Best and safest way to clean and restore original paint on 28 dodge coupe

[Guest BretK]

I have an all original dodge coupe with original paint, it needs some form of deep but gentle paint cleaning to bring back what is there and protect the metal that is exposed in some places. What do you guys reccomend using?

[lozrocks]

I use water and kerosine. 1/2 cup kero in a 2 gallon bucket.

[Rusty_OToole]

Some have reported success washing with CLR to remove rust. It is surprising how much paint is left on a rusty area when you wash off the rust.

Then polish by hand with fine polishing compound and protect the finish with a coat of wax. The wax is a must, and should be done immediately after polishing because the paint starts to oxidize right away. You can wax 3, 4 or more times building up a thick protective coat. I once waxed an old red Renault 9 times using ordinary car wax and the finish came up better every time. When I started it was so oxidized it almost looked like primer.

[Guest DaveB-47]

The VW beetle guys save their paint / patina with Ankor wax.

I haven't tried it (yet) but it looks OK.

[Guest mikeburch]

The antique motorcycle guys swear by GIBBS OIL. It's had to find at retail. You might have to order it. You can find it by GOOGLE.

mikeburch

[Scooter Guy]

The VW beetle guys save their paint / patina with Ankor wax.

I haven't tried it (yet) but it looks OK.

I read the vintage scooter magazines out of the UK and first heard about Ankor Wax there. I really wanted to try some and have discovered that it is not available in the United States despite being made by Morris Lubricants...a company selling other products in the United States. I even had the US distributor and several dealers look into stocking it or special ordering some for me and they have all said that they can't get import it to the US because it's "a dangerous chemical." So, I located a guy selling the stuff on UK ebay and asked if he'd be willing to send it to me. He agreed to try it, and lo and behold...it worked. A quart sized bottle of it showed up in the mail one day simply wrapped in brown paper with my address on it. How that ever made it through customs and ultimately to me, I'll never know. I used it on a vintage vespa with "patina" that I did not want to repaint.

It's kind of like a syrup like version of WD-40 and dries like a tacky wax. From there it can be left alone or buffed. Being sticky and thick, it was HARD to buff without gunking everything up, but I was happy with it once I got it done. I'd recommend the stuff, but our US folks are going to have a difficult time finding it.