Bringing dull, faded, splotchy Classic Red back to life.....cheaply!
Until I bought my '95 in April of 2003 it had apparently spent quite a bit of time parked outdoors. The horizontal surfaces (hood, barn doors, trunk lid, top edges of fenders, etc.) were dull, faded and splotchy. I kept it presentable for a few years with constant polishing and waxing - which helped...but it was still noticeable. Conventional wisdom says the only solution is to have the car repainted - and that's not in my budget right now.
While doing a repaint on my Subaru door (don't ask), I used some rattle can touch up paint from www.automotivetouchup.com, and had some clear coat left over. So....with absolutely nothing to lose, I did some wet sanding on the trunk lid 1500 & 2000 grit and shot some clear on it. I didn't expect the color to come back - but figured that shiny, splotchy red would look better than dull, splotchy red until I was ready to bite the budget bullet and get the car resprayed.
The results surprised me! Enough that I got a couple more cans and did the hood, barn doors tops of the fenders and doors, and the mirrors. The splotchyness (if that's a word) went away AND the color now matches the sides of the car - and the right side had been repainted after a parking lot accident a couple of years ago (don't ask). I haven't buffed it out, but it already looks great from 10 feet. Before buffing it, I plan to get some clear w/catalyst and use a real spray gun instead of rattle can. With rattle cans it's hard to put enough paint on something as large as the Miata hood to get an even coat...and I've got a couple of spots of orange peel to fix.
Here's a photo of what it looks like now - dirty since it's been driven all week in the rain). I wish I had taken some "before" shots so you could see the vast improvement. You'll just have to take my word for it ....
Sweeet!
EXCELLENT advice. I hope to follow in your footsteps one day. Any advice on the plastic front bumper though? Mine is pink and splotchy looking and everything I read says conventional methods will not fix it, and everything I've tried (wax/polish compound) has only helped a little.
I redid the top of mine (above the seam line), since it was damaged as well. It looks just fine. The only thing you want to be careful of when doing this is to not oversand the paint....you don't want to sand trough the color coat. When sanded, it'll still appear lighter than the rest of the paint - but the clear coat darkens it and brings out the color.
Very nice. I once had a Porsche 914 that a college professor, and friend of mine had painted for me in his driveway. It was a budget job since I was in school at the time. He did use a real sprayer and compressor, but we hosed down the driveway to help with dust and he just sprayed it in the open air. It looked pretty good, but had a few bugs and dust spots, and some orange peel. I let the paint cure for a couple of weeks, then wet-sanded the whole car. It removed most of the bugs, dust spots and orange peel. I then had the car polished and detailed and it looked pretty much show room fresh when finished. Other than the classic 914 rust in the undercarriage, it looked pretty good. Wet sanding works wonders if the paint isn't too thin.
Your car looks great in the photo!
add another to the 914 list. what year was yours Steve? I've had several but my favorite was my '74 1.8L Marathon Blue Metallic with the appearance group, factory full console and factory air. some doctor hear in town had it last i heard, Marshall something...
Mine was a 74 also. It was a 1.8 also with the appearance group options. It had the chrome bumpers, fog lights, center console. No air. It was bright orange. Mine was a northern car, so the rust was a problem. After the paint job the rear subframe gave way and the suspension became detached under the battery. I drove it one hour from school to my dad's house as the rear end swayed back and forth. When I got home my dad wouldn't let me drive the car again until I got it fixed. I ordered a used subframe section from Automobile Atlanta and found a backwoods welder that was willing to take on the job. We had to drop the engine, load the car on a trailer and take it to the welder. He did a good job with it and it drove great after we got everything back together. Boy recalling all this stuff makes me appreciate my Miata that much more! I still have an affection for the old thing though, and if I found one in good shape (no rust) I would probably live it all over again. Mine was totaled in an 18 car pileup on the Ohio River bridge when it flash froze. I was lucky to loose it that way rather than it crumbling apart under me a little at a time.
i know it's not really miata related, or on subject either, but there are a few on craigslist and one guy in horn lake that's been trying to sell his or trade it for a 4 wheeler. my dad said he's been trying to get rid of it for about 2 years. i think he was asking 2500 for it a few weeks ago.
Those 914's were pretty nice. A guy I know had a couple of them, and use to thrash the heck out of 'em.
Hearing him tell horror stories about the upkeep, it makes me really appreciate the Miata.Heck, just remembering how much was involved with doing a clutch job on my old Fiero, makes the Miata shine.
I know we have gotten off the topic here, but yes those 914 were nice but finicky cars. For the early 70's they were ahead of their time. Fuel injected, disc brakes all around, low slung, mid engine. Boy did they handle. Forgive me for saying it, but in some ways they handled better than the Miata. And the design was widely copied - Fiero, MR2, Triumph TR7. In my opinion none were better than the 914 even with it's problems. But, the problems were there none the less. That makes the Miata a better choice by far. I don't miss the long hours working on that thing. Vapor lock on the side of the road, Points out of adjustment, Valves out of adjustment, RUST. I still liked driving it though. Back to reality now - I think I'll take a drive in the Miata!
The 914-6 was especially sweet...but they were all butt ugly. A friend of mine had a 914-4, but it was totaled a few months ago when he was broadsided.....
did you have to redo the front bumper too? if so, did you use anything special for adhere to the flexible surface.
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