SO--Now that I got her up and running, I wanna try to make it nice again! I'm good at buffing clear coat cars, but not sure how to go about waxing this, as the original paint is on it, with no clearcoat. and what do you guys use to paint the chrome plastic trim? I have some that's chipping off.

Any pointers help! I steam cleaned the carpet, and bought some interior paint, i'll try it out behind the seats later & make sure it matches, so it's really down to touching up the trim on the car, and polish the exterior paint. It was already maintained well so it doesn't need alot, just some stuff i've never done before and don't feel like pulling paint off the car

 

I use normal Turtle Wax to wax my car. If you want to use a sepcialty polishing or buffing compound then I'm sure someone will have a good suggestion.

 

Hey,if you can buff clearcoat,you can handle factory paint as well.Go slowly,because your acually removing color from the car.Especialy metallic paint,if you bear down hard,or get the paint hot ,it can cause streaking or dark and lite spots.Just go slow and be especialy careful on the edges.As far as wax goes,i like carnuba,it will bead water longer.Its harder to rub on and off,so do small areas at a time.Get out the elbow grease!!Hope this helps,BO

 

If you have a DA polisher it will make life much easier. I like Meguiar's products because they are reasonably easy to apply and it's an easy system to use- the lower the number, the more aggressive cut; higher the number the finer the cut and polish. Other manufacturers also make good products, I'm just not as familiar with their systems.

Start with the least aggressive cut product you can and see how it polishes out, then go progressively finer till you get the desired result. Finish it off with a good quality hand wax.

A cleaner-wax will work fine if there's no heavy oxidation. More than a little oxidation the paint needs to be polished and conditioned before wax.

 

I guess I'm just worried about pulling the paint off mostly, lol. I had a 78 Lebaron that also had original paint, and pulled it off just waxing it, lol all the paint got on my pad instead.

The paint doesn't look too bad, it's just lost it's gloss, and almost looks matte. Other than that, i have a small rust spot on the roof, that i'ld like to touch up, but paint is in good condition, especially being the original paint

 

I guess it all depends on the condition of the paint itself.
Simply drying my old Ford (with factory paint) with a towel after a wash changes the towel to car color... Overall, the car still looks good - deep color and a shine when waxed.
If it is in that bad a shape, then a quick, light hand wax may be best if you plan to keep the original paint for a while. If it passes the "dry" test, then the above wax suggestions are recommended.

 

For factory paint, why not try that nu-finish polish? If all of these stores sell it, can it be all that bad?

 

They sell it because they can make a buck. I'm with Rocketraider, Meguires products do very well, follow his recommendations and the manufacturers. If your have a auto paint supplier nearby, show or tell them what you have and they can make recommendations on which to use, and what pads. They frequently carry the pro stuff that auto part stores and others do not.

 

I agree, very easy to use with good results.

 

I'm a huge fan of Adam's Premium Car Care Products. As suggested above, us a D/A (orbital) buffer.

Jump on Adam's Forum and ask "How do I?" You will receive great advice from the experienced detailers on the forum.
www.adamsforums.com/forums/cmps_index.php

 

Oh no, I'm not knocking Meguires at all, I love their products, it's just that I don't know what nickels paint looks like. If he posted a pic, I can't see it on work system It's just that I have tried it on a couple of beaters and it did seem to brighten up the paint, without damaging or removing any paint.