Clear over old paint as a preservative?

B

Benny

I have a '66 MGB that is still wearing its original, red paint. When I got the car, it was so oxidized, it was actually pink. I polished the car, and it came up looking ok, but began to oxidize again quickly.

I'd like to get some use out of the car while I finish up some other projects, before tearing it apart for restoration a few years from now. I'm wondering if putting a clear coat over it would buy me a couple of years of stabilizing the paint, or is the clear bound to fail very quickly?

Thanks
 
If you are going to do that, just paint it real quick. You need to figure on buying the red, because once you get it cleaned up and sanded enough for paint to stick, I would bet you will either sand through in spots or find enough stuff (chips, scratches) that will make you want to fix them.
 
crashtech said:
If you are going to do that, just paint it real quick. You need to figure on buying the red, because once you get it cleaned up and sanded enough for paint to stick, I would bet you will either sand through in spots or find enough stuff (chips, scratches) that will make you want to fix them.
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Painting it now would require more bodywork than I have time for.

I'm fine with a few bumps and bruises with the paint as it is, but I'd like to not have to polish it every week or two to keep it looking reasonable.
 
May want to coat the original paint with paint conditioner 1 or 2 times letting it soak in overnight, then final buff. I think in meguiars it is #7 mirror glaze. Coating an old paint job (non clear) before buffing the first time can reduce the amount of paint that has to be removed.
 
sure sounds like if its oxidizing back to pink that a scuff and clear is the best answer for you. You need to replace the uv protection the paint has lost.
 
I guess I was having trouble understanding how clearing something that is one solid color differs substantially from painting it, other than the expense of the base coat material.
 
I would think you would be clearing over a weak foundation (the original paint) and you could end up with a lot more work later.
 
I definitely agree that trying to properly clear over such old paint would be more trouble than it's worth, both now & later.
I've never done it to the extent that I've read about, but conditioning the paint is the way to get some life back into it, rather than just buffing alone which removes the upper surface.
 
Benny said:
I have a '66 MGB that is still wearing its original, red paint. When I got the car, it was so oxidized, it was actually pink. I polished the car, and it came up looking ok, but began to oxidize again quickly.

I'd like to get some use out of the car while I finish up some other projects, before tearing it apart for restoration a few years from now. I'm wondering if putting a clear coat over it would buy me a couple of years of stabilizing the paint, or is the clear bound to fail very quickly?

Thanks
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Benny,
Here is the good news and the bad news!

MG used a great paint system back in the 60's, thats the good news.
Bad news is the fading of the paint, the paint is dead, yes you can buff back until you run out of paint but it will not hold fastness.
If you clear it will not last and as pointed out, will just be more work to redo.
 
I've cleared a couple of trucks with old/patina'd paint, and I'm about to shoot a '63 VW tomorrow. On all of them I've thouroghly scrubbed the old paint with a red scuff pad and dish detergent to get the oxidized paint off and get down to a more stable base. On the first truck I used Duplicolor Paint Shop lacquer clear from the parts store (junk!), mixed half gloss and half matte so it wasn't too shiny. I kept the truck for about a year and a half after I cleared it and it held up great even over the rusty spots with the crappy clear I used.

Before/after.







On my dad's '66 C10, I used Universal Clear with 25% flattener added in. Same prep as the other truck. I'd probably only add 15-20% flattener next time for a little more gloss.





 
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