This is my neighbor, Chuck's, car. It's a 1959 Buick Electra 4-door pillarless hardtop. He's the second owner and has had it since 1963. The car is in really nice shape, but it is a driver. When I bought my house last year he noticed that I take my detailing seriously. He really wanted it spruced up as he was embarrassed to take it to shows. The paint was done in 1988 by Earl Shieb's (yes, for real) for $500. Needless to say, it's not exactly...quality. The Buick also was originally Coral, so any chips are IMMEDIATELY apparent. Make no mistake, this car is cared for. But being 48 years old with a 19 year old paint job tends to make it look old. The poor thing had scratches everywhere, overspray, chips, and a really, REALLY bad detail by a local shop that left the surface cloudy.
So, I took a swing at it. I have over 100 man hours in this car detailing. We took the grill out (37 fasteners) and removed every emblem. All of the trim was taped off (3 rolls of blue tape). I detailed this car the RIGHT way.
First we washed it down with Dawn to remove all of the old wax. Then I used a claybar to rid the entire surface of contaminants and get some white overspray off of the hood. We then washed with Dawn again. That's when these shots were taken.
You can see how faded and cloudy the paint is.
Scratches, smudges, swirl marks, oxidation, it's all here.
Last 3 before pics.
So I broke out some supplies, and got to work. Here's the process following the wash/claybar:
Swirl Cutter, 4 passes on hood/trunk/fins, 2 on roof and sides
Polish/Sealant, 4 passes on whole car
Quick Detailer, in between each pass
Synthetic Wax, over whole car as last step
Chrome Polish, on bumpers
Metal Polish, on all trim (masked off, another 3 rolls of blue tape)
Each emblem was cleaned and polished by hand. Any paint was then hand-painted back on in the correct colors. It took 5 hours just to restore the grill, again by hand.
I use quite a range of products, so here's the list, in order:
Dawn dishsoap (used ONLY when old wax must come off)
Tropi-Care TC-6 Car Wash (all other washes)
Tropi-Care TC-1 Claybar
Tropi-Car TC-4 Big Orange Cleaner
Tropi-Care TC-8 Swirl Cutter
Tropi-Care TC-3 Polish/Sealant
Tropi-Care TC-5 Detail Spray
Tropi-Care TC-19 Metal Polish (for the Stainless trim)
Mother's Chrome Polish (for the Chrome)
Tropi-Care TC-2 Liquid Synthetic Wax (we had originally planned on the Tropi-Car pure Carnuba, but the synthetic wax gave a deeper shine on such dark paint)
Porter-Cable 7424 Variable-Speed Polisher with 6" head mod
Lake Country Orange Pad (Stainless)
Lake Country Yellow Pad (Swirl Cutter)
Lake Country White Pad (Polish)
Lake Country Blue Pad (Polish)
Lake Country White Bonnet over Orange Pad (Wax)
Tropi-Care Foam Applicators
Tropi-Care Microfiber Towels
It took over 100 hours over the last 3 weeks to finish this. It came out VERY well. Chuck can't be any happier and has already gone to a cruise-in and is planning for some shows. The trim and chrome just gleam like mirrors. The reflection in the paint is clear and deep. The shine in show-quality. THIS is how a car should look!
More
More pics
If you have any detailing questions, I will be happy to answer them. Using the right products goes a loooooooong way. We have a photo-shoot next week for a few magazines. I'm hoping it gets in at least one.
Jesus dude, thats amazing work. Im curious to see if I can save my paint on the car now
Here's a few "during's".
And 3 more.
dude will you come to florida and do my cars?
I have over 1,000 pics of this car from before, during, and after. Some are up to 5MP. If you'd like specifics, please ask.
I will detail cars, both here and travel. Expect to spend big $$$ though. It took over $330 worth of product to get the Buick back. Granted, that's an extreme case, but most cars still eat $25-$50 worth of goods. That does not include the re-usables like the microfibers, pads, etc.
Are you coming to CJ Mike?
Nope. I don't get past the Rockies very often for car stuff. I was planning on Drag Week this year, but that's iffy...
Hmm, I thought I would have more responses by now.
Did I mention the Buick has a 401ci V8 with 445 Ft/Lbs of torque?
I love it!
Very high attention to detail = fantastic results!:bowdown:
(also wishing I could get you over to my house to work magic on Roxanne! :D )
I'd do Layla, but seeing as how she has all 3 different shades of Medium Red plus some spray paint as a "paint job" she'd probably look worse...
Lol, . I see these kinds of changes all the time over on LS1tech, but not usually to a car like that. Now that's how the thing should look. I'd love to get my car clayed polished waxed buffed all that done, but I don't think there are any places here in AZ that do that kind of work.
Great job.
Holy that looks great. I thought I was buttstuff with the deatailing but you are a god:bowdown: .
My car is shiney but man I think you've inspired me to go claybar my car again:D
Thank you.
Nice work Mike! My Fairlane could use that but I doubt it would do any good. I guess there's no way to bring dead paint that now looks chalky back to life is there?
Nice work, ive found that its never the $$ that goes into a car that makes is valuable but the hours and hours spent making it right.
even more so for those 2am buffer vibrating you to sleep nights!! Good times, nice work, sweet ride!
5.0willgo,
That's exactly what I did to the Buick. It can be done.
87crzy,
That's why I use such a good polisher with a proven mode setup, no "dead arms" the next day. ;)
O'really? Hmmm. Looks like I'll be thoroughly reading through your supplies list and procedure.
Do you know of anything good to take out tree sap that has been stuck on for 20 years?
Claybar and BigOrange take care of tree sap.
I sell the full line of Tropi-Care and am currently "working them over" for specials for us at FTCF.
Dakotaepic: Arizona sun is harsh on paint. I bought my truck from my cousin who drove to Arizona. I spent hours polshing the bedsides with a pneumatical air polisher. It needs a bad repaint, the clearcoat is chipping off. So when I get time up here it will get a fresh coat of Midnight Black to freshen it up and one hell of a smooth clearcoat.
Too bad you weren't closer. I'd pay you to do my car so I'd save my back ;)
I fly if the tickets are paid for :hick:
Well, the "Official" outing will be July 25th at the BCA's Annual Meet in Bellvue, WA. Supposedly 20-30 59's will be there so we'll see how she stacks up.
Just looking at that car brings to mind the song "Demon's Eye" by Deep Purple!
Agreed! Christine should have been a 59 Buick 2-door :hick: