Original Paint

[Richard G.]

I thought that this might be an interesting question for the board. I have a 1969 convertible that still has the original LeMans Blue paint on it. What have some of you done to preserve the original paint from cracking/fading? Do you store the car with a breathable cover on it or not? Do you use a certain wax? I realize that Laquer gets hard to preserve just by its chemical make-up, but its an interesting piece of history to try and preserve so your thoughts would be interesting.

Thanks

Rich

[Wayne K.]

Re: Original Paint

Rich,

I read your profile and to find a 16,000 mile original paint car is something to get excited about, If the paint is not cracked yet it is probably because the car hasn't seen a lot of sun and miles. Paint gets dried out with age so I would clean the paint with a product that will put the essential emollients and lubricating oils back into the paint. One good one is 3M Imperial Hand or Machine Glaze. I would immediately follow this process with pure carnauba wax. By pure I mean one that contains no extenders, admixtures, cleaners or abrasives. I like Harly Paste Wax, it is 100% No.1 yellow carnauba and is so easy to use you probably will want to do a friends car too.