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Advice to newbie on paintwork maintenance please

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Renee

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I'm a total newbie to vintage car ownership. Can you recommend a maintenance regime for the paintwork on my red R4L? It was in good nick when I bought it and I cover it when not in use but it probably needs some TLC now.
Is a hand car-wash a good idea - if so how often?
Are there polish or paint protecting sprays you would recommend/avoid?
Any tips for removing rust marks on window trims (see picture)?

I was thinking of taking it for a wash then examining it for paint chips - any tips for repairing those?

As a woman with a cute car I fully expect to be ripped off anywhere I take it for repair, so would like to learn some of those skills myself, if there are videos you would recommend

Thanks for any help you can give !


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Hi Renee
Red cars seem to need a bit more TLC than other cars - I had a red GTL years ago whose paintwork faded very quickly.
I would just clean it by hand (I've always done it the old-fashioned way, with soapy water and a sponge). Then if you wax it, it'll stay shiny and wipe-cleanable for ages. Elbow grease is the key to a good finish!

For the window strips, try wetting a ball of aluminium foil in a little water. Then rub the strips - it sounds strange, but it does sometimes work.
For touching up defects, you need to find the three-digit paint code to get the right shade of red. It'll either be on the right-hand side inner wing (basically behind the right-hand headlight), or on the small oval plate on the bulkhead under the bonnet. Once you've got that, you can easily get a kit from Amazon or on eBay - don't expect a perfect match, though, particularly if the paint has faded a lot.
Good luck!
 
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Thank you, Andy, super quick response and very useful too. I will order the turtle wax. Is there any risk of scratching the paint while washing it? Any particular tips other than elbow grease?
Sadly I've already done the aluminium trick on the window strips - it's better than it was but the photo attached is after I did it. Should I persevere or will it only go so far?
Thanks again for writing
Renee
 
For washing, use plenty of water and a clean sponge to avoid scratching the paintwork. Don't pressure wash it (not least because the door and window seals aren't watertight). A microfibre cloth is good to help to dry it and reduce water spots. As Andy says, the key is to polish then rainwater just 'beads up' on the surface.
 
Scratching when washing is usually caused by the dirt on the car itself being moved around by cleaning implements when washing, if your doing it by hand/bucket or garden hose best rinse down with water before going over it with soapy water((car wash/fairy liquid), I use a microfibre sponge and cloths, its important to keep these and the water your washing with clean, rinse as you go, start at top and work down.
Red and yellow paints are the worst colours for paint oxidation, after washing is when you need to go round with T-cut, paint restorer etc. afterwards,, used to use mentioned products but now use Meguiars mirror glaze 110 compound, this product is easier to use than T-cut, G3,G4 compound etc., then polish with Megiures 220 polish, its like being a stunt double for the Karate Kid, wash on wipe off, be lucky
 
As Andy says, red paintwork always fades more quickly. I worked for a V.W. dealership many (many!) years ago and the red Polo estates (they were nicknamed bread vans!) were often being resprayed after less than a year, under the V.W. guarantee!

As for being ripped off, let me assure you that not ALL mechanics are crooks (well, this one isn't anyway!) and I'd be happy to offer advice if needed!
 
Fantastic advice, thanks. I will give the car a good wash as soon as my turtle wax arrives in the post.
I am still rubbing away at those chrome bits with aluminium foil and while it's better, you can still see rust spots - any further advice?
André4Renaults said:
As Andy says, red paintwork always fades more quickly. I worked for a V.W. dealership many (many!) years ago and the red Polo estates (they were nicknamed bread vans!) were often being resprayed after less than a year, under the V.W. guarantee!

As for being ripped off, let me assure you that not ALL mechanics are crooks (well, this one isn't anyway!) and I'd be happy to offer advice if needed!
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Hi Andre, so I have now washed and polished my car to a beautiful sheen, however this has revealed some external issues with the paintwork, and there are a myriad inside too (but those are less of a rust risk).
Any advice on how to fix this myself or, should I take it to the nearest bodywork, what a fair charge would be for these types of repairs?
Many thanks for any advice you can provide IMG_7101.JPGIMG_7100.JPGIMG_7098.JPG
 
It looks as if you have two shades of red there, although that may be an effect of the camera. Stand back from the car a little and if the blemishes concern you, then maybe think about treating them. I can't see any rust at all in the pictures, which is really good news and do bear in mind the car's not "in the first flush of youth"!

As to bodyshops and resprays, these are NOT cheap ( and I mean £thousands, even for a quick job!) so think carefully before doing this.
 
Actually it's only the one shade but the light reflects very differently on the horizontal roof. So with those black spots where the paint has flecked off behind the bumper on the last photo, isn't the black colour the beginning of rust? If so do you have any recommendation for how to prevent it spreading? I'm not so concerned about the looks of it it's more making sure it doesn't fall apart due to poor care on my part...
 
I could easily be wrong, but the black spots look more like tar spots to me as they look slightly raised.

The white dots look like where the top (red) layer of the paint has come off for some reason (although they could be indentations that are now filled with polish, which tends to dry to a white powder in deep holes/scratches). The scratch on the edge of the door(?) looks like it might be deeper? If you are more concerned with stopping rust than looks, then perhaps a tiny amount of Hammerite anti-rust primer carefully brushed into that scratch might be a good idea, followed by a touch-up pen if you can get one in a similar-ish shade of red?
 
Zooming on photo of behind the bumper, the rust spots appear to be coming from under the paint itself, if you keep the suggested cleaning routines and use a good top glaze wax or ceramic coating it should keep this at bay, you could get a small colour matched touch up paint, apply to spots with tooth pick (dot it in the spots after wash), its on the wing so this could be removed and repainted instead of total respray, but as its under the paint (bad preparation, its pinholes in filler/primer or micro-blisters in paint) would live with it until it really needs repair, its really only at shows that people will look closely enough to see this.1st photo are of silicons in air/workshop when painting.
Just read Jjads reply, if it is tar on the top (or overspray from shutz gun undersealing) it should wipe off with a bit of petrol.
 
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