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Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:54 am

I have a '69 red metal flake buggy that has some oxidation on the hood and miscellaneous other areas. I'd like to revive the paint to a glossy look.

I have some color loss in these areas as it is turning slightly grey. Now, being metal flake I do understand that some of the color loss is due to the metal flake losing some of its' color and/or showing through. I have some pitting in the gel coat over top. I can feel it, but also see the pitting. While there is some pitting, there is LOTS of gel coat left.

My question: what is the best way to sand or polish the surface with this metallic paint job? I've seen wet sanding and a buffer wheel. Both? I'm not looking for a show quality shine here, just a little revival of what I have without removing too much to expose more metal flakes. i don't think I'll be able to remove all the pitting, which is fine. But what would be the best way to polish and wax without filling the voids with gunk?

Here is a picture of the overall car so you can see it isn't too bad. I'll snap a picture of the surface closer tonight. This is before it was washed, but you can see the grey fading. Isn't terrible, but is definitely flat from oxidation right now.

Mon Aug 22, 2016 1:34 pm

You can see where it is shiny on the rear fenders, but the hood is pretty dull (dust in this picture, but you can see the smudges where it is pretty much the same).

Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:48 am

Pics of the paint. See the fading around the light, under where the pin stripes were, and possibly some pitting.

Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:14 pm

Good luck and be careful. Go to a marine suppl store and buy Mequires or similar boat cleaner/polish for light oxidation. Be careful and dont over do it. I had some places on our buggy that were scuffed and faded a little. Brought it right back...BUT a couple places where the flake was coming through ended up worse since I was already through the clear coat.

Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:51 pm

Thanks for the response! On the areas that got worse, did you restore the gloss and just had some more grey show through? Still worth reviving the paint job?

Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:18 am

There are some fixes folks have tried for where it wore through. Success depends on how bad it is. But there is no easy fix IMHO. Ours is what it is. The hood has some places that really look like crap, but the rest of the car looks prettty good, so I am living with it. She's an older lady with some flaws.

Do a search and you will find some of the methods folks have used, but the boat cleaner will do wonders on the bulk of the car....Its what the product was designed for. BUT keep in mind, its a mild abrasive and it will remove finish, so don't over do it. That's where I screwed up. I had it pretty good overall, but polished it a couple times too many and made the hood worse.

Wed Aug 24, 2016 5:17 am

Why wouldn't several more coats of clear be the way to go? Not sure what you'd need to do to prep the surface to accept those coats of clear, without getting to aggressive and burning through to the flake? Certainly more coats of clear would deepen the look of the paint underneath though.

Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:25 am

I will probably eventually put on some extra clear in the future to preserve it, depending how this polishing comes out. I can't hit it with any clear right now as it has oxidation on the surface and won't hold.

I am just looking at the best option, and what others have done.

andk... do you have a picture by chance of your hood before/after? Went through your pics but didn't find any that showed anything (assuming the purple buggy?)

Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:43 am

Yeah - the purple buggy. No before and after shots, but it will be obvious when you start to get through to the flake because it will start to feel rougher. Just be gentle, do it by hand and see what happens.

Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:20 pm

Well, I started. I started out easy with a polish, found that to be way too light for first run. Tried the cutting compound, better but was taking too long.

So, ran 1000 grit sand paper wet then followed up with the polishing compound. That made a huge difference! It definitely isn't mirror finish, but I'm afraid to go too deep as there is definitely a lot of metal flake showing through. But this is a huge improvement! I'm happy enough with it.

Now I need to find a gel coat wax/sealer

Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:46 am

Been a while since I was doing this and researching it....Someone had posted once about using something like "Future"floor finish. The product has been renamed https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pledge-Floor-Care-27-fl-oz/15136693

This may be your solution. I may grab some next time I am in town and give it a try as well.

Your car looks way better.

Fri Aug 26, 2016 12:10 pm

Seems kind of odd. I was thinking about something I saw on the Chemical Guys website. Looked for boats.

I didn't realize how tough this gel coat stuff is! pretty solid, that's for sure.

Fri Aug 26, 2016 12:25 pm

Yeah - I agree - and boats are really where to look. If you find something that is more appropriate, please post it. Just throwing out what I had found when I had looked years ago.

Fri Aug 26, 2016 1:08 pm

I'll definitely post up what I find.

Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:02 pm

bringing back to life... how would one go about getting a flake paint job like this to begin with?? maybe even a little deeper flake and depth?? kinda like a bass fishing boat. know what i mean???

Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:53 pm

Follow the advice of your local Auto Paint Supplies.
You should order/buy everything through them.
You have to pick out your color/flake off their samples & custom mix it to please Your eye!
You're gonna metalflake your purple '67? My buddy had a green metalflake '57 bug. 8)

Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:50 pm

Im entertaining the idea. This bug spent most of its life in the desert of Las Vegas Nevada. I brought her to the east coast and just got finished rebuilding last week.

Im not 100% on the current paint job, but it seems like single stage, no clear coat. The paint is very badly sunburnt and oxidized. Just dreaming of a few ideas. I imagine a deep flake paint job will be pricey tho... ugh.