Got some rough Paint

[TomoHawk]

The paint on my car is kinda weird. The hood is nice and shiny/smooth, but the fenders feel rough. I tried to rub them out with #1 rubbing compound ( by hand) 2 or 3 times so far and it still feels rough. I lose major points at shows because of that.

The rest of the car is nice (smooth/shiney), except for a few odd scratches. I also have access to a buffer.

Ideas? I'd just like to touch things up some. I'm not looking for $20,000 show-car quallity.

[kenz240z]

If the paint on the fenders is cracked, checked, crazed, etc... you'll have a tough time getting it to look good again, too much damage has occurred. You could try wet sanding it a little bit with 1200 grit wet/dry sand paper, followed up with another round of polish and see if that gets rid of the roughness. Be careful, as you want to avoid taking off too much paint and revealing the primer.

If the fenders are the only areas that are rough, perhaps you should have them painted. A good body shop should be able to match the paint and respray them for you. You might be able to save a little by doing the prep work yourself (sanding, filling an small imperfections, etc...). Or have a paint shop mix up a few rattle cans and spray it yourself. If the rest of the paint is faded, new paint will make the fenders stand out, though...

Another option would be to remove as much of the exterior pieces as possible - side markers, door trim, bumpers, etc..., fix any small imperfections, sand the car down to prep for paint and have the whole car repainted by MAACO, Earl Scheib, etc... If you find a budget paint shop with a painter who has been there a while you can get a real nice paint job for the money. Preparation is the key. New paint, even the $20,000 variety won't fix problems in the sheetmetal.

[TomoHawk]

I think the surface might be just oxidized, but I can't figure out wht it's JUST THE FENDERS!?? Painting isn't an option, because the whole body is getting swapped, but I want to do what I can for the fenders myself.

[LanceM]

I think the surface might be just oxidized, but I can't figure out wht it's JUST THE FENDERS!?? Painting isn't an option, because the whole body is getting swapped, but I want to do what I can for the fenders myself.

Fenders may be original paint, the rest not or the other way around. If the whole body is getting swapped who cares about the fenders?? And if you are swapping the body and keeping the fenders how did you ever manage to find one that matched the fenders color???

In any case you are pretty much hosed, being a single stage paint if it is original, there isn't really enough there to color sand and buff, along with that old paint like that dosen't color sand and buff well, you could try but be ready to repaint when you are done because you will likely burn through the paint and that will be the only thing left to do. I'd say anything you do will likely only make it worse in time, the paint has done it's job and is worn out, removing the worn out part really leaves you nothing left, the paint will be so thin that you will start to have moisture bleed through and cause the metal underneath to begin to rust under the primer, then you'll have a real problem.

[Hrududu]

Does it look like mine?

See along the top of the sides how it's got that grey line up there? My paint oxidized like that and rubbing compound didn't work for me either. Wet sanding did the trick, and that grey is not there anymore on that side.

[TomoHawk]

Lance,

I don't understand what you mean. I have all the original sheetmetal, but from the color sticker, it obviously got some new paint somewhere.

I have a whole new glass body in storage, as if I ever get enough $$$, I'll put it on. But until then, I'll do whatever I can in spare time to spruce up the outside. I almost totally redid the inside so far, so the outside is left.

The local ZeeBart Tidycar has a special where they polish the car and put on some coating like a clearcoat. You know anything about that? It might fix the problem.

[LanceM]

Sorry Tomo,

I took it that you were swapping bodies with say a parts car, not a new glass shell.

Don't know about the Tidycar stuff, but it is probably more for the current basecoat/clear coat type of finishes. Best way to find out is take it to them and see if they think their product will get you what you want.

[TomoHawk]

I resist about going there in case they just want to sell you the stuff to get the $$$. The polish/protectant service might not work out the way they say on the old paint. I will need to find out more in the spring.

thx

[shamus11]

Is your car a metallic color?

I've painted with acrylic metalic paint (silver) and found it will oxidise if it is not clear coated where the non metalics don't have to be clear coated.

[TomoHawk]

I can't really tell Shamus, I took the batery door to a PPG place to get the color analyzed, and they couldn't get one that was spot on. I had to settle for a color (from a Volv I think) that was close, and it's ok for the little nicks or under the rubrail.