Single Stage paint problem

[The Wonder Wagon]

So I recently restored the engine bay on my 1970 Chevelle, and in the process I used some pretty agressive chemicals to remove all of the old paint on the frame and subframes undernieth the hood. I made sure I was extremly careful to cover all of my painted surfaces while cleaning the engine bay but unfortunatly some of the oven cleaner that I used seeped through the tape and discolored the paint in various areas. I have a single stage metallic aqua finish (I know the hardest to work with) and was wondering if this has happend to anyone else that restores cars in the forum and if this is somthing that I can get off. I would hate to have to respray the top of the fenders and since it is such an old paint job i am afraid that there will be no way to feather the color in to match without respraying the entire car. I am old school so I love working by hand, but I'm willing to give just about anything a chance at this point. Any help is much appreciated!

I will try to post some pics to give a better I dea of what Im working with

[CieraSL]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

Seeing this is your first post, welcome to MOL!


You might want to take a look at this thread: The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints

[The Wonder Wagon]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

Thanks CieraSL...I have been on this forum since 08 but I have always found the anwsers to my problems. I read through the link that you attacehd and could only find things about oxidation. This is a contaminate that I got on the paint and has literally spotted various area on the fron t clip. This is the best pic I could find and I will take additional pics tonight. You can see on the paint very faintly the spotted areas.

[sleepy]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

I have not had the same problems that you are experiancing. I did have someone tell me that I could take regular car wax and use it on a metal dash. I listened, to the man and I was wrong. I was able to clean the dash with Dupli-color grease & wax remover. As you can see it did not hurt the color on the dash at all. I hope this can help you.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

I sounds as though the oven cleaner has stained down into the paint to some degree - by your own admission, this was one of the harsh products used to clean up the engine bay, so you understand just how harsh it can be!

Hopefully it didn't get too deep into the paint. We would suggest using any number of liquid paint cleaners (ScratchX 2.0, SwirlX, Ultimate Compound, Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner, M09 Swirl Remover, M80 Speed Glaze, etc - perhaps you have one of these on hand at the moment) on the effected area to see if you can remove the staining. If the chemical has etched deep enough into the paint you may not be able to fully correct it, but if just a small amount contaminated the area you may well be able to take the surface back to a satisfactory level. It really all depends on how severe the damage is.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

Thanks CieraSL...I have been on this forum since 08 but I have always found the answers to my problems.

That's a testimony to what a great resource discussion forums can be for valuable information.

I read through the link that you attached and could only find things about oxidation. This is a contaminate that I got on the paint and has literally spotted various area on the front clip.

Yeah, I mostly wrote that article to share with guys how to restore antique paint without ruining it by using caveman techniques, which I've see a lot of in my life.

Older, antique single stage paints dry out easily, at least a lot easier than modern clear coat paints and whether they are dried out or not, they are still more porous. If they are dried out, then liquids introduced to them can seep into them further than for example if they were recently polished with a product like #7 like shown in the above article.

Here's the skinny....
Defects like stains are both topical and sub-surface, when the stain penetrates "into" a single stage paint, you might be able to remove it or at least improve it a little by abrading it by using some type of cleaner/polish or paint cleaner like Michael Stoops recommended.

If the paint has not been "polished" in a while and you "think" that is is dried out and possibly oxidizing, then the point I make in the article above is that "BEFORE" working on antique and original paints, you have the option to pre-saturate the paint by polishing it with a product like the #7 and possibly making it more workable before simply abrading it.

It's an option I explain that is completely up to you but in my life I've worked for a lot of people that have pulled original cars out of barns and it is of the utmost importance to them to do everything they can to preserve the original paint, so for some the pre-saturating option is an option they would consider.

For the area you're talking about, it's not as big a deal, if this had happened in the middle of the hood of an all original car then doing whatever you can to save the finish might be more important.

Here's a picture that shows what happens when you rub dry paint down with M07 using a heavy concentration and allow the #7 to dwell... the same kind of thing happens to old, dry single stage paints...

This is key...
Saturation Application --> The First Application
This is a mostly unknown technique and that is to let the first application penetrate and soak into the paint for up to 24 hours before wiping the product off. The idea being to really apply the product wet and work it in really well and the walk away.

The idea is to allow the heavy concentration of oils to penetrate and seep into the paint for maximum saturation before removing the product and continuing with the process. In this case I finished applying the first application of #7 around 9:00 pm and then left the #7 to soak in until the next day. I started wiping the product off then next morning right about 10:00am.

Some will argue if this works or not buy my experience is that with a porous single stage paint it does in fact help. One thing for sure it can't hurt.

Paper Test for Capillary Action
If you place a few drops of #7 onto a piece of paper and then monitor it over a few days you will see the oils in the #7 migrate or seep away from the actual drop of product. It does this through capillary action and the same thing can work to your car's paints' advantage if it's a single stage lacquer or enamel paint.

I placed a few drops about the size of a nickel on a piece of standard printer paper around 3:00pm.



The next day I took these pictures at approximately 10:00am, (19 hours later), note how the oils in the drops of #7 have migrated outward via capillary action.



Feeder Oils penetrate or feed the paint
This same effect can take place in a single stage paint but not only will the oils travel horizontally, they will also travel vertically, that they will penetrate downward "into" your car's paint and this is where the term feeder oils comes from as the oils penetrate into or feed the paint. The result is they will condition the paint restoring some level of workability as compared to just working on old dry paint, and they will also bring out the full richness of color, something that will showcase the beauty of your car's paint.

But again, for the area you're working on... maybe just hit it with some UC or ScratchX or M80 with a piece of terry cloth towel works wonders on old single stage paints...

This was done with M80 and a lot of careful polishing work...










Nice car you have there by the way...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

I made sure I was extremely careful to cover all of my painted surfaces while cleaning the engine bay but unfortunately some of the oven cleaner that I used seeped through the tape and discolored the paint in various areas.

I don't recommend Easy Off Oven Cleaner to others but when working on really old cars and trucks with decades of built up grease and oil sludge, it does work pretty good... it will also remove paint, not just stain it...

[The Wonder Wagon]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

Thanks for all the advice guys. Mike, I a gree that Easy Off is not somthing recommended for anything other than complete restoration, and it looks like you used the same product I did to redo the chasis that you have in the pictures. I found that the Easy Off when left to prenetrate can take off all grease including the chasis paint and imdeiatly oxidizes all of the metallic finishes under the hood...see below. However it does save you a lot of time with the grinder stripping paint off. I am going to the parts store right after work and picking up some of the products that I dont have or I'm out of that everyone has recommended. Wish me luck! For all the gear heads out there I have also attached some additional pics!

[The Wonder Wagon]

Re: Single Stage paint problem

Thought I would give everyone an update, and hopefully this can be used for future reference if anyone has the same problem. I started by knocking all of the contaminants off with a clay bar. I moved into using the ScratchX version 1 and rubbed the area by hand vigorously and saw little by little the spots coming out. After about 5 treatments of the ScratchX I got to the point where you could barely see the spots. I was doing this in my driveway and an older gentleman was walking by and noticed the spots on the untreated side and said nothing of the spot in the area that I just worked...success! I followed this up with the UC (because I ran out of ScratchX) and then M07 and let it sit for 12 hours overnight. I didn’t think that my paint was in that bad of condition but as you can see below the before and after pics tell the tail. The first 2 pics are the before and after of the spotted areas. The 3rd is a pic of the treated fender against the untreated hood, the lines and reflections are unmatched! Thanks for all the help guys!