Wax vs. Polish on '40 Stude enamel paint

[Corvanti]

the P.O. advised me not to use wax on the original enamel paint - polish only... been on the "search" feature here - really haven't seen this answered...
the paint is in amazing condition for a 71 year old car. i was going to clean, clay bar and wax - either meguiars cleaner wax or zaino #2 i have left over from my corvette days... now i'm not sure...

what say y'all???

[bridgegaurd]

Ask these guys

http://forums.aaca.org/f126/

[gearhead49]

I have never heard that.
I believe some polishes contain a small amount of abrasives.
I have always steered away from products that contain silicone or words that I could not begin to pronounce. They will haunt you when it comes to refinishing.
Good ole Carnuba Mothers or Meguiers has been my choice.

Just my 2 cents worth!!!!

[Jim B PEI]

It almost sounds like the advice was backwards. A polish has (a bit of) abrasive and it would keep removing the upper oxidized layer of paint. It would keep the finish looking fresh until you wore right though the paint. A wax would leave a protective film over the paint, gradually wearing off until you waxed again. The only think that might be a problem is the harder 'waxes' with an unpronouncable bunch of chemicals that might be made for newer finishes but somehow not the best thing for enamels or laquers used in a 1940. Maybe the sort of wax to use is the soft sort, like the old paste wax on floors. A member of our club has a HPOF 39 Commander, and after one very careful and gentle polishing to remove the oxidized paint, no more was done as the paint was very thin in spots

[JBOYLE]

Here's an old story....watch your colors.
Back in my college days I bought a new red Mustang. Needless to say, I washed and waxed it every week. The trouble is it turned the hood a darker color, wax mixing with hot paint I guess. Ford repained the hood for me, I'd never heard of that before.

Now that my red Avanti is coming out of the restoration shop (basecoat/clearcoat) I need to think about the topic again.
The paint has cured, it was painted about a year ago, so I'm not too worried about "fresh paint" but I'd guess with clearcoat, it 's less a concern than before.

[gearhead49]

As far as polish Liquid Glass always make my black Vette look HOTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dupont #7 was always a favorite when I was a teen with red 69 Chevelle SS. I don't think they make it anymore??
Once used Eagle One Wet Look on a Mustang with a faded finish I had for sale. It looked fantastic for almost a year.

[52 Ragtop]

I'll second the Liquid Glass, the only thing I do not like is it takes 2 coats. The clear Coat will protect the base coat from the ultraviolet rays that cause the paint pigment to break down and turn chaulky.
But, the modern single stage paints are also good, (stay away from the cheap stuff)

Jim

[jnormanh]

I'll second the Liquid Glass, the only thing I do not like is it takes 2 coats. The clear Coat will protect the base coat from the ultraviolet rays that cause the paint pigment to break down and turn chaulky.
But, the modern single stage paints are also good, (stay away from the cheap stuff)

Jim

Some clearcoats do a great job of absorbing the UV which degrades the underlying color, and some do not. Back in the 1980s both GM and Chrysler repainted thousands of cars which had ineffective clear coats. Modern single layer paints have built-in UV stabilization.

If a car is painted today with the better base/clear or single-stage systems which are available, degradation of the paint happens only very, very slowly, and polishing would be required only every ten years or so.

Polishing removes paint. If the paint is good quality and thick enough, it will survive many polishings. In fact the single stage full urethane paints are so tough you can barely color sand them. The old lacquers and enamels (which includes all paints prior to about 1960 when acrylic enamel became common) degrade and may not survive even a single polishing after all these years. If it looks really bad, you may want to risk polishing, but go slowly and carefully, and stop when it looks 'good enough'. Don't even consider machine polishing/buffing. If you must polish, do it by hand using the finest polish you can find.

There's much to be said for preserving original paint, even if it's a bit thin and dull. A good modern paint job will look better and last longer than the original paint, but......

If it were my car, I'd wash, lightly clay bar, and leave it alone. No polish, no wax. That old paint is fragile as eggshells.

[Gunslinger]

All polishes have at least some abrasive or they wouldn't be a polish. There are very mild polishes that can be used. Done properly, no quality polish will harm a finish. It's the person improperly applying a polish than can hurt the finish...assuming the finish is in good shape to begin with. If the paint surface is that fragile, polishing may not be a good idea.

A wax is a sacrificial barrier placed on the paint surface to protect the paint from sun and the elements plus to give it a good look...reflective or a deep, warm look depending on the wax and its chemical makeup. There are waxes made up of beeswax, paraffin wax and Carnauba wax. Carnauba is unquestionably the best, but there are different grades of Carnauba.

There are also sealants, which are a synthetic wax and have different properties and give a different appearance. A lot depends on what one wants from the product and the look you want. Sealants don't sit on top of the paint, they bond with it and can last much longer.

The real secret to protecting the finish and making it look good is preparation, preparation, preparation. A properly prepped surface followed with a cheaper, house brand wax or sealant will look better than a poorly prepped surface topped with the best, most expensive wax or sealant.

[Corvanti]

thanks to all...

after a meticulous cleaning, i tried "nu finish" polish on a small area - not impressed, although it did remove a bit of oxidation.
unless i hear otherwise, i think i'll go with claybar w/detailer, and try meguiar's carnauba wax in another small area to see how it looks.
the enamel paint on the car has some small rub-thru areas (to primer) around a rear side window along with some small "dots" on the trunk, but no bubbling, cracks etc.
new paint is out of the question for now, as i'd like to keep it "original".

thanks again for the input. i really appreciate it... keep it comin'...

[jclary]

Perhaps the person who told you not to wax your paint was thinking that you were planning on re-painting the car in the near future. That is the only thing that would make me hesitant to apply wax.

I spent many years selling paint equipment and application tools. I have also stripped and repainted several cars and trucks myself. preparation is the most important part of the process and even the best of professional craftsmen have problems from time to time.

Whether sand blasting, soda blasting, chemical dipping, or just good old-fashioned elbow grease with a hand sander, it is difficult to obtain a perfectly clean surface over an entire vehicle for repainting. One of the busiest stations at any automotive production line is final inspection "touch-up."

On any oxidized paint, I would recommend a good polish followed by an application of wax. The polish will remove the loose oxidized paint particles. Waxing an oxidized surface will merely result in a streaky slurry of wax and oxidized paint.

I try to avoid both polish and wax by limiting my vehicle's exposure to the sun. (Mainly because I hate the effort required)

[Corvanti]

Perhaps the person who told you not to wax your paint was thinking that you were planning on re-painting the car in the near future. That is the only thing that would make me hesitant to apply wax.

I spent many years selling paint equipment and application tools. I have also stripped and repainted several cars and trucks myself. preparation is the most important part of the process and even the best of professional craftsmen have problems from time to time.

Whether sand blasting, soda blasting, chemical dipping, or just good old-fashioned elbow grease with a hand sander, it is difficult to obtain a perfectly clean surface over an entire vehicle for repainting. One of the busiest stations at any automotive production line is final inspection "touch-up."

On any oxidized paint, I would recommend a good polish followed by an application of wax. The polish will remove the loose oxidized paint particles. Waxing an oxidized surface will merely result in a streaky slurry of wax and oxidized paint.

I try to avoid both polish and wax by limiting my vehicle's exposure to the sun. (Mainly because I hate the effort required)

Thanks, mr. clary for the info.

in e-mail correspondence to the seller prior to picking up the car, i made it clear that i wanted to keep it as original as possible.

so, you think i should polish, then claybar then wax? or claybar 1st, then polish & wax? (my thought)...

[jclary]

Thanks, mr. clary for the info.

in e-mail correspondence to the seller prior to picking up the car, i made it clear that i wanted to keep it as original as possible.

so, you think i should polish, then claybar then wax? or claybar 1st, then polish & wax? (my thought)...

As I previously confessed, I have not invested a lot of time and energy into waxing, and certainly not (never,ever) using clay bar.

As I understand it, clay bar is a cleaner, not a polish. It is intended for snagging contaminants, (grit, metal shavings, rust particles, bug legs, etc,) out of the surface of the paint and is neither a polish or wax. I am not a chemist and can not explain the difference in scientific terms. However, I will accept this on its face value and therefore recommend clay bar as the first step to clean the surface. Then follow by using a gentle polish for removing the oxidized paint followed by wax.

To get some first hand real world education, I suggest you find a good detail shop in your area. Buy them some donuts, and pester them about their techniques.

Take some before and after pictures and share your results with us.

[comatus]

This is just a plain old nit-pick: DuPont "#7" was a trade name for a whole line of products, including organic waxes, synthetic polishes, and -- here it comes, now -- several different 'grits' of rubbing compound. They were all good quality stuff, but if you find a can of "#7" in the barn (Uncle was a rodder, so I have, many times), don't just slather it on. Could be about anything.

I don't see how a guy could go wrong using a traditional polish just once on a car he just got, remembering that, and then doing real wax, thickly.

[Gunslinger]

Dupont #7 products were very, very good. Probably the best car wash I ever used was the #7 powder car wash. Jut a small amount made for copious amounts of suds that floated dirt off the finish.

You really don't want to put a wax on thickly...two thin coats is far easier to work with and does the job. Anything more than two coats is a waste of time and product.