Question about old paint and wax ??? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Question about old paint and wax ???

Hello

I have a 1996 Explorer XLT - ex condition. I just put in a new Stereo System and got rid of the old Factory system. I have fixed everything cosmetically on the truck and now I was taking it to get painted. The paint job I have now Is very smooth all over the whole truck but is very dull I guess the clearcoat has gone bad. The paint has no ridges or anything. This morning while backing out of the driveway I backed into a tree !!!!! messed up my rear hatch pretty bad. Ive just about run out of money except for the money I had set aside for the paint job. I thought Id get the rear hatch fixed and keep the trucked waxed really good and get it painted next year. If I keep it waxed really good will this keep it from further damage from the elements ?? The reason I asked is because the guy who is painting it said he could do it a lot cheaper as long as the old paint wasn't cracked or anything.
I dont want to take chance of letting this happen :)

Thanks for any help.
 



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as long as there is no exposed bare metal you will be okay
 






Keep in mind that the clearcoat may just be old and that it doesn't have to be repainted (unless you used Bondo or have bare sheetmetal after removing dents). A good rotary buff with cutting and then finishing polish can bring an old finish back to life. See below of a guy on Autopia who used a dual action polisher on his old Chevy.

pic.jpg
 






Yeah

I polished mine and it looked great for about a month and then the it started looking dull and whitish. I then took some fine rubbing compound and waxed it againg and this time it looked super for about a month and it started looking a dull witish color on the hood really bad.(my truck is black by the way) I have been waxing it monthly to protect it a much as I can. Everything I do seems to last 3 or 4 weeks. A friend of mine said he thinks it needs painting (he is not a painter or anything, but he isn't a stranger to automotives either) I took it to another friend of mine who runs a body shop here in Florence and he said My clearcoat was bad and when I put the rubbing compound on it, it just cleaned it up for a while. He may just want to get my money - you know how friends are. Im just tired of woring about it.

Thanks for the help.
 






I would try a glaze or polish first, then put a coat of wax on it.
 






You can try wet sanding it. You should use a 2 to 3000-grit sandpaper and lots of water. Try it first some place unnoticible like the roof. The purpose of wet sanding is to remove the oxidiced clear coat. It may or may not solve your problem. If it does then you have some more time to save for you paint if it does not then go ahead with the paint job.

Have you thought about painting it yourself? Or doing the prep work yourself? It will save you a lot of money.
 






Actually Ive worked in a shop where they painted cars. I mostly done mechanical work but I helped with some of the preping and painting. I wouldnt know how to properly paint a vehicle though. Im not against trying :) Ive also thought of trying my hand at fixing the damaged lift gate but I found a good used one locally for $150.00 this sounds like a pretty good price to me (what do you think ?). Ive got a 6 hp air compressor and I know a paint gun wouldn't cost a whole lot, but the guy who is going to paint it for me said he would do it for $550.00 which sounds cheap enough.
I really appreciate all the help :)

Thanks again :)
 






A lot of shops ( mine included ) will not accept customer preped vehicles.
 






Warranty issues?
 






exactally
 






If you have a place to paint and prep it andy you have the desire to do the work (prep is a lot of work), then there is no reason not to. If you are going to use a base clear finish then there is really no reason not to. We did mine last year, and I had and experienced body man doing most of the work, however it was mostly dumb labor (prep, sanding and taping). You can get a good feel for spraying with the primer, which you must sand some prior to base paint application. Finally the clear coat goes on and even experienced painters get orange peel finish. The clear coat finish should be wet sanded to get the best results nad this will allow you to remove irregularities. I did a complete write up "old explorer gets new paint" if you search you can look it up.

If you are going to repaint you have a lot of decisions to make. Cost and time are the most important. Good Luck.
 






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