My little 94 Ranger is starting to look its age. I took it to the local classic car detail shop today to ask them about buffing and waxing it for me. I was figuring $100 or so.
The guy took one look at it and told me I’d be better off taking it to MACO for one of their cheap paint jobs.
I bought the thing new and used to wax it and wash it every 3,000 miles when I did the servicing on it for the first 10 years, it has been taken care of well. The paint doesn’t look that bad to me, a little faded and chalky from oxidation and one scratch on the side where it got keyed 13 years ago. I had my 16 year old boy attempt to buff it last year and he left wax all over it but the paint looks too good to me to sand off and repaint.
BTW, if it needs repainting I will do it myself.

So what do yall think, anyone got any good tips/tricks for revitalizing old paint?
What products and methods should I use to strip it down to the bare paint and polish and wax it back to looking like new?
Or am I better off to just drive it like it is or paint it?


Here is a pic of how it looks now;

a lttle compound and polish may help it, but cant gaurantee anything

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Too good to paint, original is best.
It looks in good nick, just oxidised like most reds go.
I`d try a few different polishes/compounds if it was mine

The original color is actually close to what it is now, it was more of an orange than a red when new, kinda funny color different than most I have seen. I hate to repaint it, she is in nearly new stock condition except for the oxidized paint and the 220,000 miles. The engine has perfect compression, uses no oil, has no leaks, everything is tight and well maintained. Under the hood is clean and looks like new, the interior is good, the headliner and carpet have some stains but the seat had seat covers on them from new until last year. It has weird seats, they have power lumbar and the sides power squeeze in and out and the front of them extends in and out. I bought the truck in Jan 95 with less than 10,000 miles on it and less than 6 months old so I just say I bought it new.
I’m getting too old to be scrubbing on it for days, I could pay my teenagers to do it but I doubt they would do it right. I wouldn’t mind spending about 6 hours stripping, buffing, polishing and waxing it if that would work but I’m not sure exactly how to do it.

Should I use rubbing compound or what? What grit or brand and what kinda pad on my cheap electric buffer?

not to rain on your parade, but I would leave this to a professional, you can definitely make that truck shine! You will need a machine, if you have never done anything like this I would get a dual action polisher like a porter cable or Meguiar's and get some polish and see how it works. IF it doesn't do anything, you will most likely need a rotary machine, and again if you have never used one, I would either learn on something other then you daily driven vehicle or take it a professional. If you need help finding one in your are, let me know.

Rafal

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I took it to a professional this morning, I took it to the biggest detail shop in town and the only one I could find who does buffing and they were highly recommended by my neighbor who has several very shinny vehicles. They told me my best bet was to go get a maco paint job. He said he could wet sand or buff it if I wanted him too but he didn’t think it would look any better and it would cost me $500 or more for him to try.

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****My Pics****

1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5spd ext cab, stock
1999 Ford F-250SD Powerstroke 4x4, no where near stock
1969 Ford F-100 360, stock
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, stock
2000 John Deere 4700 4x4
1956 John Deere 60
1951 John Deere MT
1948 John Deere A
1947 John Deere A
Etc.

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one”

The Government cannot give anyone anything that they didn’t first forcibly take from someone else!

I think it just needs wet sand buff (high speed) from pics. we do that around here for 150 bucks so beware, and is far as maco goes i only refer people there on last resort than cant aford more than that enamel (there cheapest paint job is the worst) there 2nd best is a urathane single stage not to bad, there best is a basecoat clearcoat but all of they above need prepped right which they do not do....

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97 ford ranger splash 4.0,superchip,cold air intake,jacobs ignition,jba shorty headers,centerforce clutch,flowmaster true dual....... total custom shaved everything with straight bed added an 03 frontend

Now that’s what I thought, I figured 100-150 for a good buffing. The folks at this shop were not very friendly at all and seemed like they had more business than they wanted. Maybe I should try and find another shop in another city.

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****My Pics****

1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5spd ext cab, stock
1999 Ford F-250SD Powerstroke 4x4, no where near stock
1969 Ford F-100 360, stock
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, stock
2000 John Deere 4700 4x4
1956 John Deere 60
1951 John Deere MT
1948 John Deere A
1947 John Deere A
Etc.

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one”

The Government cannot give anyone anything that they didn’t first forcibly take from someone else!

To be honest Stephen I like the originalilty of your truck and wouldn`t bother doing anything to it unless your wanting to make a posing machine

I own and operate a small construction company on the local military base and I use this truck as a work truck and I want it to look professional and clean.

I washed it last night and I plan to take some new pics of it as it is now (that pic was about a year old) and I might try some rubbing compound in an inconspicuous area and call around and see if I can find a professional and get a price.

I want to fix little red up like new, shine up the paint, fix the cruise control, replace the cracked windshield, clean the interior, etc.

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****My Pics****

1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5spd ext cab, stock
1999 Ford F-250SD Powerstroke 4x4, no where near stock
1969 Ford F-100 360, stock
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, stock
2000 John Deere 4700 4x4
1956 John Deere 60
1951 John Deere MT
1948 John Deere A
1947 John Deere A
Etc.

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one”

The Government cannot give anyone anything that they didn’t first forcibly take from someone else!

$150 that is a sweet deal!!!!!! lol. $150 here in the chicago area will get you an interior/exterior wash and wax, and maybe a claybar application. You won't get anywhere under $600 in my area for a full wet sand and buff (keep in mind the detailers around here, myself included, use paint gauges to make sure you won't burn through anything, this would be a 30-40 hours detail if you want it to come out perfect).

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I took the truck to 2 body shops today. They said it is a single stage factory paint job with no clear coat and both said it looked too good to repaint. The first said $225 and he would buff/compound it and touchup paint the nicks and scratches. The second said $150 and he would do the same but I got a better feeling from the first one about the quality of their work.
Here is the problem, both said that I would have to wax the truck every month or so or it would oxidize right back to how it is now in just a few months. Darn thing is getting to be more trouble than its worth. I’m thinking about just double waxing it with Maguire’s gold and forgetting about it.

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****My Pics****

1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5spd ext cab, stock
1999 Ford F-250SD Powerstroke 4x4, no where near stock
1969 Ford F-100 360, stock
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, stock
2000 John Deere 4700 4x4
1956 John Deere 60
1951 John Deere MT
1948 John Deere A
1947 John Deere A
Etc.

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one”

The Government cannot give anyone anything that they didn’t first forcibly take from someone else!

One of the modern sealants should stop it oxidising again for longer than that.
Something like Optimum Opti Seal is quick and easy.

I got some new up to date pics of the Ranger today, I washed it yesterday;

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****My Pics****

1994 Ford Ranger 4.0L 5spd ext cab, stock
1999 Ford F-250SD Powerstroke 4x4, no where near stock
1969 Ford F-100 360, stock
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, stock
2000 John Deere 4700 4x4
1956 John Deere 60
1951 John Deere MT
1948 John Deere A
1947 John Deere A
Etc.

“Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one”

The Government cannot give anyone anything that they didn’t first forcibly take from someone else!

yeah you have to keep up with the maintenance, because it will return to the same state as before eventually... get a nice sealant like Blackfire wet diamond (lasts around 4 months on a daily driven vehicle) which is much longer then a standard wax...

Rafal

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