Faded Paint on 57 Chevys

I would use a resin polish like TR-3 first. Once buffed, I would finish with McGuire's Ultimate Detailer or a light coat of Armor All. It should shine and the finish should be restored. If they have a clear coat, and the paint was bleached instead of oxidized, you may need to use compounds to remove some layers of paint. Don't start there.

George

Thanks for posting your inquiry.  I have a 57 Chevy for a MTH Mel's Drive-in accessory with a similar problem on its white roof.  I lightly scrubbed the area with 91% isopropyl alcohol which removed most of the stains, but it's not yet "perfect."  I'll try the TR-3 product next.  I noticed a small area near the rear window where the paint is missing. I'll learn to live with it since I'm not a skilled painter.

Mike

George S posted:

I would use a resin polish like TR-3 first.

George

George,

That’s awesome. Thank You!

Mike Mottler,

Pep Boys has Tr-3 for sale online for $3.

https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/8483955/

Interesting, if it was the lighting I'd have expected the sides to show some fading as well. Like George says, work carefully since are not sure what caused it and how bad the condition of the paint is.

BobbyD posted:

Interesting, if it was the lighting I'd have expected the sides to show some fading as well. Like George says, work carefully since are not sure what caused it and how bad the condition of the paint is.

Good point. Try a damp soft cloth first. Make sure the paint is hard and clean. If any paint comes off on the cloth with just water, you need to be very careful with polish as there may be a problem with the paint.

Just had a Tuscan Postwar Lionel 2360 GG-1 on my bench that had a white blush on it's roof. The engine had a battery leak inside, so the problem may have been related to that.
Regardless, with nothing to loose, I tried some Zymol automotive polish.
While the engine still isn't collector grade, the blush is gone, and the engine looks much better.

I even applied it very lightly over the markings, the polish did not degrade them at all.

I would keep the fading and cherish it. When I look at pictures of my layout, the #1 distraction is fake-looking people. #2 is preternaturally-shiny vehicles.  Fixing #1 is pretty-much impossible. #2 is not so easy, either. Painting an old, rusty, severely-weathered pickup truck is one thing--several members are masters at this. But a fully-convincing rendering of an ordinary 1950's car that has been stored outdoors is hard to pull off. 

I say: Accept the gift that has been given you.

I'm all about the easy win so my first order of business was to use 50's Corvettes instead of the 57 Chevys. The Corvettes fit much better so I have that. See below.  

To fix the Chevys I tried what I had on hand (work is killing me). Car polish was only a moderate improvement.  McGuire's scratch remover helped but still not where it should be. The ones on the left are the slightly improved ones. 

Today I'll get TR-3 as suggested and try that. If that fails then I'll turn them into quarter mile racers. 😯

Are those are the Chevys from the railking autorack? Most all of those I have seen have paint crazing issues on the roofs. If you bought those from Ebay, maybe they were repainted before you got them. I have always wanted to buy the autorack , but backed down because of this issue. Is there a possibility that the roof is a clear piece of plastic that is painted on the bottom side of the roof?

Testor's Dullcoat will go a long way toward toning down shine--possibly too far--because older car paints (I-step) tended to dull more than modern ones (2-step) do.  Experiment on a cheapie first, and be sure to mask the glass!!

Repainting people is absolutely possible!  There are whole organizations devoted to figure painting, often associated with military figures.  Some of the techniques won't work on most of our figures because they rely on much more finely sculpted texture than our figures enjoy.  Still, other techniques are certainly usable to make the stuff sold for our RRs better looking.

Although these cars aren't painted with automotive paints, removing fading and oxidation would be the same as for your own vehicle in your driveway. OP please don't use a Dremel for any polishing. It's way too high of a speed and will burn the paint on the cars. Your going to need plain ol' arm muscle for your reconditioning project. I use Mothers California Gold products on my hot rods. This is a 3 step process with this product. You wont be disappointed. If the paint rubs off while waxing, they would have been painted with lacquer paint. Enamel paint has a much harder finish.

http://www.mothers.com/02_prod...#t6tyB4HV3HpcmU1W.97

The other two steps are to the right of this one. For some reason they keep coming you with a 404 screen.

Hope this helps.

jini5 posted:

Are those are the Chevys from the railking autorack? 

Yes they are. The roof is weird with lines going through the paint. I'm not even sure how to describe the paint but the hood and trunk are greyed and feels rough to touch. The sides are fine. They are not repaints. 

Jayhawk500 posted:

Although these cars aren't painted with automotive paints, removing fading and oxidation would be the same as for your own vehicle in your driveway.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks I'll give it a try. 

Lightly sand and repaint.

Bob