Sun faded paint

[pte123]

Hi All,

I have a 91 Calypso Red that I just bought. The paint is quite faded in some places. Has anyone had any success polishing it out with cutting products? I want to see if it's going to be worth it, or it just fades back right away. Thanks! Phil.

[dapinky]

It is 'one of those things' with the type of red paint used by GM at that time (look at Astras, Cavaliers etc).

What you can do about it all depends on what has been applied in the past - if it is still a solid paint, it will respond to T-Cut (the red bottle original version) - but every time you use it, it will remove a small quantity of paint, so it isn't a 'lifetime' way to do it.
Once you have cut it back, you can apply a UV protection coating to preserve it for a bit longer...... but it will eventually need doing again.

However, if the paint has been covered with a clear-coat lacquer, it won't improve with T-cut.

The only realistic long-term approach is to get it painted with a modern formula paint, but that is an extreme thing to do.

[pte123]

Thanks Dave, I guess I'll give it ago in a non-conspicuous area and see the results! A previous owner did pain the spoiler and the color matching is way off on that one, so it's likely headed to the pain shop at some point. Cheers Phil.

[Tuga2112]

i rmemebre in 18 or so at the NEC classic car show. they had one of those astras in what looked nearly white in the first day, right at the entrance of one of the pavilions, at the end of the day half of it was bright red.
at the end of the second day it was all full red.

incredible feat of marketing.