[PMD1969]

My 69 had a second coat of the OEM paint sprayed on in 1986. It needs some polishing to make it look somewhat better.

What are the basics that I could use to get a better shine to it?

Any links would be appreciated.

Marc

[jim darlington]

What kind of paint is it . Lacquer , single stage , base coat / clear coat , metallic or solid color ?

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by jim darlington

What kind of paint is it . Lacquer , single stage , base coat / clear coat , metallic or solid color ?

Outside of using a rattle can I have zero painting experience. Out of the choices you have listed it will either be single stage or solid color. In 1986 my parents sold my 1997 Chevelle and used the $1500 to paint the car. My guess by the poor quality of the work is that they took a can of the GM OEM paint (Warwick Blue) and just painted over the existing paint job. There is does not appear to be a primer coat under the second coat of paint if that is possible.

What else should I be looking for?

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by PMD1969

Outside of using a rattle can I have zero painting experience. Out of the choices you have listed it will either be single stage or solid color. In 1986 my parents sold my 1997 Chevelle and used the $1500 to paint the car. My guess by the poor quality of the work is that they took a can of the GM OEM paint (Warwick Blue) and just painted over the existing paint job. There is does not appear to be a primer coat under the second coat of paint if that is possible.

What else should I be looking for?

ETA: Acrylic Lacquer is what the AMA spec list says the OE paint was/is

[Jerry H.]

Just guessing by the time period that it was painted and by the fact you think that it was 'just painted over the original color', then I'm thinking that it was painted in Acryclic Enamel. That was very popular in that time period and very cheap. That was just the beginning of BC/CC on new vehicles and very few refinishers were using it for overall repaints. Using lacquer usually required stripping the car down to the metal whereas you could just sand, prime, seal and spray one with Acrylic Enamel.

These were single stage and using polishes that had much bite will cause the metallic in them to streak. I would be very careful and start with something that is not very aggressive.

[PaulatFast]

Jerry is dead on correct. You had a 97 Chevelle?

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by PaulatFast

Jerry is dead on correct. You had a 97 Chevelle?

Oh boy ... I knew that mistake wouldn't get past the experts. That was a typo. I owned a 1977 Malibu Chevelle 2 door in HS. Great car.

[PMD1969]

Originally Posted by Jerry H.

Just guessing by the time period that it was painted and by the fact you think that it was 'just painted over the original color', then I'm thinking that it was painted in Acryclic Enamel. That was very popular in that time period and very cheap. That was just the beginning of BC/CC on new vehicles and very few refinishers were using it for overall repaints. Using lacquer usually required stripping the car down to the metal whereas you could just sand, prime, seal and spray one with Acrylic Enamel.

These were single stage and using polishes that had much bite will cause the metallic in them to streak. I would be very careful and start with something that is not very aggressive.

Thanks Jerry.

[jim darlington]

Try Meguiars cleaner wax .