1987 Monte Carlo Extreme Makeover with Rupes and Blackfire BlackICE

[Mike Phillips]

1987 Monte Carlo Extreme Makeover with Rupes and Blackfire BlackICE


For Detail Fest, we used my buddy Bob's 1987 Monte Carlo for all our classes for demonstrating on, mostly because it's black, so it shows before and after results really well and also because it was completely swirled-out! After Detail Fest was over, the hood and trunk lid were looking pretty good but the rest of the panels were disasters.

A lot of people wanted to try out the Rupes polishers and polishing system as well as the brand new Blackfire BlackICE Montan Hybrid Wax so last night we did an extreme makeover to restore a show car finish to this classic Chevrolet Monte Carlo.



Before Pictures

Here's what the paint looked like in the sun...















Ouch! Kind of hurts your eyes to look at the paint in the sun. It's not much better in the studio...

[Mike Phillips]

The process for restoring a show car finish

First Chris aka Italian Guy and his buddy Frank wiped the car clean using Detailer Waterless Wash and Gloss. I left a few water spots here and there after washing and cleaning the wheels, tires and fenderwells earlier in the day.

After she was wiped clean, the paint needed to be clayed, it appears to have some type of red overspray paint over the entire exterior including all the glass.


Chris claying the hood...



John claying the driver's door...




Tim and Chris claying the roof...




Juan down in front claying the rear driver's side fender...




Frank claying the back of the trunk lid...




After we clayed the paint it was time to tape-off all the edges and raised body lines. This was a 20-year old single stage paint job.

John applying 3M 1/4" Blue Vinyl Tape...




Chis working on the front end...




This is 3M Blue Vinyl Tape on a raised body line on the hood...




In the red shirt on the left is Jeff and in the red shirt on the right is John...




Performing the Test Spot
Robert DiTerlizzi and Adam aka Harleyguy did the Test Spot. We found out that the Yellow foam pad with the Rupes Keramik Fine Cut Polish was more than enough to remove the swirls and scratches out of this very soft single stage black paint followed by using the white foam pad with the Rupes Diamond Ultra Fine Gel Polish to maximize gloss, clarity and shine.





After the test spot, everyone gets busy...


Here's Adam working the hood...




Juan on the front fender...




Frank on the rear pillar...




Adam and Robert goofing off...




John on the passenger side...






Robert working thin panels with the LHR75 Rupes Air Orbital Polisher...








Frank working the driver's door...




Jeff knocking out the back of the car...




Craig tackling the roof...




You can see Adam has switched over to the white foam pad and the ultra fine polish...




Same for Chris...




Clear and glossy...
Here's the car after all the polishing work but before waxing... you can see how clear and glossy the paint is after being buffed out by the Rupes paint polishing system...




Next up... we're going to machine wax the paint...

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


The air compressor was turned off for the night by day shift so we simply switched over to the Griot's 3" mini polishers with 4" Rupes white foam finishing pads to machine apply the Blackfire BlackICE Montan Hybrid Wax. Anyone that's ever worked with me knows I do everything by machine unless it's just not practical or impossible.


Machine waxing...




Chris laying down some BlackICE...




Frank and Craig machine waxing...






Chris getting the back...














Removing the wax
After allowing the wax to dry to a haze we carefully wiped the wax off using microfiber gloves and clean, soft microfiber towels...






Next up... the beauty shots...

[Mike Phillips]

The Beauty Shots....






















Took these outside about 8:30am this morning...












Moved the Monte Carlo back inside for a few more shots against the Show Car Garage back wall...














Here's a shot of all the pads and products we used...









And here's my team for this project...

From left to right...

Tim, Craig, Chris, John, Chris, Frank, Robert and Adam.

Not pictured: Juan who had to leave early...





Great job guys!

[Mike Phillips]

On Autogeek.net

RUPES Polisher Special Offer

For anyone reading this thread that's interested in getting their hands on an Italian-bred Rupes polisher, we've marked down the Standard Kit - available with both the LHR 15ES and LHR 21ES - to the price of what the polishers themselves usually retail for. That basically means for the price of the polisher itself you also receive...

• 8 oz. Rupes Quarz Gloss Medium Gel Compound
• 8 oz. Rupes Keramik Gloss Fine Gel Polish
• Rupes Green Medium Foam Pad, 6 Inches
• Rupes Yellow Polishing Foam Pad, 6 Inches

The polishes alone retail for $19.99 each! As my good buddy Nick would say, this is a smokin' good deal. I prefer calling it the "Mike Phillips Perfect Paint Special," but that's beside the point.

Rupes LHR 15ES Big Foot Random Orbital Standard Kit - $349.99

Rupes LHR 21ES Big Foot Random Orbital Standard Kit - $399.99

BLACKFIRE BlackICE Hybrid Montan Sealant Wax

Bright Green Microfiber Towel, 3 Pack

Microfiber Gloves 6 Pairs


This special offer will only be around for a couple days and once it's gone, it's gone for good. If you've been eyeing a Rupes polisher, now's the time to buy!


Thanks Bob for trusting Autogeek with your classic, all original 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo...

[Harleyguy]

As always it's a pleasure to work with the AG team on this makeover.One of the main reason I made the trip last night was because Mike decided it was going to be a makeover using the Rupes system .I have to be honest I've done at least 12 of theses make overs and by far this car was the most trashed car or close to the worst car we have ever done. Anyone that has been on the fence with the Rupes system get off the fence and buy it . I own a few machines and like ever one else I wanted a system that had pads/polish and a machine that are made by the same company. This I feel delivers in all areas the pads work great the polish have an awesome working time and are easy to apply and remove . I know their will be times that you will want to use other products and machines but as a whole this Rupes setup performs the way it was made too.

I bought the complete package during Detail Fest not knowing that Mike arranged a makeover for the Thursday after so I had to make the trip back up after work I can only say it was well worth the trip and the ride was awesome, since the weather to ride in South Florida has been perfect .

I also know a couple of the other team members from last night that were also very impressed with this system.

Thanks again to Mike and AG allowing these makeovers to happen

[Chris@AutoCleanse]

Thanks to Mike for hosting the Thursday night project car makeovers, as this gives us a chance to use the newest technology of tools and products out there. I have used the Griots, Porter Cable, Flex, and many others, but last night was the first time I got to get my hands on the RUPES. The polisher was so easy to handle and very smooth to run. The RUPES had minimal if any vibration and definitely would suggest getting one if you are on the fence about it. Thanks again Mike and the car turned out great with the new BlackFire Ice wax as well.

[Meghan]

Some AMAZING prices on those Polisher kits!! Great makeover Mike, car looks amazing!

[Redfireshaker06]

Excuse my language, but DAMN is all I can say. That came out great...

[JSou]

Good job team.