1969 Camaro Pace Car - Show Car Makeover - Modeled by Michelle

Mike Phillips · 11-17-2011, 03:07 PM

1969 Camaro Pace Car - Show Car Makeover - Modeled by Michelle

Steve just arrived with his Camaro and the sun is sitting low in the sky but I was able to get a few pictures to show the condition of the paint...

Here's how low the sun was in the sky...

Best Sun Swirl Shots I could get...

Here's how the paint looks using the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light

Here I'm using the camera flash to light up the swirls and scratches...

Close-up: There's scratches and general surface imperfections throughout the finish...

This shot is to frame-up the following shots so you can tell where the close-ups are being taken. Every body panel looked the same way...

Close-ups...

Next up we wiped the car clean using Detailer's Pro Series Waterless Auto Wash and Pinnacle Clay Lubricant, which can be used to remove light dust, smudges and fingerprints.

In this shot, Rene is sharing some tips and techniques on how to carefully wipe a car down... (Thanks Rene!)

It doesn't take long to wipe a car clean with 7 guys...

After wiping the car clean, we felt the paint with our bare hands and also using the baggie test and the paint felt pretty rough so we went ahead and clayed each panel using Pinnacle Clay Lubricant and Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay.

Same thing... it doesn't take long to clay an entire car with 8 guys claying the paint...

In this picture, Robert from Impressions Fine Auto Detailing and a regular here at our weekly projects shares with Ron, (in the blue shirt), how to use detailing clay the right way. These projects are a great way to learn about products and techniques by guys that have been doing this for years...

Here's Hector and Glen claying the rear clip of the Camaro... Hector is going to be one heck of a Pro Detailer if he keeps attending our weekly projects plus he's going to get to work on a lot of really cool cars. Glen is to the right helping with the claying step.

Pictured with the green microfiber towel over his shoulder is Steve the owner. I want to thank Steve for trusting Autogeek with his precious car... you're in good hands at Autogeek...

Mike Phillips · 11-17-2011, 05:25 PM

Continued...

Optimum G-P-S - First impressions...

At last night's project, in keeping with the philosophy of using the least aggressive product to get the job done, PLUS I wanted to test out the new Optimum G-P-S, we tried it out on the 1969 Camaro Pace car after claying the paint.

For this test we used a Flex 3401 with a 6.5" Tangerine Hydro-Tech Polishing pad on the 6.0 Speed setting.

Priming pad with Optimum G-P-S...

Working a section of paint on the hood on only one side of the tape-line...

Initial Impressions...

Like other Optimum paint care products the new G-P-S offers very smooth buffing with a long buffing cycle plus super easy wipe-off.

After buffing a section of the hood and then inspecting the results we found the G-P-S did an awesome job of removing all the light swirls and scratches and restoring total clarity to the clearcoat. If left the paint clear, glossy and very shiny.

By removing all the shallow swirls and scratches, we exposed lots of random, deeper scratches everywhere in the paint and decided to switch to a more aggressive polish and a more aggressive pad.

If you're car's paint only has light or shallow swirls and scratches, this would be a very good choice for a light correcting polish and paint sealant all in one.

The Major Correction Step

Getting more aggressive...
After testing the new G-P-S the next thing we tested was Purple Foamed Wool pads with Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover wit the Flex 3401 and this combination easily removed 98% of the swirls and scratches while leaving the finish incredibly glossy...

Here's Rene and Kyle working on the hood...

While they tackled the hood I knocked out the panel in front of the hood and some of the tops of the fenders...

Meanwhile Adam is using a 3" pad on the Flex PE14 to work out scratches from thinner panels on the Camaro...

The Polishing or Minor Correction Step
After we removed all the defects we moved onto machine polishing the paint to a high gloss, for this we switched over to DA Polishers and the Cyclo Polisher.

Here's Steve the owner of the Camaro testing out a Porter Cable 7424XP on the hood; this is the first time he's ever machine polished and after a few minutes of machine polishing he agrees it's the only way work on clear coat paints...

Here's Glen polishing with the Porter Cable 7424XP

Steve decides to give the Cyclo a try...

On the back rear fender, Hector is using the Cyclo to polish the paint to a clear, high gloss... this guy has only been to a couple of our Thursday night projects and he's already becoming very good at machine polishing paint.

Ron has some experience behind a traditional rotary buffer but the Meguiar's G110v2 is a new experience. He mastered the tool in just a few minutes...

Ron's buddy Scott tests out the Meguiar's G110v2, this is also his first time machine polishing...

Ron is da man! Check out how he flips the Cyclo vertically to tackle the back face of the rear spoiler...

This is the new Cyclo Mark 5 Variable Speed Polisher which you can tell by the variable speed dial just below his right hand...

Mike Phillips · 11-17-2011, 05:25 PM

Continued...

The protection step - sealing the paint...

After wiping all the polish residue off the paint it's time to seal the paint with a coat of wax for this project we're going to machine apply Pinnacle XMT 180 High Gloss Carnauba Paste Wax using DA Polishers

In order to get the wax out of the jar you can lightly heat the outside using a hair blow dryer or in my case I'm using a heat gun...

After knocking the wax out of the jar it's a good idea to have a microfiber glove on to help you gently grip the wax as you spread it over the face of pad...

Scott is ready to start machine waxing with the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher

One more swipe across the face of the pad and Ron will be ready to start machine waxing with the Porter Cable 7424XP

Scott machine waxing...

Scott using the Griot's and Steve using the Meguiar's G110v2 to machine apply wax...

Ron machine waxing the rear spoiler...

After the guys apply the wax Rene and Kyle follow behind gently removing the excess wax off the paint...

Mike Phillips · 11-17-2011, 05:26 PM

Continued...

After we finished the exterior paint Adam started in on all the brightwork using Wolfgang Metallwerks Aluminum Concours Polish

While Adam was polishing paint and the rest of the guys were cleaning up I tackled the bright orange interior using products from the Pinnacle Natural Brilliance Concours Interior Kit

This kit comes with everything you need to clean, condition and protect vinyl and leather surfaces and anytime you own a convertible it's important to regularly maintain the interior as it's exposed to direct sunlight plus the environment...

We gave Steve the Pinnacle Concourse Interior Kit as gift to help him keep his bright orange interior looking new. So he could keep the microfiber applicator pads for his next interior detailing session I opted to use a microfiber towel to apply the Pinnacle Leather & Vinyl Cleaner and a separate clean microfiber towel to apply and work in the Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Protectant.