The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

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The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

July 08, 2007, 11:17:46 AM

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.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #1 – July 08, 2007, 11:18:33 AM

You can see how faded and cloudy the paint is.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #2 – July 08, 2007, 11:19:24 AM

Scratches, smudges, swirl marks, oxidation, it's all here.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #3 – July 08, 2007, 11:20:02 AM

Last 3 before pics.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #4 – July 08, 2007, 11:32:46 AM

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!

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #5 – July 08, 2007, 11:33:33 AM

Reply #6 – July 08, 2007, 11:34:19 AM

More pics

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #7 – July 08, 2007, 11:36:01 AM

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.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #8 – July 08, 2007, 11:39:19 AM

Jesus dude, thats amazing work. Im curious to see if I can save my paint on the car now

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #9 – July 08, 2007, 11:43:37 AM

Here's a few "during's".

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #10 – July 08, 2007, 11:44:18 AM

And 3 more.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #11 – July 08, 2007, 11:45:00 AM

dude will you come to florida and do my cars?

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #12 – July 08, 2007, 11:45:21 AM

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.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #13 – July 08, 2007, 11:49:23 AM

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.

The Ultimate Detail: 1959 Buick Electra and 100 man hours

Reply #14 – July 08, 2007, 11:54:07 AM

Are you coming to CJ Mike?