# Total Beginner wanting to restore some faded red! Any help, pointers and tips?



## Tomm (Jan 14, 2009)

Hi everyone. 

Let me set the scene here. 

Yesterday i picked myself up a small project car. The car is a "96 Flame Red Vauxhall Corsa. Surprisingly there are no signs of rot and the body itself is very straight with no deep gouges, scrapes and most importantly clean arches and sills.

Due to it being a "96 and having been left on a driveway for quite some time it has turned some what pink. 

The car is totally standard and last night i set about removing the bump strips and badges. This is when it became pretty apparent that the paint has faded and darkened some what. 

I want to try my best to bring this back to its former glory and restore some of the depth and shine to the paint work. 

However. 

I have never used a DA, or rotary, i do not own one, nor has my detailing experience gone any further than clay, some SRP and some Col. 

What i want to know is if i could restore some quality to the paint and restore some of its colour myself? 

There are also some areas which seem to have been touched up with a repair pen. The repairs have been done very poorly and have left a rough and horrible feeling to the paint work. I also have areas of quite deep stone chip along with scratches to the doors. 

Again is this something i could repair myself ? 

I will try and edit this with some photos. 

What i want to know is... 

Is this something i could do myself as a total first time user? 

What products would i be best of using? 

What machine am i best of using as a beginner on a pretty tight budget? 

Are the pen repaired areas anything that i can improve with a DA? 

As you can see this is something i don't know a great deal about so any help or advice would be great. 

I will try and get some photos of the car up and the areas which have faded the worst. The colour of the car can look really really nice but mine at 15 years old is not looking very nice at all! 

Thanks


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## Matt_Nic (Apr 15, 2011)

There's a guide on here on how to repair stone chips. In short you're gonna need to get very fine wet & dry sand paper and rub the area flat before you polish the car with a machine. 

That bit I cant say whether you could do yourself, the actual polishing bit is easy if you have time on your hands. 

I bought the Menzerna DAS6 kit from clean your car and it was brilliant.


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## steve from wath (Dec 12, 2008)

here are some pics of a red/pink vectra
its a common problem but fixed easilly
this was done via a rotary and cherry glaze from autobrite


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## TOGWT (Oct 26, 2005)

Temporary remedy - wash and dry the surface, and then use a chemical paint cleaner (Klasse AIO)Check the paint thickness and there is sufficient thickness polish the surface (Meguiar's M105)Apply a coating (Opti-Coat™) for protection


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## Ming (Oct 16, 2007)

Another option
Tell us where you are and if there is a 'hobbyist' not to far away whose work has been posted up who might be willing to help you with their kit then you could pop round one day and do it together. this lets you meet someone from the site, learn loads very quickly, get your car to a good level QUICKLY and allows you to look at their kit and decide what if any you want/need to buy.
Trust me after a couple of goes want goes out of the window and need comes in with a passion.
I have loads of stuff I NEEDED which have hardly been used!!:doublesho
Ming the considered


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

This thread is a writeup of a flame red Corsa that I did when working with Gordon before I retired from professional detailing:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=160074

It details the processes, using a rotary polisher... The paint is generally quite easy to get the colour back with, but I would recommend machine polishing for best results as you need to remove the dead layer of paint that has faded to get back down to the true colour underneath. Then keep the finish well protected.


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## Jimmy The Saint (Sep 19, 2010)

Ming said:


> Another option
> Tell us where you are and if there is a 'hobbyist' not to far away whose work has been posted up who might be willing to help you with their kit then you could pop round one day and do it together. this lets you meet someone from the site, learn loads very quickly, get your car to a good level QUICKLY and allows you to look at their kit and decide what if any you want/need to buy.
> Trust me after a couple of goes want goes out of the window and need comes in with a passion.
> I have loads of stuff I NEEDED which have hardly been used!!:doublesho
> Ming the considered


Ming the spot-on. When I joined DW, local lad Stangalang kindly offered to show me the ropes with a rotary and non-diminishing abrasives (Megs 105 and 205). Not only did I learn a new skill, I got my bonnet corrected in the process :thumb:


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

As Dave has righfully pointed out. True key to correcting oxidised paint is to skim / remove the upper most surface of the paint as this is classed as dead. Once skimmed it is best to use oil rich polishes to nourish the finish and the most important part, protection - Lots of durable protection.

Do remember, sometimes, oxidation can be a sign of pigment loss. You can find this out with a simple ipa wipe down after all polishing is complete or using the likes of Collinite 476s which has solvents incorporated into its chemistry, you may find when removing the wax it drops back.

Choices then are either keep loading the finish up frequently with Meguiars #7 which can become the pain of your life or a simple re-paint may be required to the effected areas.


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