clear coat help

[fuller63]

i just got an old 86 gmc jimmy running again. i want to clean it up but when i wash it, the paint comes off on all my towels. there is no clear coat. there is a sticker on the window saying that it has been ming coated and that it should not be waxed.

is there any kind of clear coat that i could do at home? i dont really care about this car so i dont want to put much money into it. but i would like it to look decent.

[Too Stroked]

I'm sure others will jump in and offer their advice, but let me give you my 2 cents. First, that vintage of vehicle used single stage paint - which is very different from basecoat / clear coat. If you;re getting paint transfer to a drying towel, that could be a number of things. It could be as simple as heavily oxidized paint or as bad as paint really coming off. Any chance you could post up some pictures?

As for adding clear coat, that's going to be tough. First of all, the BC/CC stuff used by most folks today is designed as a system. That means the BC is different than the old SS paint. So, simply spraying CC over an old SS system doesn't work very well. Second, you really need a decent foundation for and future paint of any kind.

My recommendation? I'd consider doing some serious polishing work on what you've got as the first move. Again, pictures will help us help you. As for the "ming coating", I've never heard of it. Maybe somebody else can chime in here?

[05supercrew]

http://www.truckinamerica.com/ming.html

[gipraw]

The Ming process only last a couple of years, at most.  so if this vehicle has been sitting for a bit, you can just ignore that sticker, and treat the paint like any normal Single stage paint.

How badly is the paint oxidized, and how much effort and $$ do you want to put into making it look better? 

What tools do you have available to use?   buffers, products, etc?

[fuller63]

im willing to do the work but like i said earlier i dont have a lot of extra $. and i can probly get ahold of any neccessary tools

[Too Stroked]

OK Gip, I'm stumped. The picture shows just the opposite of what I expected. Generally, the top half of the vehicle is more oxidized than the sides due to exposure to the sun. This one looks just the opposite. Could this be that over baked primer issue that both Ford & GM had a while back?

[attworth]

I was trying to figure out why the picture looked odd. That is weird that the sides are gone and the top is ok.

That looks to me like failed clear-coat rather than extreme oxidation. Short of a respray, I'm not sure there's much you could do to "improve" the situation.

I'm sure the others with more paint knowledge will chime in.

[Mike2301]

I think it might be the picture

[gipraw]

fuller63 ..  can you get us another couple of pictures., from a couple different angles?  I am having a hard time deciding exactly what I am looking at from this single picture.

[Poorboy]

If you are getting paint off then i'd go the cautious route and use something like Polish w/ Carnauba or Polish w/ Sealant ... no telling how much paint you have left and I'd keep away from abrasive products ...