Best approach to polish original paint - 1972 Camaro

[hubedobeedo]

Thank you very much, and thanks to everyone who responded. I was watching this video and was thinking I might try this technique, since it's all done by hand and the product used is fairly mild. There certainly is some light oxidation on the panels (which all appear to be original), so I was going to apply this technique and see if it took. The roof is the greatest concern for me, but I think part of the chalkyness I feel is the oxidation, and that can get worked out gently.



By the way, my buddy (a C2 corvette guy) came over and we took her out today for a quick spin, even if only briefly. Even his discriminating tastes were satisfied with the sound and performance of the car. Man that LT-1 is a magical engine. Love it.

great video used no.7 for years. Post pics when done.

 

[Bills69]

My 72 sat for over 30 years cleaned up nicely

 

[Hrothgar]

Here is the "before" pic from the day she arrived.

 

[Hrothgar]

So, I spent an hour yesterday working on a small coolant leak on the car. Tightened a few bolts on the intake, ran a bottle of Bar's Intake/Radiator Stop Leak through the cooling system and couldn't detect any new coolant drips by the end of it. While underneath the car, noticed the passenger front tire has dry rot cracking all around the inner-facing side of the rim, so that's gotta be replaced. The Holley carb, which is not correct for the car, needs 2-3 minutes of forced throttle to warm up or the engine stalls out. That will need attention. And all the gear for my Power Steering conversion arrives by tomorrow, so I need to start on that. Ah, the joy of a "new old" car. At some point I'd like to actually get to rehabbing the paint, which is certainly NOT original. Upon close inspection, there was at least two partial repaints, one much older (late 80s-mid 90s would be my guess), which the seller didn't disclose (or conceivably know about), and one newer on the doors and lower sections, which I was aware of. All good either way, as if I keep the car long term, I'll probably invest in a proper professional respray. Pictures to follow by the weekend.

 

[COPO]

Mine was painted with Santari with a clear on top back in 1985. I use nothing but Mother’s Show‘n Shine spray.

 

[Hrothgar]

Mine was painted with Santari with a clear on top back in 1985. I use nothing but Mother’s Show‘n Shine spray.

View attachment 156379

Very sharp car sir. A veritable twin for mine, except for the white stripes.

 

[Hrothgar]

Well, it's been a month and I still haven't gotten to the paint. I think I'm going to start a "project" page for this car with all the things I'll have to devote time to. Good news is the Power Steering conversion is 99% done, so that's a big step in the right direction. And yes, I'm slow, but part of the delay in getting that done has been the nightmare of finding correct parts. And I don't even mean OEM or NOS parts, but just parts that actually replicate the size and fit of OEM parts without being improperly machined hot garbage, but that's a story for the project page.

 

[rebski]

Looks good the way it is. I would go with the clay bar then a good paste cleaner wax with a foam pad by hand, don’t be afraid to to really push the wax into it Soft terry cloth buff and a final with micro fiber. Then grab some cold ones and really look it over. If you still have dull spots a real soft liquid polish and a foam pad on a buffer at real slow speed might be the trick for some spot polishing.
Old paint is just that old with no known history.
So caution Will Robinson!