Classic car detail - '57 Chevy

T

todd@bsaw

New member
I have more of an opinion question for the detailers and car enthusiasts out there.



At the location I work at, we have on display a 1957 Chevy Bel Air - baby blue/white convertable, all available factory options, with 27 original miles.



It gets dusted and wiped down very seldomly and by high school kids that don't know anything about avoiding scratches and swirls on paint. I went over it a few months ago and polished the chrome up and hand polished the paint, which made it look much better, but I still wasn't happy with the results.



What are your opinions on touching the original paint on such a well preserved American classic car? I'd really like to take some time and have thought about possibly putting a machine polish to it to get the car to shine but I don't have that much experience with single-stage paint.
 
meguiars #80 on a light polishing pad would work amazing...PC speed 5 or 6 (i only know 6 on the PC...lol)



then top it with a glaze and a carnuba monthly
 
I would honestly recomend talking to a classic car resoration company. They wont repaint a car if it has decent origional paint, so they preserve it. They should be able to point you in the right direction.



I would stick to a hand glaze like VM or RMG until then.
 
I agree with brandon1 – you really need to get this to someone that knows what they are doing and can determined paint thickness especially on the curved fenders. Using to aggressive of correction can cause more damage and drastically lower the value of the car. Using a glaze like RMG will provide some protect and it shouldn’t harm the finish either. The value of this car could easily be in the 6 figures if the right buyer could be found so a few hundred in ddetermining the proper care is money well spent.:2thumbs:
 
DennisH said:
The value of this car could easily be in the 6 figures if the right buyer could be found so a few hundred in ddetermining the proper care is money well spent.:2thumbs:
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The owner has been offered upwards toward $3 mil for the car so I really want to make sure that it is taken care of properly.

Thanks for the advice!
 
todd@bsaw said:
The owner has been offered upwards toward $3 mil for the car so I really want to make sure that it is taken care of properly.

Thanks for the advice!
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I surprised it is that much because I just saw an under 10,000 mile fuel injected go for a price of 350,000 but it was a hardtop. Doing nothing is probably the right thing to do and keep the kids away would probably be a good thing. It just depends where this guy wants to go with it, I would seek professional help talking about the $$$$ involed. I don’t know where you are located but look for good shop that can give you solid advice. I spent hours taking a guy out of just Fusion / Zanio’ing a 57 Corvette survivor that with worth in excessive of 100,000.00 with original lacquer paint because the guys of corvette forums recommended it.
 
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