work in progress...

[rcktpwrd]

Working on my wife's 454SS pickup, it unfortunately has been a bit neglected the past few years and the hood has taken the brunt of it. It's a fiberglass cowl induction hood so it's not original paint, but was done 10 plus years ago. Up until the past few years the paint was pretty well taken care of.

I am going to go over the entire truck as there are plenty of swirls and what not, but for now I am working on only the hood. I am using my Griot's Garage 6" DA with a Meg's Soft Buff 1.0 polishing pad and Ultimate Compound to start with. I have only done half the hood so far and it still needs more work but I am very happy with the results so far.
Side of Hood Before:

Cowl of Hood Before:

After:

After:

After:

Half and Half Shot:

[greg0303]

Re: work in progress...

Coming out nicely, Joel.

It's a 2-stage paint, right?

[BillE]

Re: work in progress...

Lookin' good!

Bill

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

Coming out nicely, Joel.

It's a 2-stage paint, right?

Thanks!
Yes it's 2 stage paint, base/clear.

Lookin' good!

Bill

Thanks!

[JoeDirt]

Re: work in progress...

Looks good so far, Joel!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: work in progress...

The expression "extreme makeover" comes to mind here


Keep it up, Joel, that looks fantastic!!

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

Thanks guys!

I forgot to mention in my original post that I had gone over the one side of the hood about 4-5 times with the UC, I broke the half of the hood down onto about 4 sections. I still have to go back by hand to get into the groove and at the edge of the cowl. I spent about an hour or so doing what is shown.

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

Worked on the hood again today, I got it pretty well cleaned up overall. I did a bunch of hand work in the recessed body lines, at the edge of the cowl and other places where the DA doesn't reach along with finishing the side of the hood that I didn't touch the other day. I went over the untouched side with the UC in several passes. I then went over the entire hood with a couple passes of SwirlX. I used the SwirlX because I ran out of UC after getting most of the hood taken care of.
Left Side: ignore the peeling clear coat on the top of the fender

Center:

Right Side:

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

Here is a finished for now shot, went over the hood with Ultimate Polish and then cleaner wax:

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

I have been working on more of the truck over the past week or so. I have done both fenders and doors now. These panels were in much better condition than the hood to start with but still in rough shape as far as swirls and the like...
Since working on the hood I got a bunch of 2.0 pads and the matching backing plate, I like this setup much better than the 1.0 pads.

The process was started with clay, then about 4 passes of UC (speed 5), a couple passes of SwirlX (speed 4), then a couple passes with UP (speed 4) all with a polishing pad and finished with cleaner wax (speed 3) on a finishing pad.
Here are some before and afters of the passenger side:
Fender before:

Fender after:

Door before:

Door after:


some reflection shots during the process:

[roushstage2]

Re: work in progress...

That is one CLEAN looking truck!

[scanlessfool]

Re: work in progress...

Dramatic difference, especially in the reflection shot of you on the door.

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

That is one CLEAN looking truck!

Dramatic difference, especially in the reflection shot of you on the door.

Thanks guys!

I still have plenty more to do, haven't even touched the bed yet. The wife also took all the molding off the sides, so I still have to do all the lower parts of the panels too...
She is thrilled with it and I'm also pretty pleased with how well it
s coming along!

[Jokeman]

Re: work in progress...

Annie's truck looks great! I met you guys years ago at Carlisle. Tell Annie I say hello.

Bryan

[rcktpwrd]

Re: work in progress...

Annie's truck looks great! I met you guys years ago at Carlisle. Tell Annie I say hello.

Bryan

Will do!

We are going to Carlisle this year, maybe we'll see you there again...