Faded to orange, red paint restore

[motorbreath]

Hi there, I've searched high and low but not come up with the answer I was after so thought Id ask you lovely bunch of PHers :-)

I'm looking at buying an old 80s 944 porka which should be in guards red, but due to uv exposure it's turned an orange colour.

I have experience with getting red paint back up to a nice deep shine before from an mx5 where the paint had 'matted' rather than lost its original colour.

My question is has any one ever tried to restore single coat (no clear coat) paint which has lost its original colour? From looking at some pictures of the car it is shiny, but just an orangey colour. I have a feeling that it would of lost its deep red colour even if I try to restore it to its former glory.

Many thanks

Al

[domster]

Given the age of the paint a respray would be a better answer. Whilst it could be renovated to varying degrees of success, the chance is that the paint is UV damaged to a deep level and it will be simply polishing a turd in paint terms. It could take far longer to cut back due to the depth of cut required, and you'll find all sorts of drop back issues due to porosity (ie it looks red after 5 mins and you're chuffed, then the next day it is back to orange again). Far better to repaint with a nice modern colour/clearcoat system.

[JulesB]

My advise would be to take the car to a local detailer who can take this kind of work on and assess the damage, what area are you Al?

Edited by JulesB on Monday 8th October 08:03

[paintman]

Common - and age old - problem with some solid colours. Reds probably the worst but blues and greens had the same issues.
Cutting back would often restore the finish but you are removing a thin layer of paint each time & eventually you will get to the primer. With red it often gets pinker the nearer you get to the primer.
Lacquer over base wasn't usually prone to this & modern 2k top coats don't usually suffer.
I am inclined to agree that a respray is going to be your best long term option.
FWIW we had an old Metro in a solid blue & I used to machine polish it every 6 months or so (ie when I got fed up with the boys not bothering to look after it) to make it more presentable. Out of curiosity - and happened to have some left over within pot life - I 2k clearcoated one wing over the original finish after prepping with a scotchpad. Stayed nice & shiny until the car finally went to the breakers a few years later.

Edited by paintman on Friday 5th October 20:32