Heres what I've got:

The hood. Most of the car looks like this. It's pretty faded and draging your finger across it leaves marks and some crap on your fingers. Too far gone? Camera is old, picture is crappy but it should give you an idea.


Driver side front fender. Goes from faded blue to almost white/silver above the wheel. Proly nothing can be done about this other than a respray but IDK.


Passenger side. Almost perfect for some reason. Clear is flaking off the top of fron fender but the rest of the passenger side looks like this and looks pretty good after a wash. This is what I'd like to get close to with the rest of it.


This is what the 90% of it looks like minus two spots that have faded to a white/silver color like in picture 2


Thanks to anyone who can give me an idea of what to do. I don't have the time nor the money to paint the car right now, maybe the fall or first of next year.

 

I's kinda hard to tell from those pictures ... but it does seem like as if most of the clear coat is gone. If there's still some left though, time to take out that buffer and get yourself some buffing coumpoubnd and wax

 

Get some have cut compound, rub a small spot to see if color comes off on your rag.

If it does then the clear is gone.

 

the inside of the gas cap is a good place to test, that way if it pees color away, then it wont be noticeable

 

wouldn't the inside of the gas cap be fine (as in still have clear) though? Because its basically hidden away from the sun

 

Try some McGuire's cleaner wax. Helps a lot with mild oxidation so it might be worth a shot. But looking at those pictures, I'd guess you're in for many hours with a buffing wheel and some rubbing and polishing compounds...

 

Thanks to everyone so far. Hades12 I'll give that a shot. Kentetsu, I'll try that too. If it helps bring it back to life even just a lil bit I'll be happy. Until I don't have to drive through road construction(already claimed my windscreen) and have the money/time its gonna look like so.

 

The clear coat is deffinately shot on most of the upper facing surfaces. The color is getting bad in a few areas, as well. Buffing/waxing may help most of the car, but it *could* remove the color on some surfaces.
I have a Nissan truck that has a similar issue. I have never done anything more than wash it, since it was already in that state when I aquired the truck. I thought about getting some liquid acrillic floor wax for it, but that's about as far it went.......

 

So I could possibly make it look worse. Hmm...

 

Yeap, that is why you try a small spot first.

 

Best suggestion, take the car to your local autobody paint supplier and ask for thier recommendations. My supplier is a painter himself and knows his craft well. If I have any doubts or questions, I pester him and value his experience.

I would deal with those rust bubbles asap. What appears to be small on the surface is many times larger underneath the paint and rusting away, hidden.

 

I'm with Trichoid- go to a Pro. On spec, a good Detailing Shop will take the buffer and some compound to an area on your hood and see what pops out, for free. You might be pleasantly surprised. using a buffer yourself is likely a losing proposition since it is _really_ easy to damage paint if you don't know what you are doing. For the price of a proper buffer and the materials, get the Detail boys to do the job right...
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska