Just started a restoration on my great grandfathers 78 FJ. It was not in my possession the last 20 years or so and has been neglected. It is a great candidate for a patina restoration though. Do yall have any suggestions for the paint? I was thinking about using a light cutting compound and then a ceramic coat to lock in the patina and bring a little shine back to the paint.
1978 FJ40 Patina Restoration
- Thread starter Cheese1907
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T think there's a product called "Poppie s Patina"", used by hot Rodgers. Spray or even brush on. Comes in gloss, matte or flat i think. Clean/sand/prep surface and apply. Seems to last at least a few years, but most of these cars are garage kept.
Welcome to the site. Looks like you have some work in your future. Folks approach this in several different ways. I've deep cleaned the surface and maybe some color back or rubbing compound. Maybe check out the thread below can help. Maybe start at the end and work backwards or not.
Wow, what a cool cruiser! That thing should absolutely be preserved. Its in way better condition than the 1978 Freeborn Red Im trying to save!
Id read that thread mentioned above. It may be mentioned in there, but another thing Ive heard that you should do in this situation is to kind of condition the paint before you start putting any sort of rubbing compound to it. Basically Id start by pressure washing it, but not too strong, then just hand washing it with some good car wash containing carnauba wax. Hand wash a few times. Then from there just start compounding it. Im just using basic Turtle Wax rubbing compound for heavy oxidation, doing it by hand one section at a time, and its working well on my original sunburnt and stained Freeborn Red.
Whatever you do, dont let anyone talk you into painting it!
Id read that thread mentioned above. It may be mentioned in there, but another thing Ive heard that you should do in this situation is to kind of condition the paint before you start putting any sort of rubbing compound to it. Basically Id start by pressure washing it, but not too strong, then just hand washing it with some good car wash containing carnauba wax. Hand wash a few times. Then from there just start compounding it. Im just using basic Turtle Wax rubbing compound for heavy oxidation, doing it by hand one section at a time, and its working well on my original sunburnt and stained Freeborn Red.
Whatever you do, dont let anyone talk you into painting it!
- Thread starter
- #5
What do you think about a ceramic coat? I've heard turtle wax has a good spray on ceramic.
wash woth water, little bit of dawn and red, cotton, shop rags, 2 or 3 times until all the loose color quityes comin off. Then a coat of fluid film, rub in decent amount, let soak in and dry. Then I would use a spray & wipe Mequires (sp). I use theirs that sprays on, drys super quick then buff off by hand with same red shop towels.
nabbasi
SILVER Star
Fluid film didn’t last long in mine. I’m polishing now, and then will wax or seal. A buddy do zap floor polish on his original paint / patina’d CJ5 and it retains its sheen and cleans up easy enough.
I have only used Fluid Film on my chassis. It seems to protect the undercarriage from rust and makes cleanup easier after offroad in the mud and mess.
The fluid film on the paint -- if your paint still has clear coat or some shine the fluid film will more or less stay on top and wipe off, BUT -- if you have chalky paint that comes off on the rag, rust divets, layers of paint, & not auto paint, jackass rattle can stuff thats all patinaed to heck then that fluid film soaks in and brings some life back into the paint. Maybe Wngrog was messing with me when he said, " Yeah, put it on everything" but I did and so far so good.
If my truck had some sort of paint job I would probably try to compound or sand/polish some life back into it but I have a rattle can camo job that was put on the 40 for a hunting rig in the finger mountains of CA 40 years ago so not much to compound or polish.
If my truck had some sort of paint job I would probably try to compound or sand/polish some life back into it but I have a rattle can camo job that was put on the 40 for a hunting rig in the finger mountains of CA 40 years ago so not much to compound or polish.