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1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

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  • 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

    1968 Firebird, Exterior correction and engine touch up.

    So about twenty years ago I took a job at a local high volume detail shop. The supervising manager there at the time, unbeknownst to me, would end up being one of my greatest influences on both my work ethic, and my eye for detail. Today that same individual is now of my best friends and for him to entrust one of his most prized possessions with me really says a lot. This 1968 Firebird was purchased when he was 15 years old and he worked his tail off to save up the money to restore it into the condition you see here. It has been over twenty years now since it underwent that restoration and IMO is still in excellent shape. He is a very busy and hard working individual and 99% of the time he just has one of his employees wash the car since he doesn’t have the time. Now we all know high volume shops don’t all use the 2BM, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see a fair amount of swirling/marring in the paint. Either way, it has been a few years since it was last polished and he wanted me to give her a little love.

    Car as it arrived




    Quick shot of the interior, though all I did was vacuum it out.


    Marring in the paint


    Claying of the hood showed a fair amount of bonded surface contaminants


    I decided to remove some of the emblems for easier buffing and I also removed the tach and hood scoop inserts. The tach had recently been replaced and the painter never wet sanded it. The scoop inserts had never been sanded from day one and I wanted to make them better match the rest of the car.





    As you can see the orange peel on these pieces was horrible




    Sanding and polishing was done by hand with 1000 and 2000 grit papers.


    Here you can see I have a way to go as we want to knock down all the high points.


    This is how it should look once it’s all leveled…(sorry pic is a little out of focus)


    All buffed out using M105 and M205


    The hood scoops were a little harder to buff so I didn’t get to crazy with them. You should still see an improvement though.


    Engine before was not too bad, just a little dusty.


    The process for paint correction was as follows:
    • Meguiar’s M105 via PCXP with LC Cyan Hydro pads (Speed 6)
    • Meguiar’s M205 via PCXP with LC Tangerine Hydro pads (Speed 6)
    • Menzerna PO85RD via rotary with LC Crimson Hydro pads (900-1500-900rpms)
    Rasky's Auto Detailing

  • #2
    Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

    After pics! I had a hard time getting accurate color with my camera so I took pics at different times of the day. After speaking with some fellow detailers I think I finally found the proper settings.































    Brinkmann


















    Icing on the cake….Supernatural!


    Engine after





    Video walk around….go easy on me as this was my first real go at doing a video.

    YouTube - 1968 Firebird


    Thanks for taking the time to view my work,
    Rasky
    Rasky's Auto Detailing

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

      Very nice car to work on. I like the improvements, especially eliminating the orange peel.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

        Excellent result, nice car.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

          Superb Rasky!!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

            Chad,
            Beautiful work again. Being a "poncho" man myself, I love the color schemes (white over red).
            You did a great job on the vid too!

            Question...are those exhaust tips from a '66 goat? Kinda looked like it. Maybe the bird had them too...I don't recall.
            Don
            "In the game of life, I have no need for tickets on the 50-yard line, I brought my shoes, I came to play." unknown

            http://www.facebook.com/pages/OC-Det...7770507?v=wall

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

              Great story about you and your friend.

              The Firebird looks fantastic. Great job as always. Way to go.
              quality creates its own demand

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                Originally posted by Bill Davidson View Post
                Very nice car to work on. I like the improvements, especially eliminating the orange peel.
                Thanks Bill!

                Originally posted by FRS View Post
                Excellent result, nice car.
                Thank you!

                Originally posted by roushstage2 View Post
                Superb Rasky!!!
                Thanks Tyler!

                Originally posted by gto_don View Post
                Chad,
                Beautiful work again. Being a "poncho" man myself, I love the color schemes (white over red).
                You did a great job on the vid too!

                Question...are those exhaust tips from a '66 goat? Kinda looked like it. Maybe the bird had them too...I don't recall.
                Thanks Don! I don't believe those tips are stock but I will ask him about them. They do work well with the car though IMO.

                Thanks on the vid too! Amazing that it was shot and edited from a phone!

                Originally posted by J. A. Michaels View Post
                Great story about you and your friend.

                The Firebird looks fantastic. Great job as always. Way to go.
                Thanks JAM. Always nice when the student can later teach his teacher a thing or two.
                Rasky's Auto Detailing

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                  Great work Chad! Your work is really amazing!!! The shine of the red paint is mind blowing.

                  Also, I can't believe that you were able to achieve this result from just the PC.. I would think one used a rotary to achieve these results.

                  Again great job!

                  2011 Car Crazy Showcase SEMA Team

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                    Originally posted by Marc08EX View Post
                    Great work Chad! Your work is really amazing!!! The shine of the red paint is mind blowing.

                    Also, I can't believe that you were able to achieve this result from just the PC.. I would think one used a rotary to achieve these results.

                    Again great job!


                    Thanks! I did use the rotary for the jeweling step, but the PCXP with M105 can do some very serious correction with the right technique.
                    Rasky's Auto Detailing

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                      Wow Rasky, that looks fantastic.

                      The work you did with the orange peel is awesome.

                      I've never seen external tachs like that before. Was that standard on the Firebird?
                      Originally posted by Blueline
                      I own a silver vehicle and a black vehicle owns me. The black one demands attention, washing, detailing, waxing and an occasional dinner out at a nice restaurant. The silver one demands nothing and it looks just fine. I think the black vehicle is taking advantage of me, and the silver car is more my style. We can go out for a drive without her makeup and she looks fine. If I want to take the black one out, it is three or four hours in the "bathroom" to get ready.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                        Amazing job, Rasky!!! Really looks amazing! Seeing guys like you post results like this using a PC makes me really want to go see what I can do with mine

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                          Originally posted by davey g-force View Post
                          Wow Rasky, that looks fantastic.

                          The work you did with the orange peel is awesome.

                          I've never seen external tachs like that before. Was that standard on the Firebird?
                          Thanks Davey!

                          I don't believe the tachs came standard but they were definitely an option. The idea of them was cool but apparently they didn't function well and were phased out shortly after their introduction.

                          Originally posted by john m. View Post
                          Amazing job, Rasky!!! Really looks amazing! Seeing guys like you post results like this using a PC makes me really want to go see what I can do with mine
                          Thanks John! The KBM on a DA with M105 can do some serious correction!
                          Rasky's Auto Detailing

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                            Great job

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 1968 Firebird, by Rasky's Auto Detailing

                              Wow Rasky, id love to meet up with you sometime just so you could show me some of your processes so i can better mine!
                              Zach Hall

                              2001.5 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel - DD/Tow rig
                              1983 Chevy C10 - Race/Show rig
                              1939 Dodge D11 Luxury Liner Deluxe - Antique resto. project

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