Paint Care for Black Lacquer Single Stage Paint

[Michael Petti]

Thankyou everyone for the replies about techniques and products. I have investigated at every one of them.
I never thought of letting wax "soak in" but I am willing to try that. After researching the products and techniques suggested, I am going to wash the car (2 bucket method), clay bar it, use Meguires Ultimate Polish with a yellow foam pad on a D/A sander at about 3,000 OPM, then use a glaze or wax on it. Car comes out of storage soon, and I want to get started. I'll report back the results.

[Jim Miller]

Here's my 41 after several coats of plain carnauba wax allowed to sit overnight. The finish was looking tired and I kept using cleaner waxes thinking could brighten it up but was probably just diminishing the paint. A friend suggested I try the multiple layers and I'm pleased with the results. 

[Michael Petti]

Did wax soaking take care of swirl marks without some sort of abrasive polishing?

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Michael Petti...The product used for preconditioning of original lacquer is Meguiar's No 7. Not wax.

I've never done this myself but I can see how it would help to rejuvenate paint that has become dried out with age making the surface more responsive before using more abrasive compounds/polishes. There is a YouTube video on this in which a well known reconditioning shop demonstrates this method. Unfortunately I don't have a link. No matter- all he did was generously slather the No 7 product all over the body and let it sit overnight. Depending on severity, this process would be repeated. There is no need to buff off the remaining product from the surface between applications.

In effect, the paint "absorbs" the polish helping to soften it thus helping to provide better results rather than going straight at it with a buffer and compound alone.

[Jim Miller]

Did wax soaking take care of swirl marks without some sort of abrasive polishing?

I didn't have a lot of swirls or ones that at least showed on the gunmetal gray.

[Michael Petti]

I want to thank everyone for their input. I researched every product, method and then some. (Lots of U-Tube videos) Chose Meguires polishes because of price, availability, and great phone-based tech assistance. I washed, dried and clay barred it. Clay bar took off dirt, even though paint seemed clean. Used Meguires SwirlX polish at about 5,000 opm on a d/a machine. Less aggressive than Ultimate Compound but more so than Ultimate Polish. It took out 75% of the swirls. Followed that with Meguire's Ultimate Polish at about 3,500 opm which removed (or made invisible) about 10% more. Followed that with a coat of Turtle Wax Black Wax applied by hand and removed with a 10" orbital buffer with a microfiber bonnet. Made imperfections even less noticeable. The car now has a deep black shine and unless one is specifically looking for the remaining scratches with a bright light or in direct sunlight at the right angle nothing shows. Now I'll need suggestions on what to topcoat this with to prevent more scratches, or is carnauba wax the best thing? Maybe I'll start a new thread on that subject. Should mention that SwirlX left a very slight haze on the paint, but ultimate polish took it right off. Thanks again for the help. 

[David Greenburg]

If you start asking for the best top coat (or what detailing geeks call an "LSP" - last step product), you are going to get 15 opinions from 10 people, kind of like "what is the best motor oil?" questions. What is best for you will depend on a number of factors. Do you want the best possible shine for an upcoming show, or do you want a durable shine that will last several months. Are you willing to g to put in the labor to maintain a carnauba shine. Is the car always garaged? Etc. etc. The prior owner of my '61 with mostly original black lacquer gave me the regimen he used, which got him a number of awards, including an AACA Senior, a CLC Senior, and a Past Presidents' Preservation Award, and I have generally stuck with that regimen, even though its pretty old school. His recommended LSP was multiple coats of a high quality carnauba like Pinnacle Souveran. But that requires regular upkeep to look its best. If you want something more durable, look at sealants instead of wax. Being old school in my detailing habits, I have not gotten on the ceramic bandwagon. But there are a number of good sealant products out there, and you can top them off with a layer of carnauba for some extra punch. 

If you really want to go down the detailing rabbit hole and risk getting 50 opinions from 20 people, there are some forums dedicated to the subject where you can follow debates about what is best for certain types of paint, colors etc. The forum on AutoGeek.com is one such place. But be forewarned, you could get sucked into a vortex of waxes, polishes, treatments, equipment, microfibers and such which can have frightening impacts on your credit card statements. The community seems to be a mix of hard-core detailing nerds and professionals. If you want to stay in the "shallow end" I think there are sub-forum devoted to specific brands, like Meguiars, or Wolfgangs etc. There are also good how-to videos, including one on the Megiuars #7 soaking technique.