Walle

Before I go my 77 Toronado it was just sitting around covered in dust for an unknown period of time.
what would be a good initial treatment for the whole car?
Besides from small rusty spots the paint is kinda dull and it feels pretty ruff when you wipe your hand over it.

I don’t mind a Little Patina. I just wanna preserve the beautiful original paint as good as possible.

The car always parks dry and warm and only hits the road in good weather.

Should I use clay and polish first before I give it a good wax and then keep waxing it on a regular basis?

Or just do the waxing on the paint and preserve it as it is (of course I gave it a very good handwash already) to not weaken the 43 year old paint unnecessary through the polishing?

I don’t need it all pretty shiny and glossy. I just wanna do the best to preserve it.

Vintage Chief

I saw your other thread. Try some IronX to remove the rail dust.

Walle

Yes, I was reading into the rail dust thing and will take care of that.

But this thread is about the whole car. Not only the few rusty spots.
That’s my very first old iron and don’t know how to treat the paint.
I guess more than 40 years ago they used much different paint than the multi layer paintjobs with thick clearcoats nowadays?
Did they even use clear coat at all back then?

Vintage Chief

Much depended on the manufacturer. I honestly don't know the answer to your question regarding your car. Yes, the older cars used a different paint than today, and a different clear coat. On both my '67 4-4-2 & '72 4-4-2 I used to use Turtle Wax or Cordoba Wax. I never used any polish. I prefer wax of any kind as opposed to a polish. IMO, a wax holds up much better to environmental conditions and protects paint longer.

Walle

Thanks for your opinion on that.
That’s kinda my thinkin too to just put wax on it to preserve anything as is.
See if there any other opinions on that.

RetroRanger

I think something like a clay bar treatment, followed by mequires #7, then a good wax will be about the best you can do for old paint without spending a lot of money.

vickycar

in 1977 gm was using lacquer. being a old school bodyman we would just water sand with 1500 wet with lots of water and rub with a very abrasive compound which you can't even get anymore. 3m does make a heavy compound but be very careful a car that old paint is very thin and can rub thru easily. i would experiment with clay bar on small spot first.

rocketraider

If the paint feels gritty or rough to the touch, wax or cleaner/wax won't help much and willl probably turn out looking like hell, especially on a light metallic like you have.

Clay bar it first to remove contaminants. You should feel a noticeable difference in paint smoothness.

Then use the least abrasive polishing compound you can get to do an initial polishing cut. Do a small area and paint should smooth out even more.

If results are satisfactory you can then try larger areas. You may have to go one step more aggressive at a time until the product shows results.

Use progressively finer polishing compounds till you have a smooth glossy finish. Then use a straight carnauba wax for protection. I like Meguiars products because 1) they work and 2) their product numbering system is simple to use. Bound to think there are comparable products in Europe.

I think your paint may be "dead" after 43 years, so any restoration you do short of a repaint will be short-lived.

As vickycar says, lacquer can be color sanded to smooth out the finish and then polished to remove sanding dullness and bring out the color, but it's risky. You also need to know if the car has ever had paint work.

Good luck.

Walle

Thank you for all your tips and infos on that.
I will go with the clay, real fine polish and than a wax I think and will see during the process how it goes
Seems like I can’t hurt anything with that and even if it doesn’t improve to much at least a have some protection thru the wax at the end.
Thanks again!!

Olds64

^^^THIS^^^

A polishing or rubbing compound should be used between using a clay bar and applying wax. Manufacturers use different names but they are all a similar product. You can get them in various grits just like sandpaper. Here's a product I've used before with great results: