Shining up a little for shows

[rohnk]

I have plans to take my Eagle to a few shows this year and I want to make it a little more presentable. I'm not talking about a total repaint right now, but just shining it up a littl and covering some surface rust spots.

My thoughts are, take off all exterior trim pieces. Wash the car really good with a nice detergent soap (Dawn dish soap). Then I thought about wet sanding the entire car with 600 to 800 grit paper. Surface rust spots would get a little rougher treatment to clean them up. Then wash the whole car again and put primer on the area where surface rust was present.

Since my car is white, I was thinking of using a nice high quality paint in a rattle can and touching up the primed areas and anywhere the paint got a little thin. Then clean up the trim pieces and re-install them.

My goal is to keep the whole project under $100 and take no more than a weekend. Not looking to make it look brand new, just dressed up a bit.

Any ideas?

[shaggimo]

I wouldn't wet sand honestly, I'd get the buffer after it, if you do choose to wet sand go with 1500-2000g. I've spray doctored past vehicles, had them look presentable, find the right color and nobody will be the wiser.

[eaglefreek]

I wouldn't wet sand honestly, I'd get the buffer after it, if you do choose to wet sand go with 1500-2000g. I've spray doctored past vehicles, had them look presentable, find the right color and nobody will be the wiser.

Took the words right out of my mouth. The AMC paint isn't very thick to begin with and go after it 30 years alter with some sandpaper, may not be a good idea. I would just use a quality polishing compound and a good wax job. A buddy of mine uses these products and swears by them. http://www.adamspolishes.com/ I haven't bought any yet but his cars always look fantastic. For the bad spots, try to find a company that does chip repair for used car dealers, they might be able to help you.

[rohnk]

Thanks for the advise guys. I think your right. Buffing it first with a good compound will probably do more than I think. I don't have a buffer, but I think they are cheap enough to purchase. I'll check O'Reilly's tonight and see what they have.

I'll post a before and after picture or maybe a side by side buffed/unbuffed area to see the difference. For the rust spots, I think I'll just get a can of good quality white paint and touch the areas up. Should be a nice project to work on before it gets too hot out!

[Prafeston]

More importantly is how is it running?

[vangremlin]

I always use the Maguire's 3 step process when I working with oxidized paint.  They have a cleaner, polish, and wax that make a huge difference.  Rubbing compound is too abrasive and will leave marks in your paint.

[rohnk]

Rafe,
It is still running the same way. When taking off from a stop, it wants to stall. I haven't worked on it for a few days though. Too many other things going on this weekend!

[eagleman]

If your eagle is white I assume its Olympic white like my 86. Anyway I found that Dupli-Color Dover White is about dead on.Part number BGM0138 Dover/Arctic White (11) Have used this on mine and am very happy with the results. Hope this helps. If your going to rub out the paint with compound only use the smooth white called polishing compound.Its very mild and will only remove the dead paint pigment.Then follow up with Meguiars Nxt Tech Wax and I believe you will be very pleased with the results. I really don't care for the hand held electric buffers.There ok for really large areas like a motor home or camping trailer but I perfer doing my eagles by hand.Seem to get a better feel and better results.

[eaglefreek]

I missed that the car is white. I might get some flack for this, but I use Bar Keepers Friend keeping the car and rag wet on my white Eagle and follow that up with a couple of washes to get off the haze, then a wax. Works pretty darn good.

Eagleman thanks for the tip on the touch up paint. I'll have to give that a try.

[rohnk]

I picked up some Maguires polish at O'Reilly's tonight. That and a couple of terry cloth hand buffers. It says it works for oxidized paint.

Thanks for the tip on the paint! The front quarter panels on mine are getting so thin that the primer is starting to show through. Tomorrow I will wash the car really good and let it dry. Then back into the garage for the polishing and see where I need to add a little touch up paint.

[shaggimo]

I missed that the car is white. I might get some flack for this, but I use Bar Keepers Friend keeping the car and rag wet on my white Eagle and follow that up with a couple of washes to get off the haze, then a wax. Works pretty darn good.

Hmm, I never thought of that back when I had a white car with weathered paint, lol. I used to use the Turtle wax color cure polish as my machine buffing compound. Worked awesome, got rid of the black film (those with white cars know what I mean) like no ones business, lol, unfortunately I don't think it's around anymore.

[vangremlin]

Rohn, even if you're car's finish isn't in tip top shape, I'll bet your car will still get more attention at the shows than the countless mustangs, camaros, 57 chevy's....people love to see something unique, especially if its something as cool as an SX4!!

[rohnk]

Oh, I agree Van. Last year I went to one show and the younger folks were all over it. Of course some of the snobs that were there nosed up as they walked past. Of course they are the ones with a $40k car or truck they never drive. To each his own. I am proud of the AMC brand and proud to show my work.