[Vwdiesel] Fading red paint (long)

[Shawn Wright]

Our new '85 Jetta has paint colour LA3B, which is dark reddish colour, but
not as dark as the more common burgundy seen on this vintage. It was
badly oxidized when we got it a month ago, but since the paint is good,
and the body is completely rust free, I set out to polish it up. A *ton* of
work, but it looks pretty good so far. I did the hood and noticed the paint
was getting pretty thin places (using Rubbing Compound carefully), then I
put a quick coat of Carnuba Wax (not pure, just Turtle Wax stuff) to
protect while I did the rest of the car. The amount of polishing required is
made worse by the fact the entire car has been misted with a fine spray of
white paint(!), which only careful polishing will remove. Now after 3-4
weeks of sunny weather, I'm shocked to see the hood is already showing
signs of paint oxidation under the wax! Sort of cloudy blotches starting to
spread. They can be polished out with polishing compound, after the layer
of wax is removed, but I certainly don't intend to polish it every month! (the
paint would wear off anyway).

How do those of you with aging Red paint deal with this problem (since
red seems to be the worst). Has my paint gone too far, or is there some
way to keep it from oxidizing so fast? My Dad uses the Mother's system,
but never on such an old vehicle, so he can't say whether it will do the trick
or not.

Help!--
Shawn Wright
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright
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