Bringing back old lacquer paint jpbs

[Paul Dobbin]

Old laquer paint is dull but not checked or crazed.  Wax does not do much.   Would like to bring it up to shine.

After taking all the old wax off do I need to wet sand or can I go straight to buffing it back to a shine?

I don't want to paint it again, but I'd like a shine.  Your experiences please.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)

[Walt G]

If you buff it with a light compound do not use a buffing wheel. Try a small area by hand first to see the results.  If that is satisfactory to what you want , keep going, if not then yes, wet sand it but with 2000 paper and again try a small flat area to see how it is . DO not start in the middle of the hood or a door panel! 

[Bloo]

Lacquer is by nature THIN! Even when built up, it is pretty thin. Be really careful. I doubt you have enough thickness to colorsand.

 

If when you run your hand over it, it does not feel silky smooth like a new car (probably), start with a clay bar kit, to get all the embedded dirt off. Avoid edges and crowns. Do inconspicuous places first to see....

 

After that, if it needs more, there is a 3M compound that sometimes works miracles. It is pretty expensive, but 3M has cheaper ones in similar looking bottles that just do not have the same effect. It is probably going to be $25 or $30 a bottle. I am not home and can't check the number (maybe 39009?) EDIT: 39060, not 39009. I will check later. If I don't make it back to this thread tonight, shoot me a PM to remind me.

 

I would still be very careful, even with this compound. Only do this by hand. Start small in an inconspicuous spot. Like with the clay bar, avoid edges of panels and high spots, they go through easily.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Bloo (see edit history)

[CarNucopia]

I'm glad you asked the question, as I'm dealing with the same issue. I talked to an engineer from Turtle Wax at the Chicago Auto Show and he recommended I get a paint thickness measuring device so i know how much I have to work with. He also gave me a bottle of a product he recommended. I'm waiting for it to warm up, so I haven't used it yet. 

[Walt G]

Even when new, when a car is spray painted it is thinner on edges ( rounded corners etc) then on flat panels. When I painted my Derham bodied Franklin in the early 1970s we had to get the lacquer ( nitrocellulose) in from England ( Bellco brand) because the pigment content was much higher then what we could find here in the exact same color. I recall my friend who was a seasoned body man ( learned how to paint in the late 1940s-early 1950s) saying at that time that the nitrocellulose and acrylic lacquer available here in the USA was mostly thinners.

[John Byrd]

Paul, I always finished off my "buffing" with a 3M product called Finesse-it Finishing Material.  The last bottle I bought has a Roman numeral 2 after the "it", but acts no different.  I also use it to re-do for a like new shine if it gets a bit dull.  The buffer I use for these "gentle" finishing steps is an old plastic Craftsman with a handle on each side. It is orbital too, and will do just fine since it is very light weight and that lessens the burn thru chances.  Good luck sir. Other more modern guys may have better suggestions, but I am still using these to this very day !

 

EDIT:  the number of the 3M product is 051131-05928.

Edited March 5, 2020 by John Byrd (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

I have never been afraid to wipe a car down with light oil or kerosene to bring up a pretty good resale shine. I have had a few cars that I just wiped down every week or two. It depends on how deep you want to get, intentionally or accidentally.

 

Yesterday I had my '60 Electra out and dripped a little transmission fluid on the fender. I ended up re-wetting the paper towel with a few drops and the whole right side looked nice when I put it away.

 

I can do that for myself and be pretty happy. If I was to do it looking for someone's approval THEY might not be as happy as I.

 

Bernie

[auburnseeker]

I've used Mother's mag and aluminum polish for years.  I usually only polish it once with this though and then use some type of Meguiars show car glaze after that which does not touch the paint at all.  The mothers gives it the original shine.  I've done alot of cars this way with all types of finishes from Lacquer to Acrylic enamel to Urethane clear coats.  Been working the Auburn over with this after wet sanding it with 2000 because the surface is not smooth.  Same process I used on my Dodge.   The softer paints respond better to the mother's treatments than urethanes.   I did this also on many lunchboxes my wife collected from the 50's to the 70's with those thin litho graphics and unless you scrubbed really hard it just cleaned the top surface so you didn't loose the lithos.  I do it all by hand though with no machine. Here is a left and right blue line left I just finished.  The other side you can see doesn't have the same shine.  Last photos shows the surface before and after. I'll have to get one of the same spot to show.  I have slowly been working over the whole car which of course looked like that middle photo.  The paint is very thin in many spots as well and surprisingly they are in the middle of panels.  I'm 99 percent sure the finish is an Acrylic enamel.  Key is to use a clean rag.  

[60FlatTop]

It's that bending over to polish the lower areas that get tough on old guys.

[John_Mereness]

If it is original paint from the 1930's, I am fond of Turtle Wax Cleaner Wax and a lot of hand time (no buffer ever).

[Bloo]

Try this. 3M #39060. Try it in an inconspicuous place, and by hand, but try it.

 

Others in the thread have mentioned Prefect-It, and I guess thats what this is. However, I wouldn't go by the name as my previous bottle of this exact product was oval, black, and had a different name on it. The part number was the same.

 

 

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

Years ago I had a quart bottle of 3M called "Polishing Compound:  not "Buffing", I guess I'll have to find some 3M.

[TexRiv_63]

My 34 Packard had original factory paint with typical fading and dullness. After agonizing for a while over what to do I decide on one buff-out using a low speed DeWalt buffer, foam pad and liquid wax only. The results were pretty remarkable although it did remove a bit of paint and I would not have done it a second time.

[60FlatTop]

The DeWalt 849 with foam pads, throw the sheepskins away, is the best for an amateur .

 

Three great inventions of the last century, the low speed buffer, Christmas tree stands where they drill a hole up through the trunk, and non-tractor feed printers. All life savers in their own right!

 

Bernie

[TexRiv_63]

19 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

The DeWalt 849 with foam pads, throw the sheepskins away, is the best for an amateur .

 

Three great inventions of the last century, the low speed buffer, Christmas tree stands where they drill a hole up through the trunk, and non-tractor feed printers. All life savers in their own right!

 

Bernie

Totally agree. Years ago I used the sheepskin to buff out new lacquer jobs but wouldn't even attempt it today. I have also used all three compounds and pads above to buff out modern catalysed paint with very good results.

[Pfeil]

On 3/8/2020 at 4:40 AM, Paul Dobbin said:

Years ago I had a quart bottle of 3M called "Polishing Compound:  not "Buffing", I guess I'll have to find some 3M.

 

 The lacquer paint on this car a 65 Type 111 1200"A" Custom ( Original VW lacquer L-360 Sea blue ) that I painted in my garage 27 years ago. I never waxed the car, but always used 3M Imperial hand glaze about every six months. A couple of months back I started getting some streaks in the paint and couldn't buff them out, finally out of desperation I called Meguire's and told one of their reps. my story. The rep. Michael Stoops sent me free of charge a bottle of Meguire's M-80 Speed Glaze polish and that brought the paint back without any haze or streaks. 

Not bad for 27 year old lacquer.

[Bloo]

IMHO don't use a machine. Lacquer is thin, and soft, and there is just too much chance to go through or leave swirl marks you can't get rid of. It is not comparable to what you could get away with on modern catalyzed paint.

 

Start with an inconspicuous area. If it works, move on and work on about a foot square area at a time (or less). Don't get in a hurry.

[Pfeil]

Depending on how many coats of lacquer, and what type of lacquer the paint can be very thick,  and lacquer paint is hard and has a habit of doing two things. 1, Because it is hard and lacks softness and flexibility and is prone to cracking when it gets older and 2, it chips easily ( stone chips ). That blue VW I have in the above picture rarely spends much time in the sun these days. I take it out in early morning or late afternoon for cruising. Living in Prescott AZ we are a 5,000 feet so the sun, while not nearly as hot a Phoenix,  we are close to the sun- less atmosphere, and if allowed will give your skin, paint on your car and paint on your house a real beating. Paint on a house last no more than five years, when I lived at the beach for most of my life a house paint would last on average 12 years.