Coach Steve
03-17-2014, 09:14 PM
A buddy of mine picked up a 1982 Rolls Royce Silver Spur that had been sitting in a backyard for at least the past 6 years with nothing done to it with regard to maintaining its finish/appearance. It didn't run and was going to cost a bundle to get it running so it just sat. My friend got it super cheap with the intention of cleaning it up, getting it running and flipping it for a profit. Once the wrench jockeys got done with it, he had it towed to his garage and it was my turn.
This thing was rough let me tell ya! It had oxidized to an almost slate gray color. The leather top had split along the seam on the right side. Time and heat had made the material curl and become uber-brittle to the point of breaking off in pieces if you touched it. There were also 2 oil-based stains on the top that I wasn't sure I would be able to remove due to how long they had been there and how deeply they had penetrated the material.
All of the chrome (and there's a freakin' ton of chrome on this bad boy...) had varying amounts of corrosion that had to be addressed with steel wool, by hand. The largest amount and hardest to remove was the corrosion on the wheel covers and the rings. As for the paint, well... you name it, it had it, swirls from Hell, stains, oxidation, scratches, etc. In this particular case, I was glad it wasn't clear coated because that would have added a whole other set of issues.
Rolls Royces are painted with lacquer. LOTS of lacquer! This year/model left the factory with 8 coats of it!
After researching the application method and materials used on the vehicle, I set out on a journey that would either end up being my nemesis or my piece de resistance!
I started by pressure washing the entire car with a fine mist for the most part to get everything off that was going to come off. I followed that with a very long, detailed wash/scrub using all manner of mitts, brushes and mf cloths. At this point I wasn't concerned with marring, scratching, etc., as I didn't have anything in my arsenal that could or would leave any marks in the mess of a finish I was working on. My main goal was to get all the yuck and filth off of it so I had a relatively clean surface to work with.
During the wash process, I was kinda surprised to not see any paint transfer. That came when I clayed it.
I started the claying with the hood using super sudsy water. QDS was out of the question for two reasons: First, this car has an enormous amount of surface area. I would have gone through 3 bottles of it before I was done. Second, I don';t know about you but when you have to pull the trigger on a spray bottle THAT much, my hand gets cramps! It took me about an hour to thoroughly clay the car and I went through 2 bars which were completely black by the time I got done.
Having never worked on a Rolls and not having any kind of reference as to paint hardness, I tested with Meg's UC and a LC yellow pad just to see what kind of transfer I was going to encounter. When I finished my first section pass, I was literally nervous and scared to look at the pad. :laughing: This is what I saw after the first section pass...
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/IMG_0399_zps6affa0c4.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/IMG_0399_zps6affa0c4.jpg.html)
I'm not going to narrate each step, I'll let the pics speak for themselves. I followed the basic 3-step process using M105, M205, and Meg's Ult Paste Wax (2 coats). For the chrome, I used Mother's Metal Polish. Glass I used Spray Way after polishing it with M205 and LC orange pad to remove some VERY stubborn water spots!
To address the issues with the top, I first cleaned the entire surface with saddle soap by hand to infuse some moisture and nutrients, specifically lanolin, hoping to rehydrate that nasty crack and make it at least able to be touched and manipulated. It worked. I then cleaned it again with some kind of leather soap my buddy's wife had that she used on her saddles and other horse tack. Incredible stuff! I topped it with Meg's Supreme Shine believe it or not!
As for the interior... It was in unbelievably good shape! The P.I.T.A. part of it was the fact that Rolls doesn't use any vinyl in place of leather anywhere in the car. every door panel, seat back, arm rest, etc., it's real Connelly leather. I used a lot of product, trust me! :laughing:
This ended up being the longest, most dramatic transformation I've ever done. 38+ hrs., endless amounts of product and some very sore arms and back by the time it was all done and over with. It wasn't perfect when I finished by any means but all in all, I was very proud of the results and have since added it to my portfolio.
Here are a couple of pics as a teaser. I really don't feel like copying and pasting all the links in this thread so to see the entire transformation follow the link below to the car's album in my Photobucket gallery. All of the pics were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR so the pics are hi-res. Be sure to zoom them in to really get the effect.
1982 Rolls Royce Silver Spur Restoration Photos by jrnyman1978 | Photobucket (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/library/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration ?sort=2&page=1)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/hood1_zps5f9e6b7f.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/hood1_zps5f9e6b7f.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0368_zps114b7278.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0368_zps114b7278.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0373_zpscbbe7b46.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0373_zpscbbe7b46.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/rollsfront_zps8268751a.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/rollsfront_zps8268751a.jpg.html)
This thing was rough let me tell ya! It had oxidized to an almost slate gray color. The leather top had split along the seam on the right side. Time and heat had made the material curl and become uber-brittle to the point of breaking off in pieces if you touched it. There were also 2 oil-based stains on the top that I wasn't sure I would be able to remove due to how long they had been there and how deeply they had penetrated the material.
All of the chrome (and there's a freakin' ton of chrome on this bad boy...) had varying amounts of corrosion that had to be addressed with steel wool, by hand. The largest amount and hardest to remove was the corrosion on the wheel covers and the rings. As for the paint, well... you name it, it had it, swirls from Hell, stains, oxidation, scratches, etc. In this particular case, I was glad it wasn't clear coated because that would have added a whole other set of issues.
Rolls Royces are painted with lacquer. LOTS of lacquer! This year/model left the factory with 8 coats of it!
After researching the application method and materials used on the vehicle, I set out on a journey that would either end up being my nemesis or my piece de resistance!
I started by pressure washing the entire car with a fine mist for the most part to get everything off that was going to come off. I followed that with a very long, detailed wash/scrub using all manner of mitts, brushes and mf cloths. At this point I wasn't concerned with marring, scratching, etc., as I didn't have anything in my arsenal that could or would leave any marks in the mess of a finish I was working on. My main goal was to get all the yuck and filth off of it so I had a relatively clean surface to work with.
During the wash process, I was kinda surprised to not see any paint transfer. That came when I clayed it.
I started the claying with the hood using super sudsy water. QDS was out of the question for two reasons: First, this car has an enormous amount of surface area. I would have gone through 3 bottles of it before I was done. Second, I don';t know about you but when you have to pull the trigger on a spray bottle THAT much, my hand gets cramps! It took me about an hour to thoroughly clay the car and I went through 2 bars which were completely black by the time I got done.
Having never worked on a Rolls and not having any kind of reference as to paint hardness, I tested with Meg's UC and a LC yellow pad just to see what kind of transfer I was going to encounter. When I finished my first section pass, I was literally nervous and scared to look at the pad. :laughing: This is what I saw after the first section pass...
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/IMG_0399_zps6affa0c4.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/IMG_0399_zps6affa0c4.jpg.html)
I'm not going to narrate each step, I'll let the pics speak for themselves. I followed the basic 3-step process using M105, M205, and Meg's Ult Paste Wax (2 coats). For the chrome, I used Mother's Metal Polish. Glass I used Spray Way after polishing it with M205 and LC orange pad to remove some VERY stubborn water spots!
To address the issues with the top, I first cleaned the entire surface with saddle soap by hand to infuse some moisture and nutrients, specifically lanolin, hoping to rehydrate that nasty crack and make it at least able to be touched and manipulated. It worked. I then cleaned it again with some kind of leather soap my buddy's wife had that she used on her saddles and other horse tack. Incredible stuff! I topped it with Meg's Supreme Shine believe it or not!
As for the interior... It was in unbelievably good shape! The P.I.T.A. part of it was the fact that Rolls doesn't use any vinyl in place of leather anywhere in the car. every door panel, seat back, arm rest, etc., it's real Connelly leather. I used a lot of product, trust me! :laughing:
This ended up being the longest, most dramatic transformation I've ever done. 38+ hrs., endless amounts of product and some very sore arms and back by the time it was all done and over with. It wasn't perfect when I finished by any means but all in all, I was very proud of the results and have since added it to my portfolio.
Here are a couple of pics as a teaser. I really don't feel like copying and pasting all the links in this thread so to see the entire transformation follow the link below to the car's album in my Photobucket gallery. All of the pics were taken with a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR so the pics are hi-res. Be sure to zoom them in to really get the effect.
1982 Rolls Royce Silver Spur Restoration Photos by jrnyman1978 | Photobucket (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/library/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration ?sort=2&page=1)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/hood1_zps5f9e6b7f.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/hood1_zps5f9e6b7f.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0368_zps114b7278.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0368_zps114b7278.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0373_zpscbbe7b46.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/IMG_0373_zpscbbe7b46.jpg.html)
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/jrnyman1978/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/rollsfront_zps8268751a.jpg (http://s1271.photobucket.com/user/jrnyman1978/media/1982%20Rolls%20Royce%20Silver%20Spur%20Restoration/rollsfront_zps8268751a.jpg.html)