Rasky's Auto Detailing: 1964 Impala full wet sand, buff, and interior fluff

RaskyR1

Rasky's Auto Detailing
This car was brought to be by my mentor who now buys and sells cars….some of you may recall the red 1963 Austin Healey that I did for him last summer. This car is a low mileage car with on 48,XXX original miles and has not been driven or registered since 1987! The car had received an amateur paint job and apparently it was done is some guys garage. Overall the car was pretty nice but the paint itself needed some help and I was asked to do whatever I could to make it look better. Originally I was just told to do the outside but then he asked me the day it was to be delivered to also do a quick touch up of the interior and address of few areas on concern.





Before pics





The tops of the car had sort of been wet sanded once already but was done very poorly and several areas were missed and the sides appeared to be untouched. Being white it was hard capturing the texture and defects in the paint so I didn’t spend a lot of time taking before pics…you should be able to get a good idea from these pics though.

























Here are a few pics of the sanding in progress. I chose to do most of the sanding by hand using Meguiars 2000 grit paper and then followed it with their 3000 grit paper. For the large flat areas I sanded by hand using the 2000 grit but followed it up using 3M Trizact 3000 grit disk on the DA.



Half hood sanded













In these pics I tried to show the benefit of finishing down with a 3000 grit or higher paper. Even though M105 and other aggressive compounds are capable of remove 1200 grit scratches, the job is much, much easier when you finish with higher grit paper.



After I sanded the left side of the hood with 2000 grit I tape off a section and then sanded it with 3000 grit.





As you can see the 2000 grit left the finish very dull and there is little to no refection







After sanding with the 3M Trizact 3000 disks you can see a slight gloss to the paint again.







With the tape removed you can see a distinct line in the paint, especially where the florescent light is reflecting on the paint,









Sanding scratches were removed effortlessly using M105 and a PFW in this test spot.













Though they are expensive but they are definitely worth it IMO.













Some more sanding pics….I think these were all after the 2000 grit step

























Some before interior pics













Low mileage!







Paint over spray…this was easily removed with some lacquer thinner. (Interior materials of older cars like this seem much more durable and can usually withstand strong solvents like this)







I received some new pads to play around with which worked nicely on some areas of the car. 5” and 3” wool pads.







5”





3”













My actual buffing process was as follows:

  • Meguiars M105 on the rotary and various wool pads
  • Meguiars M105 on the rotary and a foam Meguiars W8207 pad
  • Meguiars M205 on the rotary and a foam Meguiars W9207 pad





I tried a few spots after the M205 with PO85RD and UF but saw no noticeable improvement. Glass was done using Meguiars D120, Chrome polished with M105 and Optimum Metal Polish, paint was sealed with Menzerna Power Lock sealant, carpets cleaned using the LGM and Folex, interior wiped down with 1Z Premium Cockpit Cleaner.
 
Now for some after pics….I apologize for not having pics in the same lighting and I also forgot to take after pics of some of those nasty areas. Unfortunately I was forced to do all the polishing in my other garage as we were doing some painting on another car in my shop. I was also pretty pressed for time and I needed to deliver the car immediately after I was done with it. LMAO…I drove the car about 5 miles to the auction where it was to be sold and the license plates on the car still had the registration from 1987 on it! I can only imagine what I would have told a cop had I been pulled over! :D





After pics!





















































































Engine pic…though I did nothing to the engine bay







Interior



















Just before I headed to the auction rollin’ in my ’64! :D









As always, that you for taking the time to view my work! :thx



Rasky
 
Nicely done. I'm doing the same thing to a '57 Thunderbird as we speak. Wetsanding is very rewarding, the before and afters are very dramatic.





John
 
JohnKleven said:
Nicely done. I'm doing the same thing to a '57 Thunderbird as we speak. Wetsanding is very rewarding, the before and afters are very dramatic.





John



Thanks John! I agree 100% If I had it my way I would only be doing jobs like this! ;)



To bad it was white though...



Greg Nichols said:
Well done! I love the Trizact pads and the DA method. At 6$ a pad they are expensive!



Cheers,

GREG



Thanks Greg! Yeah...you gotta love 3M's pricing! :faint:
 
The pitch is thrown, Rasky swings...and it's outta here! Home run :woohoo:



Beautiful work once again Chad.
 
Apollo_Auto said:
Rockin' like Dokken! Nice one Chad!



Thanks Jesse!





FYI, Dokken was one of my favorite 80's hair bands!!! :D I get to see Bon Jovi in concert in less than 2 week! :hifive:



TSC17 said:
The pitch is thrown, Rasky swings...and it's outta here! Home run :woohoo:



Beautiful work once again Chad.





Haha! Thanks Todd!





I really have a hard time taking pics of white though... :confused:

Guess I need to do some more reading! :D
 
Silky smooth work Chat. Thanks for showing the wetsanding steps and the benefits of going with a higher grit before hitting with a compound.



I do have a question for you. I've noticed you used Mirka Abralon and the 3M Trizact. Do you have a preference? I have Abralon 2000 and 4000 but am considering trying a few other brands.
 
a_guerrajr said:
very nice job. i need to learn how to wetsand!!!!



Thank you! :)



Nikku said:
Silky smooth work Chat. Thanks for showing the wetsanding steps and the benefits of going with a higher grit before hitting with a compound.



I do have a question for you. I've noticed you used Mirka Abralon and the 3M Trizact. Do you have a preference? I have Abralon 2000 and 4000 but am considering trying a few other brands.



Thanks!





Actually I haven't yet had the chance to try the Abralon system. :(



After talking with Kevin Brown about wet sanding in general though I'm very eager to try them out as I've only heard good things about them.





Rasky
 
RaskyR1 said:
Thank you! :)







Thanks!





Actually I haven't yet had the chance to try the Abralon system. :(



After talking with Kevin Brown about wet sanding in general though I'm very eager to try them out as I've only heard good things about them.





Rasky



Thanks Chad.



Yea i've been using the abralon pads. They're cheaper than the 3M but just wanted to get your thoughts.



Anyways fantastic work as usual :)



cheers,

Nick
 
Nikku said:
Thanks Chad.



Yea i've been using the abralon pads. They're cheaper than the 3M but just wanted to get your thoughts.



Anyways fantastic work as usual :)



cheers,

Nick



Another reason I want to try them out! ;)
 
Very nice rasky!! I hate wetsanding white. Its difficult to see everything. Car came out awesome. It had some real bad fish eyes. Lots of tidious work there. Outstanding job man!
 
vtec92civic said:
that thing is gangster! where are the wire wheels LoL



LOL....I felt like a gangster driving it with my arm slung over the top of the seat! :D



Barry Theal said:
Very nice rasky!! I hate wetsanding white. Its difficult to see everything. Car came out awesome. It had some real bad fish eyes. Lots of tidious work there. Outstanding job man!



Thanks Barry! Yeah, it was a real PITA trying to see the low spots....you think you have it smooth and then you walk by again later and in a different light you see an area that needs more sanding! :furious:



It was hard seeing any remaining tracers in the paint too under the lighting I had.



dmw2692004 said:
looks great! nice job with the wet sanding and the interior looks absolutely stunning!



Thank you! :)
 
Some real passionate and in-depth work. Every time you post a new one of these I am more and more amazed. Keep up the outstanding work!
 
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