Paint rejuvenation question

The hood paint on my 36-year old El Camino has faded badly and probably needs to be repainted to match the appearance level of the rest of the car. I would like to make one last attempt to bring back the paint from the dead like you see on those TV commercials for making junk yard cars like new.

I have tried claying and compounding which have made about a 10% improvement in the finish, but things still have a long way to go to match the rest of the car.

One thing I have noticed is that when the hood is wet, the color becomes deep, brilliant, and shiny. Same thing when Dawn soap is rubbed over the hood and allowed to sit. It seems like the paint is starved for oil or moisture or something.

What I'm wondering is if there is some substance or product similar to tongue oil treatment for old wood that would put back the missing ingredient and add better color to the paint.

Appreciate any suggestions you may have.

 

Thanks for that link. Yes, this is what I was thinking of. I happened to have an old bottle of Meguiars #7 on hand so I dabbed a few drops on the hood to see what happens overnight. I think we might have some baby oil in the house, so I will search for that and experiment more tomorrow.

Today, I tried a small section of the hood with Tongue Oil Finish (a mixture of things); It immediately brought out the color, but when it dried, there was very little improvement. I also found an old bottle of 100% Tongue Oil and will try that tomorrow in case concentration is the secret. I would imagine WD-40 might work some, but would think if it was viable, it would already be known.

 

LOL! Yes, I remember hearing about that old trick back in the day! Worked until the first rain.

I'll look into the Shine On covered in the video link. Seems to be a good way to seal the hood if I even get it looking decent again.

I'm sure the Tire Shine would probably be an improvement, however, I'm reluctant to use silicones. I say this from the point of hearing paint shops say that silicone makes repainting extra difficult if ever used on the surface. Supposedly, the silicone has to be ground out of the metal for the paint to stick properly. This might be an old wives tale.

Thanks for the suggestions and leads.

 

I meant grinding off some of the surface of the metal, but even then, there will always be pores in the remaining metal that might be housing some silicone that might result in but lesser problems. As you say, it may be theoretically impossible to guarantee that absolutely no silicone still remains.

 

Good news! This is not bird poop stain or tree sap.

I put a small spot of Meguiar's #7 on the hood overnight and this is the result. Penetrates and absorbs very well. Today I'm going to wash, clay, and spread old #7 on the hood and see if the magic will continue overnight. I expect I'll need to do these steps several times to achieve uniform coverage and not leave any washed-out spots.

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Starting to get there. At least it is only the hood.

Here is an update after 3 coats. 12 hours seems to be the ideal penetrating time. 24 hours does not add anything extra and is exceptionally hard to remove when dry.

Meguiars also has a combination rubbing compound and penetrating oil. Gives about the same result as old #7.

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Starting to make a bit of progress. Have found that even laying a cloth soaked in ole #7 spread out on the hood has almost the same penetrating effect.

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