Deep paint cleaning

[Young Ed]

Just bringing Dad's 66 wagon out from storage and at some point it got lead stains on the hood and roof. I'll give it a standard washing first of course but I'm quite sure that won't get it all off. So what's next? Clay bar? Polish? Buffing compound?

Edited August 16, 2023 by Young Ed

[Dave72dt]

It's always the ,least aggressive first, so you can start with the clay bar so you don't grind any residual contamination into the paint if you want, then try polishing compound,  then rubbing.  Really aggressive would be color sanding but it shouldn't come to that.  Repeating the polishing /buffing steps will take a lot of imperfections out.  You'll probably want to polish the entire panel or you may find the spot you polished looks better than the rest of it.  Of course, if at any time in the process the stains become more noticeable, you'll want to stop.

 

 

[Dan Hiebert]

Ditto.  3M, Mother's, and Maguire's that I know of make excellent polishing products.  Their lines of products have varying aggressiveness depending on how "bad" your paint is.  They aren't cheap, though, and work best with mechanical polishers.  The abrasives break down as you go so you don't take too much off and end up with a nice shine.  I recently tried all three brands on different panels of my brother-in-law's car to decide which I would use on our cars and couldn't make up my mind as they all performed quite well with my limited skill level.  So I'll go with least expensive.

[Young Ed]

Well I am very surprised most of it is coming off just with soap and a scrubby mit. Then I'll be doing a cleaner wax and calling it good

[greg g]

I have used Bon Ami cleanser on several faded and rust stained finishes.   Bon Ami is a non silica based cleaner that won't scratch paint, glass, stainless or chrome.   Bartenders friend is similar if you can't find bon ami.  Look on the bottom shelf in the cleanser section of the grocery store. I use it with water and terrycloth.  Wet a 1ft square area, sprinkle on , rub and rinse.  It takes a lot of rinsing but you will be surprised at the result.  Takes road grime off windshields. Rust stains from dripping rain gutters, haze from stainless trim.  Make sure you get the original product.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bon-Ami-Natural-Cleanser-Kitchen/dp/B07VC36NMC/ref=asc_df_B07VC36NMC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564776368211&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5643714554457280058&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005095&hvtargid=pla-1455542392046&psc=1

[kencombs]

23 hours ago, greg g said:

I have used Bon Ami cleanser on several faded and rust stained finishes.   Bon Ami is a non silica based cleaner that won't scratch paint, glass, stainless or chrome.   Bartenders friend is similar if you can't find bon ami.  Look on the bottom shelf in the cleanser section of the grocery store. I use it with water and terrycloth.  Wet a 1ft square area, sprinkle on , rub and rinse.  It takes a lot of rinsing but you will be surprised at the result.  Takes road grime off windshields. Rust stains from dripping rain gutters, haze from stainless trim.  Make sure you get the original product.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bon-Ami-Natural-Cleanser-Kitchen/dp/B07VC36NMC/ref=asc_df_B07VC36NMC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=564776368211&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5643714554457280058&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005095&hvtargid=pla-1455542392046&psc=1

Reminds me of a story from several old mechanics in the 60s.  If a re-ring job didn't seat well they would run it at a fast idle and sift some Bon Ami into the air intake.   According to legend that removed cylinder glaze and/or lapped the rings to the cylinder.   I've heard that often enough that I actually believe they did it and it worked.

[John-T-53]

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html

 

This is the ticket right here for old single stage paints. It's a lengthy write up, but lots of good info. 

 

How did that C-body's paint turn out so far?

[Young Ed]

21 hours ago, John-T-53 said:

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles/25304-secret-removing-oxidation-restoring-show-car-finish-antique-single-stage-paints.html

 

This is the ticket right here for old single stage paints. It's a lengthy write up, but lots of good info. 

 

How did that C-body's paint turn out so far?

Lots of scrubbing with basic soap and a not got the major staining off. It still needs a good polish and wax though