johnsjj2

The search brought out numberous responses, but they didn't pertain to my particular question. My paint is 11 years old. It was painted at the Van Nuys plant, but the paint isn't chipped at all. One louver (sp) is faded real bad, and the hood has some rock chips, but all in all, the paint is all there. I am wanting more shine. I contemplated wet sanding the whole thing until I say some pics of Zainoed cars. Some people used the 3M Perfect proccess, but I don't know which option to choose. I know there is no amount of buffing that will fix the chips in the hood, and I'm cool with that. Wet sanding would take a long time, and time is something I don't have a lot of. Zaino is expensive for a wax, or polish, whatever you prefer, but the results are outstanding. I am looking for opinions. This is by no means a show car. It has a couple dings, but the paint is still there. I am starting to steer away from wet sanding b/c of the bodywork that I would want to do, and don't have the time for. I am in the proccess of finding a house, so I will be moving. In October, the stork is making another delivery, so my time will vanish after that. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,

Joez88Camaro

Meguiar's makes a number of polishes that are easy to get from most auto stores or larger walmart type places. Get a cheap orbital polisher and go at it for a few hours. If the paint's faded, or oxidized, your probably not gonna get far. I've seen something like 3M Auto Restore I think is the name do good. If it's oxidized you should have waxed it more often! Wetsanding would require buffing anyway so I wouldn't do it unless you've got orange peel or something.

scottmoyer

I have the same issue as mentioned above. The Van Nuys paint process has major orange peel. I have been told by my local body shop not to wetsand it. For one thing, the paint is 11 years old in your case. The paint is also known for delamination. Due to the paint process, the clear coat layer could be very thin. If you sand it, you have the chance of snding thru to the paint. Once this is done, you might damage the paint beneath and cause a major repair. My local bodyshop does beautiful restorations and paint work and they won't touch my car. They are afraid that it could open them up to liability because of the frailty of the paint. I wish I could get a smoother finish out of my car too!!

2vmodular

i've been very impressed with what mothers california gold carnauba wax (walmart special) did for my 98' crown vic police interceptor finish. i've got the problem of a bunch of small scratches from decal removal (dial 911, car #123, town of xyz, etc..), but the paint is not very oxidized since the car is relatively new.