possible to brighten faded paint?
 

I'm sure most people have had this happen. The rubber parts (nose and tail) are starting to fade from the florida sun. the rear hatch hinge cover and a small spot on the hood too are fading. from what i have read here, thats a sign that the clear coat is gone. is there a product on the market that will make this a little less noticable? "fake" clear coat or something? it doesn't really have to last more than a week, cuz i wash is about that often.

here are some photos to illustrate: http://www.floridacorvetteclub.com/rides/augello.html

ANY help will be appreciated

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (Orlando85UCFvette)
 

You can take it to a bodyshop and have it wetsanded and buffed. It will bring out the best possible color that it has left. The problem is the bumpers are urethane and fade differently than the body.

Try also washing the car with your normal car soap, add a 1/4 cup of white vinegar in your bucket.

HTH's....

Mark

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (Orlando85UCFvette)
 

One thing that also works good if you are not going to spring for the money is to just rub some armorall on it and it will look freshly painted. Only thing is it looks "wet" and will attract dirt.

My 92 was like that for a year and I did that method. When it was clean and i armoralled up the bumper it looked great -- the only problem was dirt would get stuck to it.Will it look better then a freshly painted bumper no. Will it look 85% better then what you have now -- YES

If you're going keep it, I would shoot some paint on it. I might even know an inxpensive painter --- just depends on how picky you are on the outcome.
As you know, the only way to make it perfect would probably be to do awhole repaint since your car is pretty old. Sometimes wetsanding can do wonders though. On your bumpers- I think they are too far gone already.

Good Luck




[Modified by xlr8nflorida, 7:08 PM 1/4/2004]

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (xlr8nflorida)
 

You might want to check with reputable body shop and see if they can just wet sand and put a few coats of clear on it.

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (meyre1)
 

Polishing ever slightly (basically i mean 'abrading') the clearcoat (Assuming you have some left) should help.

One thing that will not help is Zaino. I thought it would do something for my slightly faded black paint (the bumpers are blacker than the body).

It did not help in any way, shape or form with this problem. Even after 8 applications.

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (dizwiz24)
 

Diz,

Zaino is meant to protect and shine an already good paintjob. It was never meant to "restore" dull or faded paint. It's simply not abrasive enough. Claying the car in the procedures to apply Zaino only takes out rough imperfections, etc... won't restore faded paint.

Mark

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (Orlando85UCFvette)
 

Try using some Nufinish car polish in an orange bottle. You can find it at Wal-mart and most part stores. This stuff really helped a friends miata bumper which is also plastic. He could not believe the difference. Hope this helps.

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (Orlando85UCFvette)
 

Try 3m finish restore, after washing with Dawn dish soap, then clay bar , then do the zaino thing... helped mine alot...

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (macsvette)
 

If you're gonna use NuFinish make sure you let it dry for a while and then rub it out. It's petroleum based so it will eat your clear coat after a while, but it might make a difference while u plan to get it repainted. Also, NuFinish will powder if there's any residue left. Make sure you're thorough in the application. If you want to avoid petroleum based products, go with Black Fire. But it will shine an already non-dull paint. It won't fix the fading of paint.

Re: possible to brighten faded paint? (Orlando85UCFvette)
 

The rear fascia of my 90 is starting to dull as you described. I have been using Meguire's Show Glaze to polish it to keep it looking acceptable, at least from a curbside perspective.
I have a quote of $350 from the local Corvette shop to have the entire rear fascia repainted. Plan to get it done sometime later this year.

Mark :cheers: