66 Olds Cutlass

[Ryan]

Now I don't own a classic but, my weekend detail was a 66 Olds Cutlass Convertible with a high compression 400 Engine. All original paint and parts except for the down pipe and a few parts nuts, and bolts.



It was not easy to make the engine clean but, we managed to remove all grease to prepare for parts refinishing, plating and painting. It was a pleasure to work on the Cutlass and the size of the engine bay had alot to do with it.

The entire front end was taped and covered with 3M plastic to avoid any damage to the paint, chrome, and top.

Another

And Another

The masking was necessary and anyone would learn their lesson after trying this just once without plastic.



Finally after the engine was cleaned, polished (not painted or plated) and the carb, cap, and air filter was put back together

This is what we call slow progress. Soon the engine will be brought up to class when it is painted and plated.



As for the exterior and interior, pictures will follow as soon as I get the chance to work it out



Ryan

 

[Scottwax]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. At least the engine and bay are clean now so working on it will be easier.

 

[Ryan]

Everything was covered in grease and rust and it seemed for a while that it would never improve. I knew that if I was going to do this right, I needed to cover mask every piece with plastic and take my sweet time. 6 hours later the engine was grease free. The pictures sho an improvement and the driveway where it was done really proves the amount of grease, dirt and rust that was removed. In the end, working on the Olds was exciting and fun.



To anyone who has classics cars to detail PLEASE post your pictures here or in another thread!

 

[Ryan]

Saturday I had the chance to work out the paint and after polishing it the car looks amazing. Comparerd to what it looked like before the Olds is improved 300%. Joe, the owner, helped out with masking, vinyl top cleaning, and interior work. In total, 10 hours was spent on this day two for exterior prepping and polishing. Don't worry because we had the stereo blasting, a six pack, and pizza to get us through. I couldn't have asked for a better day.



A little about the way I was able to restore the original paint:



In order to bring the paint up from its oxidized condition we started with a rotary and some synthetic pink compound/polish. Not to my surprise, the paint held up very well after two carefull applications at 1000 rpm (which is where i do all of my compounding). I was a little concerned with the film build level and extent of the oxidation so I did use a paint thickness gauge. Great tool that MarHyde puts out and would never do without one.

After the first step tHe owner said it looked great but I wasn't about to settle for just great. I mean this is a classic and it deserves the full out treatment! Right? Anyway, the positioning of a metal ornamental flare sticking up from the center of the hood gave me an opportunity to jam in some compound by hand where the rotary missed. So, after poking around using some of this old forgotten product laying on the shelf it was obvious to me that I had to use this on the entire car. The mystery product is called Pre polish and yes, surprisingly enough, it was that good. The owner was thrilled.

To apply it, I decided to use the Cyclo and Green polishing pads rather than the Yelow pads for fear of generating too much friction and removing more paint. I would suggest this product to anyone who is restoring a beat finish.

For the second step, polishing, I used 3m polish all the way around and worked it in vigorously. Step 3 was the glaze. And followed by a Souveran topper X3 over a 42 hour period.



Today which is a continuation of yesterday, I will final inspect and detail the finishing pieces. And finally, tomorrow, the interior will be extracted, cleaned, polished, and dressed.



The car is safely sitting in the garage and will NOT move until the next sunny day when it will be transported to the owner.

 

[Ryan]

Final Pictures:

 

[Vincent Vega]

Outstanding!