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Today I was blessed with this beautiful Chevy Camaro to detail. It's a 1973 Z28 with over $40k invested, $15k+ just on the engine. It cranks out 625hp and runs the 1/4 in the 11's according to the owner. It has no forced induction, ladder bars, slicks, etc. It only has 24,xxx original miles and 800 just on the engine.
At the first look at the paint, I noticed the terrible orange peel from the repaint (originally blue, but now bright yellow). The car was repainted with Enamel, then the vinyl stripes were applied, and finally it was cleared. The paint had a large amount of soot on the horizontal surfaces due to sitting on a lift for over a year in a steel garage. I proceeded to wash the surface with Mother's Gold Wash, then hosed down and proceeded to clay bar it with Wolfgang's Poly Elastic Clay. I had to spend a lot of time with the clay bar since the surface was pretty contaminated.
That is the amount the clay bar picked up in just that 1'x1' section
Next, I hosed it down, gave it another Mother's Gold Wash and dried it off. I inspected the surface and noticed light swirling on the vertical surfaces and cob-web effect (heavier swirling) on the horizontal surfaces. After that, I moved on to the interior.
I vaccumed it out, wiped down the vinyl/rubber/plastic surfaces and dressed the vinyl/rubber/plastic surfaces with 303 Aerospace Protectant. Following that, I wiped down the jams real well.
Found this surprise in the trunk. Sorry, all other interior pics came out very blurry
Next came the engine. I'm not sure what all of this stuff is since I'm more of an Import Tuner myself. What I did catch was a full MSD ignition setup, bigger wires, Hooker Custom Headers, Full Race Cam, so on and so forth. Oh yeah, this thing is a 427 shoe-horned in.
Anyways, I wiped down everything with a damp MF towel and proceeded to polish all the chrome and metal with Mother's Metal Polish. Next, I polished all the yellow painted surfaces with Gliptone ProBuff and finally dressed all the plastic and rubber areas with 2 coats of Armor All.
Before
After
Close-Up
Next, I tested a small section with Meguiar's #80 Speed Glaze. I tested it by hand first and no defects budged. I then took out my Makita Rotary with a Meguiar's Foam Polishing Pad and polished with light pressure and #80. This corrected 'some' swirls, but I need more pressure. I proceeded to buff out the entire car with #80 with the rotary and polishing pad @ 1500rpm. I did 3 passes each overlapping 50% of the last (hard, moderate, then light pressure). When all was said and done 95% of the swirls were removed.
When I went into this job I was informed the paint was infact Enamel and that I would probably have paint transfer onto my pads when buffing. When I didn't have any transfer I knew it was clearcoated over the enamel. I got ALL of the swirls off the yellow, but a few remained on the stripes. The reason being I didn't want to go to extensive on the stripes was 1)didn't know how many coats of clearcoat were applied 2)if I burned down through the clearcoat, the vinyl graphics would've burned immediately 3)this was an absolute prized posession by the owner.
Anyways, I was happy how the car came out after buffing it. The yellow was blinding and had a nice wet look from the #80. Next, I applied NXT Tech Wax by hand and foam applicator. As I awaited it's 15 minute dry time, I polished the Cragar wheels, lower rocker panels, chrome bumpers, exhaust tips and head/tail light bezels with Mother's Metal Polish. It took off the oxidation and brought a deep shine to all surfaces. I then dressed the tires and wheel wells with Armor All x2.
After the NXT dried, I removed it with a MF towel. Knowing that this thing doesn't see rain or outside the garage much, I was not too concerned with durability. I decided to top the NXT with S100. This proved to add wetness, depth, and reflectivity to the already glowing yellow finish. I applied it with a foam applicator and removed with an MF towel.
All in all, I was extremely pleased with the results. He had gone back to his other shop so I was unable to move it from the garage, so my apologies for the non-sunny pics. I tried to use the flash to show more light, but it just brightened the paint so much that it drowned out the image. Here are the final results:
Here is a little movie of this beast backing out early this morning before I even touched it. I washed it outside, did the interior and engine, then he showed back up at lunch and pulled it inside. Right click and save the link below.
5.23 MB
Enjoy!
At the first look at the paint, I noticed the terrible orange peel from the repaint (originally blue, but now bright yellow). The car was repainted with Enamel, then the vinyl stripes were applied, and finally it was cleared. The paint had a large amount of soot on the horizontal surfaces due to sitting on a lift for over a year in a steel garage. I proceeded to wash the surface with Mother's Gold Wash, then hosed down and proceeded to clay bar it with Wolfgang's Poly Elastic Clay. I had to spend a lot of time with the clay bar since the surface was pretty contaminated.
That is the amount the clay bar picked up in just that 1'x1' section
Next, I hosed it down, gave it another Mother's Gold Wash and dried it off. I inspected the surface and noticed light swirling on the vertical surfaces and cob-web effect (heavier swirling) on the horizontal surfaces. After that, I moved on to the interior.
I vaccumed it out, wiped down the vinyl/rubber/plastic surfaces and dressed the vinyl/rubber/plastic surfaces with 303 Aerospace Protectant. Following that, I wiped down the jams real well.
Found this surprise in the trunk. Sorry, all other interior pics came out very blurry
Next came the engine. I'm not sure what all of this stuff is since I'm more of an Import Tuner myself. What I did catch was a full MSD ignition setup, bigger wires, Hooker Custom Headers, Full Race Cam, so on and so forth. Oh yeah, this thing is a 427 shoe-horned in.
Anyways, I wiped down everything with a damp MF towel and proceeded to polish all the chrome and metal with Mother's Metal Polish. Next, I polished all the yellow painted surfaces with Gliptone ProBuff and finally dressed all the plastic and rubber areas with 2 coats of Armor All.Before
After
Close-Up
Next, I tested a small section with Meguiar's #80 Speed Glaze. I tested it by hand first and no defects budged. I then took out my Makita Rotary with a Meguiar's Foam Polishing Pad and polished with light pressure and #80. This corrected 'some' swirls, but I need more pressure. I proceeded to buff out the entire car with #80 with the rotary and polishing pad @ 1500rpm. I did 3 passes each overlapping 50% of the last (hard, moderate, then light pressure). When all was said and done 95% of the swirls were removed.
When I went into this job I was informed the paint was infact Enamel and that I would probably have paint transfer onto my pads when buffing. When I didn't have any transfer I knew it was clearcoated over the enamel. I got ALL of the swirls off the yellow, but a few remained on the stripes. The reason being I didn't want to go to extensive on the stripes was 1)didn't know how many coats of clearcoat were applied 2)if I burned down through the clearcoat, the vinyl graphics would've burned immediately 3)this was an absolute prized posession by the owner.
Anyways, I was happy how the car came out after buffing it. The yellow was blinding and had a nice wet look from the #80. Next, I applied NXT Tech Wax by hand and foam applicator. As I awaited it's 15 minute dry time, I polished the Cragar wheels, lower rocker panels, chrome bumpers, exhaust tips and head/tail light bezels with Mother's Metal Polish. It took off the oxidation and brought a deep shine to all surfaces. I then dressed the tires and wheel wells with Armor All x2.
After the NXT dried, I removed it with a MF towel. Knowing that this thing doesn't see rain or outside the garage much, I was not too concerned with durability. I decided to top the NXT with S100. This proved to add wetness, depth, and reflectivity to the already glowing yellow finish. I applied it with a foam applicator and removed with an MF towel.
All in all, I was extremely pleased with the results. He had gone back to his other shop so I was unable to move it from the garage, so my apologies for the non-sunny pics. I tried to use the flash to show more light, but it just brightened the paint so much that it drowned out the image. Here are the final results:
Here is a little movie of this beast backing out early this morning before I even touched it. I washed it outside, did the interior and engine, then he showed back up at lunch and pulled it inside. Right click and save the link below.
5.23 MB
Enjoy!
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