1959 Impala - Mothers Extreme Makeover! - Pictures & Comments

[57BORNTORUN]

Mike, That was another awesome car to restore. haven't had the pleasure of working with Mothers products. Definitely high quality, easy to work with. The results speak for themselves. I enjoy working with you and all the guys, always leave with more knowledge. No problem doing the high work. John

Of coarse you dont John...what are six foot four with thirty five inch arms?Who better to do the roof.If Louie was doing it he would need a ladder.

[javip2k]

Fantastic job, great team. Awesome mothers results, thank you for sharing until minimum details. Beautiful and outstanding finish!! I´ll have present Mothers in my next order

[Mike Phillips]

Few more pictures to finish the products and steps we took for this car...


Now think about it.... if the paint looks like this, that is extremely neglected for a l-o-n-g time....


Severely neglected paint on this 1959 Impala




Don't you think the chrome and glass are also going to be neglected?


When cars are this neglected usually both the chrome, stainless steel and glass surfaces will have road film on them as well as overspray paint.

"Car Guys" tend to be users of spray can paint. And in my life I never see any of these guys take the simple precaution to cover up their "toys". So cars owned by car guys tend to be the primary candidates for Rattle Can Overspray Paint.


Chrome Polishing
Here's Tim using Mothers Chrome Polish on the massive chrome bumpers on this old Impala...






This is the trim behind the wheel cover on the Continental Kit. Note the gas tank inlet which is hidden behind the wheel cover...




Here's Den polishing the front chrome and stainless steel...





Glass Polishing
Stephen tackles all the exterior glass using Mothers Water Spot Remover for glass...







The big picture
It's these extra steps that really completely the detail and set this car off.

Below are the same pictures from the finished shots of this car but this time check out the chrome, stainless steel trim and glass.

Notice how clear and brilliant the finish on these surfaces are and how they match the shine on the paint.

[guess23959]

wow im jealous, the 59 is my favorite impala. that came out gorgeous. i wish there was detailing shops up here in ct.

[Mike Phillips]

Glad you liked it. I was initially thrown off by the texture of it for being a "paste wax" because it has a creamy smooth texture as compared to most other paste waxes which are very firm. Thank you for writing this.

I call paste waxes with this consistency pudding waxes. I don't really care for the pudding consistency myself and instead prefer the wax to be a lot more like the Mothers California Gold Carnauba Paste Wax.

The creamy consistency make it easy to use by hand for both getting some wax out of the jar and spreading. Since I do the majority of all my work by machine the softness must makes you be a little more aware of how much you're getting onto the face of the pad. So for me it has to do with the machine application and 99.9% of the people that wax their cars with a paste wax do so by hand so for 99.9% of the population it's a non-issue.

I noticed you said you used the white LC 5.5in pads with the machine polish but I also noticed you used it with the black pads too with the Porter Cable. I know you used the black hybrid with the Flex. Did you notice any differences in finishing ability with those 2 pads?

I tested both the white pads and black pads for finishing ability of the pads and the Foam Pad Polish. It was important to find the least aggressive combination that,

1. Has the abrading ability to remove the swirls left by the compounding step.

2. Will finish out the nicest to avoid having to do a third polishing step.


I found the black pads with the Foam Pad Polish on dual action polishers were more than enough pad with the Mothers Foam Pad Polish to remove the swirls left by the rubbing compound when used with a wool pad on a rotary buffer and the haze left when used with foam cutting pads on dual action polishers.

Good question.

Also did you have any slight haziness left behind from the Rubbing compound used with the LC orange pad and the Porter Cable?

Yes but very little. That's why I tested before we buffed out the entire car and as I just typed above, I found the Lake Country 5.5" black flat pads with the Foam Pad Polish was completely able to remove any haze and leave behind an LSP ready finish.

Thus, two steps to correct and polish the paint followed by machine applicationn of the wax.

When I tested it I had very good results with it using an LC cyan hydro-techh pad, but it left slight hazing. The polish took care of that for me.

Sounds similarr to my results.

[Mike Phillips]

hello mike and crew. its me josue pronounced 'ho-soo-eh'.. noticed that miked typed my name in as hosea!? lol its all good,

i do intend in coming in for more Thursday night open garages in the near future. it was a pleasure working with mike and the fellas..it was worth the trip!

thanks for all the tips guys. and Thank you for the rotary 101 class frank & mike, im getting the hang of it now.

it was a pleasure meeting all you guys and it was a good experience working with all of you. till next time!

Thank you for the correction, I wasn't sure on the spelling but I've fixed all instances.


It was great to have you hear and again, thank you for driving in all the way from Miami to work with us here at Autogeek in Stuart.

It's guys like you that never make me feel sorry for guys that live only a half hour or even an hour away and then complain about how far they would have to drive to be here and be part of the team.

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

Mike thank you for anwering my questions in an in depth fashion. It is much appriciated .

[Mike Phillips]

You guys did an incredible job on that car!!

Mike, your write up with all the links to threads covering technique, the links to product descriptions and other resourceful links, photography etc. etc. is nothing short of masterful!!

Thanks Dave. I appreciate the recognition for the time and work that goes into creating the write-ups for projects like this.

The thing that separates a thread like this on a busy discussion forum is that as long as the server bill is paid each month for website hosting, this thread is going to be around forever. It will be indexed by Google and then discovered and read by hundreds and even thousands of people into the future.

This helps the people that will read this wanting to learn how to do this type of work and for some it might even inspire them to tackle projects like this. It also will support the AG store into the future as I link the text names of the products used to the store and that's called win/win business.

What a terrific car to work on, the difference between the before and after conditions on this project are astounding. Great job guys, you should all be very proud to have been the creators of such beauty.

I'm not a huge Impala fan but I like classics in general. To me, these are they kind of cars you see all the TV car guys working on, like Chip Foose and his show Overhaulin and all the rest.

Heck this weekend I watched Jessi Combs and the rest of the girls on All Girls Garage restoring a 1972 Chevy Truck and unlike all the car guy TV shows where all "we" get to do is watch others have fun working on cool cars, here at Autogeek, at least local guys have the chance to work on the same types of cars you see getting fixed up on TV.

That's not to say we don't have new cars here too as we recently buffed out a 2013 Charger, 2012 Camaro, 2004 Honda, 2006 Accra, but the only time I see new cars on TV is Road & Track's TV show and it's mostly a half hour sales pitch for whatever new car they're showcasing.

I've seemed to have lost the interest in reading and writing on the forums as of late but I have to say, this thread, this project kept me glued to the computer screen, reading every word, checking out every photo and imagining what it would have been like to have been there with the gang that worked on this project...

Keep up the great work!!

Everyone can burn out a little once in a while, that's what weekends and vacations are for, to recharge the old batteries.

Thanks for chiming in Dave, I appreciate your comments...

[tuscarora dave]

Everyone can burn out a little once in a while, that's what weekends and vacations are for, to recharge the old batteries.

Seems every time I take a road trip that even resembles a vacation of sorts, it's somehow attached to a full paint correction or some other detailing or other work project.

Not complaining because I'm thrilled to be in demand like that from time to time...just saying...I need a road trip that resembles a vacation just to chill and relax my brain and body.

Each year that goes by here at Tuscarora Dave's, I get closer to having a staff to wear some of these hats "I alone" wear everyday...which is what I really need..

With my sister's friend living in Sunny Stewart Florida (and I know you've given me the open invitation in the past to come visit you at autogeek.net ) someday I'll come down there as an observer only just to watch if there's a project going on, or just to chat for a while if there isn't a project going on and you're around for a little visit.

Thanks for chiming in Dave, I appreciate your comments...

I always tell anyone whose interested enough to listen, that I learned how to do this stuff, and continue to learn by reading your articles, watching your videos and studying the projects you've been able to include in write ups like this one.

You're quite welcome for the comments.

[The Guz]

Nice follow up photos. I use mother's water spot remover on the glass as well. What did you think about this product from mother's?