A repaint will never look as good as the original. There's always something about repaints that never looks right. Then there's the overspray on trim and weatherstripping and places you wouldn't imagine could get paint.
Your car will only be original once.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Bobwanna is absolutely correct. Driving is the aim while fixing along the way. I am 100% guilty of being hung up on perfection. When we look at our cars we see every ding and blemish or pit on trim and it bugs us. Most people, other than a perfectionist, don't see what we see. Looking at the pictures of your car it looks GREAT. Especially for its age and the fact that it was stored in a barn for 18 years. Apparently no chickens in the barn is also a good thing. Fix what must be fixed to keep it safe and drive able and get out there and have fun! Make a print out sheet with some original pictures as found and the after cleanup pictures and a short paragraph about the barn find part. Put is out for people to read and they will love it. For the ones that don't, remember It's your car not theirs!
This is a picture of my "barn find" 28 Chrysler roadster. I've had it since 1991 when it came out of a 30 storage under a New England barn. In this picture it is "as found". Cleaned up serviced and driven. Over the last 25 years or so I've had items re-chromed that we painted but no repaint. Now I've finally come to a place where I'm having a new chassis built and paint. Wouldn't have missed all those years of driving for anything. And the story? The car was bought new by a man's grandfather in 1928. In the 60's he turned it into a hot rod but never changed over the title. When I picked up this car I became the second owner or a car built 15 years before I was born. Its all in the history as much as the finish.



Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Half-dude  You have a very nice looking 55. Very similar to one I had in High School.  Happy to see polished up 55 wheel covers on it. Please do not beat yourself up over some of the storage or hangar rash from the early years you bought it. I am sure many of us have here similar stories - I sure do. I have followed you questions over the months and see you have progressed nicely with this car thanks to you diligence and help for others on this forum.  IMHO I would not repaint the entire car. As time or money allows maybe paint a fender or area and learn what you can. Don't get hung up on perfection. I think too often people start restoring a car to perfection, spend years and $ on it and just loose site of why they bought the car for. You bought it to drive it. Since you are driving it just keep her cranking and enjoy what a 50's car is - Bob

AKA   Bob-93021

I know this post is a month old but I'll go ahead and chime in.

If it were my car, I'd probably hold off on re-painting for now, I think a little bit of patina on cars this age is OK.  LA's Totally Awesome cleaner is awesome at cleaning rust stains off paint, you can get it at Dollar General for a buck or two a bottle.  You can **gently** scrub with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser stubborn spots but don't go too far, the sponge is basically like 2000-grit sandpaper and if you press too hard you'll go through the paint and into primer quicker than you think.  It may make the paint dull as well and will sometimes require polishing afterwards to bring back shine.

There's nothing better than Meguiar's M7 polish on old, oxidized/hazy/cloudy lacquer paints.  A good M7 soak treatment will probably make that paint look like new again.  Spread it over the entire care liberally with a terry towel, let it soak in overnight.  Rub it off the next day, it will take a lot of elbow grease to remove but it's worth it, you'll go through plenty of towels.  Re-apply and let soak overnight again if needed but one treatment is usually enough.  Follow it up with a "normal" application of M7 doing one panel at a time and wiping it off while it's still wet, then apply your favorite wax (I prefer Meguiar's Ultimate Wax).  

I did this on my 1947 Plymouth recently, also a barn find that had been sitting for 20+ years, and it took the cloudiness right out of it, brought back depth to that original black paint WAY better than I ever expected.

Before:

 

After:

I don't think I'd spray the whole car. A good restoration shop should be able to paint the spots that need attention and make the old paint look great also. Also they should be able to match the color so it's not noticeable. Now it may cost you almost as much as a complete respray but I think it would help the value of the car if it was mostly original paint. Personally I'd opt to fix the bad spots and spruce up the rest.

Durham Missouri

For old solid color cars it is best to use a single stage urethane, looks more original and the clear will fade, chip and peel after a while.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

I say paint the parts that need it.  .  Make it look pretty.  A pretty car brings more $'s than a car with rust.  A good painter can match the color now on the car, even if it is faded


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

True true..  I polished them up and cleaned them up a bit. I own the original hub caps, but I had them off for a long time while the car was just sitting so that no one would steal them.

Whether or not you repaint is your choice, but the 1st thing that needs attention is the wheels!  They convey a bad impression right off the bat. Repaint with dog dish caps or whatever suites you..


Paul

In the classic car and motorcycle world, even dingy original paint tends to be more valuable  than brand new, perfect, shiny paint.  If it is mostly good and really is original, then from the value perspective, it's probably best to leave it.
That said, it's your car and if you're not pleased, do what YOU want.


Lawrenceville, GA