Vintage Acid Rain Spots

[sixt9rsx33]

I have been polishing and buffing my butt off on the original paint 69 Z I recently bought. The side of the car looks really nice but the top of the car is just ok. The issue is that the car sat outside in the elements in the early 70's during the heyday of acid rain. The car was a Louisiana car and I am guessing that the acid and other crap from the Gulf coast refineries found there way on the top of the car. Does anyone have any good ideas on how I can polish the acid rain out of the paint?

Thanks

Lawrence

[RPOLS3]

Not sure about acid rain spots, but I've had great luck with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to remove sun baked water spots on boats.

Jake

[marxjunk]

never gonna happen..i worked on the line at a body shop most of my adult life,,,dealt with it often...you can sand with some 5000 but you will prob go thru before its gone...

It was so bad back then..there was no fix but to strip them..

even if you just sanded it flat and painted it..it always came back in little time...because it attacks the substrate all the way to the metal...


Id look around and see if i could find a heavy fill wax...it is what it is..enjoy as it...or spend a bunch of money...

[DRCBOWTIE]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: marxjunk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">never gonna happen..i worked on the line at a body shop most of my adult life,,,dealt with it often...you can sand with some 5000 but you will prob go thru before its gone...

It was so bad back then..there was no fix but to strip them..

even if you just sanded it flat and painted it..it always came back in little time...because it attacks the substrate all the way to the metal...


Id look around and see if i could find a heavy fill wax...it is what it is..enjoy as it...or spend a bunch of money... </div></div>

Yes, old lacquer was soft and not ready for the outdoor environment to begin with. You may try to enhance what is there by getting the paint clean and then something to put natural oils back in the paint.

I have for years washed old cars with Murphy's Oil Soap, cleans off compounds / polishes, safe to old paint, and then the Adam's Hand Polish below is gentle and does put some natural oils back in the finish. A pure Carnuba wax after that would be good. Stay away from cleaner waxes which give you that white residue.

I think this is a safe way to see if you get an acceptable result.

http://www.adamspolishes.com/images/...t/large/87.jpg

[sixt9rsx33]

This is what I have done so far

1. Clay barred the entire car
2. Polish compounded the car
3. Polished the car with Adams Revive Polish
4. Waxed the car with Adams Butter wax

When I polish compound the car I get a lot of black residue on the applicator and also the microfiber cloth. I am guessing this is crud off the paint and also could be some of the paint coming off the car. I probably should just keep polishing the roof which is the worst, but layoff the polish compound. I don't want to polish the paint off the car. The surprising thing for me is that the black lacquer stripes have much better shine than the top side of car.

Thanks for the input guys.

Lawrence

[sixt9rsx33]

I remember as a kid the complaints of acid rain on modern cars of the day. I do recall seeing the spots that just would not wax out.

[DRCBOWTIE]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sixt9rsx33</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is what I have done so far

1. Clay barred the entire car
2. Polish compounded the car
3. Polished the car with Adams Revive Polish
4. Waxed the car with Adams Butter wax

When I polish compound the car I get a lot of black residue on the applicator and also the microfiber cloth. I am guessing this is crud off the paint and also could be some of the paint coming off the car. I probably should just keep polishing the roof which is the worst, but layoff the polish compound. I don't want to polish the paint off the car. The surprising thing for me is that the black lacquer stripes have much better shine than the top side of car.

Thanks for the input guys.

Lawrence </div></div>

Yes, I would lay off the compound at this point. The Adam's Revive is very gentle, works by hand, and does put some natural oils back in the paint.

Adam's is a great company, you can take a few pics and e-mail to Adam's, they have good people who will respond to see if they can suggest something. I have dealt with Adam personally and he is a real down to earth guy. Check out their web site.

[sixt9rsx33]

After a lot of elbow grease the ole girl is starting to look better. Still a lot of work to do yet. Pictures are very forgiving for sure. I would post several more pictures but need to learn how to resize images.

[sixt9rsx33]

One more picture

[sixt9rsx33]

I know the grill is wrong. I have the original but it is damaged.