Cleaning up original paintwork

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vincent16
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Cleaning up original paintwork

Post by vincent16 »

Good morning

I'd be very grateful of any advice around cleaning/polishing original paintwork.

I have recently acquired a Mills Extraordinary that appears to have been stored in a garage for decades. There is no rust but it is just covered in years of grime and dust. The paintwork has to a large extent survived; there is some flaking but on the whole I'm pretty happy with it as is. I've seen the videos posted recently on another thread of the full restoration but that's not really for me. I would much rather try to clean up what I've got than repaint the whole thing.

I've removed what dust I can with a soft paintbrush but am now left with the more ingrained dirt. What I wanted to know before I wade in with fairy liquid, is what anyone would recommend to clean it up. There is an indent down each side of the front that was originally painted white which is particularly grubby as you can see from the photos.
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treefrog
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Re: Cleaning up original paintwork

Post by treefrog »

Lovely machine mate, almost had a go myself and thought it was a very original unmolested machine, so pleased you are keeping the finish as it looks great. Also think you got a bargain at £650 and I would much rather this machine than the over restored video version. !THUMBS!

The paint is old hammered paint, so I would use standard paint cleaning products, maybe a light use of t-cut, also car polish does have a mild cutting outcome. The white pin-striping again use these products, but there is a risk it may flake away as old, brittle and applied on top of the hammered finish. I use a product called “simple green”, American product but available here, which is good for cleaning grime and dirt and not leaving a residue, often an issue on wrinkle paint finishes.

It was nice to see all the original Shefras labels, awards etc. I have an extraordinary from Shefras, unfortunately the original paint finish had gone. It also has the Shefras escalator which some may dislike, but it part of the history being supplied by them
vincent16
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Re: Cleaning up original paintwork

Post by vincent16 »

Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply Treefrog. I'll get some of that Simple Green.

The main reason I went for it was that it was original unmolested as you say. You do take a bit of a chance with these auctions at the moment where you can't view but maybe that helped to keep the price down as well and I've wanted one of these for ages.
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arrgee
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Re: Cleaning up original paintwork

Post by arrgee »

I really like the Art Deco styling of the Mills Extraordinary, a classic in my eyes. As Treefrog says, far better to leave unmolested than go overboard with a new paint job.

The issue of restoration and/or preservation is an interesting dichotomy as many collectors would prefer a machine in its original condition and accept the wear and tear of use with the inevitable paint chips, stains and scratches that time has wrought, whereas if those paint chips, stains and scratches were present on a vintage car or motorbike, it would be completely acceptable to erase the evidence of the years of usage and bring the machine back to a concours condition.
grains
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Re: Cleaning up original paintwork

Post by grains »

I have used Swarfega and a toothbrush for wrinkle / texture finishes with good results.


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