Where do I begin? This 1964 Nova SS is one beautiful classic muscle car. It has had a rough life from the previous owner, but the new owner has lots of plans in store for it. Right now the owner just wanted the paint to be brought back to life to hold it off until the full frame up restoration. So he gave me a call and asked if I could work my magic. I was honored to be able to work on such a nice old school classic piece of American history. Lets get this detail going.


The paint is a Single stage paint which is notorious for fading, and this one had really bad water spot stains and some areas were basically bleached of the color.

This is the car when I first arrived for the detail.







You can tell how bad the paint was oxidized by how cloudy the reflection was.



Here are some of the spiderweb scratches











and some type of animal scratches




here are some more pics of the horizontal panels











looks like this emblem got bird bombed?




The car had quite a few chips to touch up





Over all the car is in great condition, but it still needs some luv'n






It was a Very cold morning, so I had to dress accordingly. I began the detail by giving it a thorough foam wash using my Foam Canon and Dawn Detergent.



letting it dwell



Then rinse off any heavy stuff



Re-apply the snow foam for the hand wash





Washing it in straight lines.



Getting into all the tight areas with my boar's hair brush









after the car was washed, I then rinsed it one last time.





To any detailers out there that have to detail in the cold weather. These gloves are AMAZING! They keep your hands Dry and Warm.





Next is the Clay bar step. This car had little tree sap spots all over it



Its kind of hard to see, but if you look close, these were all over the paint and windows.



here is the clay bar after finished, I had to kneed it a few times too.



So then the car was pulled inside for the rest of the job.

I started out with doing some touch up. there were a lot of spots to cover and I new it would take some time.

This touch up was more for just making them chips less noticeable. there were a lot of rusty spots that needed the rust scratched out of them and touch up paint applied.

here is one area were I removed the rust out with the corner of the razor blade.



after both of the scratches were cleaned.





Next I applied the touch up paint.



I apply a couple of layers and then let it all dry before I wetsand it smooth.



While the touch up paint dries, I start the paint correction on the lower sides of the car.

here are some pics with the Halogen lights.





And here is a 50/50







And then the Final outcome of this fender.





I experimented with different methods starting off.

My first choice was the FLEX 3401 and PFW pad using Meguiars M105.











It left some marks on the paint so I followed behind it with the Lake country Cyan pad and M105 to get those out.



It did alright, but I really wanted to use my Griots garage DA and a Surbuff R-series pad. I like the flex, but it takes a lot of back muscle to work it, and with the DA and surbuff pad, its just so smooth and cuts amazingly. Once you master the Surbuff pad you can correct the paint better and faster then a Rotary buffer with a wool pad.

So on the next panel I pulled out the Griots and Surbuff pad and got at it.











After making it down the driver side, I started on the trunk using the Griots 6in DA and Surbuff working in 2'-3' squares





Here is some of the progress





and here is a 50/50 of the trunk







To get into all of the tight spots, I got out my Rotary with a 3in Gloss-it backing plate and a 4in orange pad





Here is that touch up after the wetsanding and buffing. the color was a little off but over all it was a lot less noticable.



And this is the final outcome of the touch up at the end



This is the roof getting some M105 from the Griots DA and Surbuff pad. (You can tell that the paint is Single Stage from how the M105 is turning pink).







The Roof before







The roof After







This is the hood after





After all of the Cutting I polished the car using a LC hydrotech Tangerine pad w/ M205 on the Flex 3401.





The Roof









The Trunk





The Hood





My choice of Sealant was BFWD on a Blue LC finishing pad using my Flex 3401





While the sealant was drying, I cleaned the window and dressed the tires.



Before we pulled it out side for the Final Wipe down and walk around, I took some #0000 steel wool and polish and cleaned up all of the little rust pits on the chrome bumpers.











Next we pulled it out side for the final look over and wipe down.

 

Now for the reflection shots



























the owner pulled it over to the side to get some posing shots, you can tell he was happy by the big smile on his face.



The Boss man stepping out! I heard the song "Bad to the Bone" playing from the clouds, lol















Thanks for viewing, have a blessed day.

 

Man I bet that guy about shat himself the first time he saw the finished product. Those have to be the biggest night/day before and after pics I've seen of any detailing job online. Amazing work as always!

 

amazing car, amazing detailer.

 

wow. That looks like it rolled off the showrom floor! amazing work.
How long did this one take? also how much would something like this run?

 

amazing, great job

 

that is a world of difference, how long does a job like that take you ? what would one expect to pay for a job like that ?

 

thats some good work, and your prices according to your website are VERY VERY reasonable,

 

WOW! I wish U were in my area so u could do my red nova.

 

The work and the car look amazing its almost unbelievable how well the car came out.

 

Thanks, it was fun!

Thank you Sir

I had about 17 hours into this one. I didn't anticipate spending 5 hours on touch up either though. it was rough but came out great.

Thanks

Well each car has different challenges to over come but this one took around 17 hours.

yes, it is a lot cheaper then a paint job. and you gotta start some where. typical jobs right now run from $400-$600 it all just depends on what car/color/condition it is in. but prices are subject to change with out notice

what year?

Thanks, PM replied

 

The results are amazing!

 

looks like a completely different car than before. nice man!

 

Excellent recovery of the paint man

I'm so glad you pointed out what gloves you are using. I believe the wash is an extremely important step, as I can tell is the case with you, and with the weather being so cold it's tough to take the proper time outside while washing. Those gloves should help quite a bit

 

man that crazy nice.....

 

my gosh thats a huge change! very well done.

how did u clean the interior windows? i can never get mine spotless.

 

http://www.detailedimage.com/wax.php...P445/128oz-S1/

This stuff.......meguiars profesional glass cleaner. it is highly concentrated and only takes like 1oz for a whole bottle. but it is GREAT glass cleaner. I used to always have problems with windows too

 

x2 for the megs gallon.

i use it with distilled water, 10:1

prefer it greatly over stoner and the like.

OP, great work! so you are sold on the surbuff pads? i haven't tried them - still using original color range LC pads, some aren't even CCS! old school stuff, but i keep it clean and it works for me.

 

Yeah, there is just something about them that cuts so good, it even cuts more then my FLEX and PFW pad. and the DA is some much easier to use then the FLEX. Now don't get me wrong though, the FLEX still has its place, but its just nice to use such a light and easy machine for 10 hours instead of a forced rotation counter clockwise spinning FLEX. they all have a learning curve.

 

1971

 

That Is freakin sweet!

 

i want a good detail.


then again, i dont think i do too bad for what i have at hand

 

That is beyond EPIC. I used to work at a detail shop and you sir do AWESOME work.

I have never seen such a nice job on a car.....