Original Paint 35+ Years Old

[Anthony S.]

Looking for come comments on what to do with original paint that is in very good shape, but after many years it has a bunch of stone chips. Is it better to leave it as is or professionally fix each one of these chips in such a way that it would bring it back to original appearance?

[Terry M.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

You have to decide what your goal is for the car, and what you can live with.

BTW: If you know someone who can fix each one of these chips in such a way that it would bring it back to original appearance, they ought to be able to make a fortune.

Anyway, share with us what your desires and goals are for the car and we can better advise you on what to do with the stone chips. Also tell us a little more about your car. Year, mileage, general condition, body style.

[Stewart A.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

I suppose it's your car and at the end of the day you have to be happy with it. If it were mine and depending what colour the car is and your financial position is I would get the front re sprayed if you want it new. The only problem with painting parts of an old car is colour matching metallic is a nightmare to match and can be a joke in the sun. If the car is metallic I would probably work with the chips fill and sand each one with the new sanding nibs that are available at panel shops. Then foam buff it and it should look pretty good for very little.
How big and bad are the chips ? It's a bit hard to work with what you have given us. Maybe take a real close up photo of the chips and post them on this thread. I have been to see cars for sale that people say the paint is awesome and get there and to me it's a mess. Some people have different opinions on paint quality. Stewy

[Patrick H.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

As Terry inferred, how many are "a bunch" of stone chips?

Solid colors "might" be matched, but metallics will be a PITA. You will go from having light colored zits to dark colored zits.

I'd be hesitant to touch it, but don't be afraid to post a picture to show us.

Patrick

[Anthony S.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Ok, 'Guys', this question was crafted the way it was because with too much information provided in the question the answer is given in the question itself. Then I will not get to the opinons that I really want.

However, I will provide some hints:
1) You are onto something with the metallic colors, so maybe separate advice between high metallic colors and those without.
2) As far as number of paint stone chip defects: Not so many chips so you will not notice them much at 20ft, but at 3 ft people who are not knowledgable of corvettes and originality would say "gee, why doesn't the owner do something about this paint?"

The hard questions to answer are those without all of the initial information - this is part of the challenge in answering this question !!! Suppliment the initial information with assumptions where you need to. I want to view this issue in a general sense applied to all old corvettes, not just one data point of one car.

[Roger P.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Anthony,
I agree with what the guys have said about your intentions with the car, paint color, size & number of chips, etc. However, if your want to use your car as a nice driver to cruise & enjoy (like I do), then you might find a product called Dr. ColorChip an inexpensive solution to your problem. I have a Rally Red '65, and when I bought the car, it had about a dozen scattered chips from small to medium in size on 20 year old paint. The paint looked great other than the chips. So, I ordered their "system" and the color match was near perfect. If it's not a good match, they will work with you and re-mix the color! Their paint is different from regular touch-up paint as it stays malleable for up to 2 hours. After you dab on the paint in the chip and let it dry for about 30 minutes or so, you lightly rub the touch-up spot with their special solution which slowly takes away the excess paint other than what is left in the actual chip. When you are done with the solution, you immediately buff it with a microfiber towel. If it's not perfect the first time, you can repeat the process until it is completely filled and looking good. After you do a few chips, you'll get a feel for the paint removal process (don't rub too hard or you'll remove too much new paint). The solution won't harm the surrounding painted surface as long as you buff it with the towel right after using the solution. You can't see my repairs unless you really look hard for them - including the few larger chips! One chip was pretty deep, but after a few applications, it's now almost undetectable. Give it a try - you have nothing to lose other than about $ 60.00. Most likely, you'll be happy with the results .

Good luck,
Roger (50141)

[Patrick H.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

As far as number of paint stone chip defects: Not so many chips so you will not notice them much at 20ft, but at 3 ft people who are not knowledgable of corvettes and originality would say "gee, why doesn't the owner do something about this paint?"

I want to view this issue in a general sense applied to all old corvettes, not just one data point of one car.

You're talking to a bunch of guys who treasure cars with original paint. Very few of us are going to say "gee, why doesn't the owner do something about this paint?" We're going to say. "Wow, it still has the original paint. Neat!"

So, if you expect us to tell you to just repaint it, I don't think you're going to get that. We're going to want to see specifics so that we can judge whether or not the original paint is worth keeping. If you choose to withold that information, well... Each car is an individual and one data point.

Patrick

[Timothy B.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Wax it and enjoy your car. Don't let anyone mess it up for you.. There will be other things to repair and learn about on your journey..

[Stewart A.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Soda blast the whole car and get a real paint job.
Paint it black with 2 pak and throw as many coats of clear as you can. Making sure you get rid of every join in the body then get rid of any orange peel with 2000 wet and dry sanding. But then wait for this leave the door jams dull so it looks like an NCRS car. Is that what you want to here !!!!! Stewy

[Paul J.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Soda blast the whole car and get a real paint job.
Paint it black with 2 pak and throw as many coats of clear as you can. Making sure you get rid of every join in the body then get rid of any orange peel with 2000 wet and dry sanding. But then wait for this leave the door jams dull so it looks like an NCRS car. Is that what you want to here !!!!! Stewy

I don't know about Anthony, but that's exactly what I wanted hear!

Paul

[Stewart A.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

oops Hear !!!!
I have heard the dull door jams so many times now and I still laugh every time. You gotta love a 15- 20 k paint job with the dull door jams Paul. Stewy

[Jack C.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Leave it alone. Polish than wax. Coming from someone with 41 year old original paint. It's rough but beautiful.

[Duke W.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

They're only original once. In the art world it's called "patina".

Last weekend I had an experience with an original 65K mile Nassau Blue '65. The owner drove it from Sioux Falls, SD to Scottsdale, AZ - a 3000 mile round trip and had a blast. (At every gas stop people would gather around and ask: "Is that a Split Window Coupe." I guess to the general public all C2s are "Split Window Coupes".)

It looked great from ten feet. Up close you could see flaws, but for a 45 year old original acrylic lacquer job it was stunning!

Duke

[Stewart A.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

Ah Patina it even has a type of smell !!! That old car smell they should make a fragrance out of it we could spray in our new cars. Stewy

[Michael H.]

Re: Original Paint 35+ Years Old

You're talking to a bunch of guys who treasure cars with original paint. Very few of us are going to say "gee, why doesn't the owner do something about this paint?" We're going to say. "Wow, it still has the original paint. Neat!"

So, if you expect us to tell you to just repaint it, I don't think you're going to get that. We're going to want to see specifics so that we can judge whether or not the original paint is worth keeping. If you choose to withold that information, well... Each car is an individual and one data point.

Patrick

I'm with Patrick, and the majority of others on this. There are a LOT of reasons why I would not even consider repainting any part of it but even if the nose/chipped area were to be painted, it would soon be chipped again if you intend to drive the car.
The number of "unrestored" cars decreases by the day.

And.... all the money that goes into repainting a car that has nice original paint goes right out the window. More often than not, the value of the car stays the same, or may even drop, depending on what the car is.

You can always repaint it 10 years down the road if the need arises but you can't unpaint it if you change your mind next month because the color doesn't match.