Faded paint Options

[Chenna]

The paint on my pride and joy a red 94' ZR is fading pretty quickly, especially on the doors. The paint doesn't have a gloss to it anymore, and looks murky and dull, I'm under the impression it's been oxidized. I was wondering what the best way to fix it was? A respray? Or Cut and polish and just keep waxing it?

If I need a respray then is there any articles I can be pointed to on how to do it? Or is it something best left to the pros?

Cheers

[lilgreenyoda]

Claybar can work miracles. Some pics might help the body guru's here to see exactly where you're at as far as oxidation goes. Me personally? I'm sanding down to metal and respraying from the ground up. Mostly because my previous color was disgusting and I've had some damage that needed attention.

Now. As far as respraying goes. There are a few routes you can take. First, you can have a pro do it. Which is expensive, but well worth it. Second, you can sand down and do all the prepwork yourself. This saves you money, and still allows you the finish of a professional. It can be extremely techincal, especially if you have dings and whatever and need to fill the body (bondo) as part of the prepwork. And if done correctly can take some time. And you can do the entire project yourself.

Let me give you an idea here. I've been working on my 6th gen's body for about for about 4 months. ( I work most days and only make progress on my days off... which are few and far between). In those four months I've been able to sand down TO METAL... 95% of the car. I'm still nowhere near done with prepwork as I still need to get the rear wheel wells, and part of the PS door. THEN, I STILL need to bondo the places where it's needed before I can spray a single coat of Primer. I am doing all of this entirely myself. It is taking a LONG time because of other stuff I do. If this is the case for you, and you do NOT have another daily driver... I'd suggest getting it done professionally.

[CelicaHD2]

Try a Clay Bar...even if that doesn't work, it will remove all residue and particles in your paint ready to try the second option of a Professional Buffing.

Use of a Rotary Buffer is perfect for this situation...but unless you have a Rotary Buffer, Cutting Compound, Final Compound, Polishing Compound plus pads, it may work out cheaper to get it buffered for you by someone at a shop.

If that works for you, try using a Sealant on your paint, then apply a Wax over the sealant for the best protection.

[garin]

clay bar is a good tool. three step buffing is good too... compound, glaze, and polish. 3m products are good for buffing. if you need to get the car painted a professional is really the way to go.

[blu94gt]

clay bar is a good tool. three step buffing is good too... compound, glaze, and polish. 3m products are good for buffing. if you need to get the car painted a professional is really the way to go.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

If you don't have a buffer, take it to a shop. It will be cheaper to have a good shop buff it out than it will be to buy a decent buffer and the supplies. If you want to buy one, I recommend Makita or Dewalt, I've used both professionally and they are excellent pieces of equipment. 3M and Blue Coral brand products are good for pads and compounds.

If you do it yourself, I'd start with a clay bar. Go over the whole car, if you've never done it before you'll be amazed at how much gunk comes up with the clay. Once you've clayed the whole car, start with a heavy cutting compound, buff over everything. Go to a lighter compound with a foam pad to give it a finer polish, then wax (either by hand or with an orbital buffer). Before buffing, I'd also use some touch up paint on rock chips and such since it's a perfect time.