishing and repainting IS really the only proper repair. 

However I was certain that I could make a substantial improvement in the car's appearance by working with commonly available materials; rubbing compound, polishing compound, and Carnuba wax.

My starting place. This was the top
of the right fender after a good washing.

My car had obviously been repainted some time in the past. Instead of redoing the paint in a single stage lacquer or enamel, the restorer decided to use a modern two stage process; a base color topped by a clear coat. I would guess that it was painted in acrylic lacquer sometime in the mid to late 1970's.

Because this is identical to the finish on most modern cars of the last thirty years, the damage looks very familiar. The clear coat has burned away, exposing the base color coat, which is also beginning to oxidize. This has resulted in very ugly patches, that are best prevented, instead of having to be repaired. However, it was too late to prevent the damage. I have to work with what I've got. There were large oxidized areas on every top surface of the car.

My plan is to wet sand the rough bordering areas with very fine 1,000 grit sandpaper. Then I would polish the area with an abrasive rubbing compound, then polish it with a finer polishing compound, and finish it up with a coat of pure Carnuba wax. Not the cleaner wax that I usually use. The pure Carnuba wax will build up a coat of wax on the surface, further smoothing out the area. Even though I routinely use cleaner wax, it's a good idea to properly wax the car at least once a year. 

Now, I didn't have the expectation that this would restore the finish to a "like new" appearance. I knew that the areas would still be discolored. But they would be much smoother. The exposed color coat would be revived, and the overall appearance of the car would be substantially improved.

After dealing with the sunburned areas, I would rub out, polish, and wax the entire car. With the rounded and curvaceous body of a Forties car, the reflections will hide many discolored areas until a much closer inspection is performed. Under a casual viewing, many defects would be overlooked, I was aiming to improve the overall impression that the car gave.  Definitely a 15 to 20 footer. If you reference the earlier photos taken when I bought the car, you'll notice that it looked pretty good overall, even with the sunburned paint. Especially later in the day, when the body would reflect light and shadows.

The left front fender and hood before sanding and polishing

This process is similar to the final color sanding of a new paint job. It is needed to completely smooth out the finish.

I went to my local Autozone and bought a pack of 1,000/2,000 grit wet sanding paper. To the bare hand, it doesn't feel much grittier than a brown paper grocery bag. I already had a rubber sanding block which helps insure a more level surface. Then I washed down the entire car and dried it.

I used Meguiars products because I already had them on hand, and have been pleased with the results. I would do the sanding and polishing portions of the job by hand. I don't have enough experience to use a power buffer and don't want to cut through any paint at the edges. I did use my Myobi power buffer to remove the dried polish and wax.

First, I sanded the rough bordering areas until they were smooth to the touch, then I carefully sanded the exposed color areas. I was careful to use plenty of water.

Then I went over the entire area with a pretty abrasive rubbing compound. I buffed the area when dry and washed it with clear water. Then repeated the process with a finer polishing compound. Finally I applied a couple of coats of Carnuba wax, then buffed it out. The improvement was dramatic!

A noticable improvement was made.

Over time I will re-polish the border areas and of course re-wax them. Every time I do that it will improve the smoothness of the surface,

The trunk lid was the largest oxidized area.

I had started a thread covering my Plymouth on the AACA form. I described my plans and posted photos of my processes, and the results.

I decided to work on one half of the trunk lid at a time. This would make for a more dramatic series of comparison photos.

The area on the left has been wet sanded with 1,000 grit paper.

This was after polishing with rubbing compound,
followed up with polishing compound.

I waxed this section to illustrate the improvement.

I went all around the car wet sanding and polishing all the oxidized areas. Then I went back and polished and waxed the rest of the car. The right rear fender has some existing damage to it, as well as some light colored paint transfer. This kind of damage usually results from brushing against the frame of the garage door. A typical senior damage pattern. However, I managed to remove a good amount of that, and the polishing reduced how noticeable the damage is.

There was still plenty of work ahead when I did the roof.

After that, I polished all the chrome and stainless trim. The hubcaps were quite dirty, with a heavy film that took a good polishing with Simichrome and steel wool to remove. The bumpers only required a light polishing with Simichrome to regain their almost new looking luster. 

What a difference, it now looks quite a bit better.
It looks like a car that has been cared for
over the years.

Shiny paint, chrome and stainless trim.
Bright white whitewalls add to the look.

Now the car looks even better. Maybe it's even a ten footer? Note that the damage to the right rear fender is now not that apparent.

I'm not kidding myself that the car now looks like a fresh restoration, but an improvement is an improvement. It will only get better over time with additional polishing and waxing sessions. 

And that is the entire point; improve the looks of the car as well as protect the paint with waxing. I took a little criticism from a couple of guys on the AACA forum for spending so much time working on the paint. I was actually kind of disappointed to read that. They had advised leaving it alone unless I was going to get it repainted. I'm not surprised by that, these are guys that don't really work on their cars, they just pay others to do the work.

I will admit that there were also guys that were quite supportive and complimentary about my efforts towards improvement.

There are also some non cosmetic issues that I need to address. The lack of a spare tire, and the fact that the previous owner had never installed seat belts in the car. I covered obtaining a suitable spare tire and wheel last week.

I knew that replacement lap belts are offered by several companies, but I sure hated the idea of drilling holes in the pristine floorboards! 

Overall, I am very satisfied with progress that I'm making with my Plymouth.