Rasky's Auto Detailing: '66 Corvette 427/425hp wet sand and buff

RaskyR1

Rasky's Auto Detailing
This car belongs to the same owner of the ’68 Vette I did back a few months back. The owner originally only wanted to have it buffed out like I did on his ’68. After looking over the car with him a little more I talked him into doing full wet sand too. IMO the texture of the paint looked very poor and badly needed to be smoothed out. The orange peel had a very tight texture that distorted and blurred out what little reflection the paint had.


A little info on this car:

This is a numbers matching 1966 Corvette 427/425hp. It has 58,XXX original miles on the car and underwent a frame off restoration about 3.5 years ago. Pretty much every nut and bolt was replaced, and the car has not seen rain since. There is approximately 1500 miles on the rebuilt motor, and I believe the owner said it was putting down around 575 hp.

Yes he does have the stock wheels too! :D


My process for wet sanding and correction was as follows:

Wash - Optimum No rinse

Clay - Meguiar’s Mild Clay/Last Touch

Wet sanding - Initial cutting was done with Meguiar’s 2000 grit sand paper, followed by 3000 grit.

Step 1 - Meguiar’s M105 via rotary and a Solo heavy cut wool pad.

Step 2 - Meguiar’s M105 via rotary and orange Classic LC foam pad.

Step 3 - Finishing was done with Meguiar’s M205 via rotary and a Meguiar’s W9207 foam finishing pad. (M205 finished off VERY well on this car and I saw no improvements by following it with PO85RD or UF)

LSP - Wolfgang DGPS 3.0

Wheels and chrome – KAIO

Glass – Meguiar’s D120

Tires – ARO / Hyper Dressing 3:1



Before pics
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In the following pics try to notice the texture of the paint, lack of gloss, and distortion of the florescent light refection
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Left fender
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Roof
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Right rear
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Left rear…some deeper scratches likely from getting fuel
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Car has some pretty deep swirls and marring too
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Wet sanding hood
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I stopped after doing the hood and decided to try compounding a spot before moving on to wet sanding the whole car. I wanted to be sure the paint would polish out easily first…a little tip I got from the great Mike Phillips. ;)
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All edges were taped off as I worked a section during the first buffing step to prevent any chance of rubbing through on an edge. For the most part all panel heights lined up very well with only the passenger side of the hood being a little higher than the fender (rare on a lot of older cars)
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50/50 shot
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After pics, indoor
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Nice smooth reflection…notice the clarity of the reflection vs. the before pics in the same angle. (It would have been nice to not have emblems on the car)
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Left fender
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Roof
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Right rear
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Left Rear
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Areas where there was swirling/marring in the halogen lights…crystal clear now
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Mid day pics
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Evening pics
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Undercarriage
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Motor
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Total time invested was around 22 hours.



Thanks for looking,
Rasky
 
Now that is a thing of beauty!!! :drool:

Amazing job too! Incredible turn around!

I really love the C2's...nothin else on the road like em. He really should reconsider those wheels imo tho. :notme:
 
Who ever did the restoration did a poor job on the paint.

Nice job you really made it look different.

You increased the value of that car 20K

I agree on ditching those wheels but that is not your decision.

I had a new 64 and while I still like the styling I can remember driving it and the newer ones are much better driving cars
 
:inspector:Keep trying. You'll get the hang of it.:D

Got to kid with you some more. :gotcha:

I liked the 50/50 with one side still being sanded. Makes for a really dramatic before and after.:wow:

I think I'm getting old cuz I think those wheels ruin the look of that car not that the originals were great at all. I think it's because those wheels remind me of those little pinwheels kids used to carry around making them spin in the wind. If it were me I would have something like this on there-
 

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Kudo on classic C2 Corvette. I too agree the wheels don't work with the car. As i think a good set of wheels can add to the wow factor of the car which these don't add any. Great Job RaskyR1!!!
 
Thanks guys for all the positive feedback! :)

Who ever did the restoration did a poor job on the paint.

Nice job you really made it look different.

You increased the value of that car 20K

I agree on ditching those wheels but that is not your decision.

I had a new 64 and while I still like the styling I can remember driving it and the newer ones are much better driving cars

I agree the painter did a very poor job concidering the calliber of this car. I let the owner know this too and it turns out the painter is a friend of his. :confused:

I drove the car down to a local park for pics...and yes, the newer ones drive MUCH better! :D

You can't beet the awesome rumble of a big block with a wicked cam. This thing sound like a stock car going down the road! :love:


Rasky
 
:inspector:Keep trying. You'll get the hang of it.:D

Got to kid with you some more. :gotcha:

I liked the 50/50 with one side still being sanded. Makes for a really dramatic before and after.:wow:

I think I'm getting old cuz I think those wheels ruin the look of that car not that the originals were great at all. I think it's because those wheels remind me of those little pinwheels kids used to carry around making them spin in the wind. If it were me I would have something like this on there-


LMAO! They totally do! :D


I think a nice set of Cragars would look good.

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That is one awesome paint restoration there your pics amazed me:bigups absolutely flawless work!I too agree the wheels are tacky on there. I could see the knockoffs with the spinners and the red walls on there.:)
 
From a beautiful car to a show stopper..........I bow to your expertise. Work that deserves awe pretty much says it. I don't recall ever seeing wheels like that on a Vette and agree that they are horrid. Having said that I can't afford the wheels OR the car so it means nothing. I will say that more tasteful wheels would raise the wow factor by 100%.
 
Gorgeous car! Nice recovery on that one Rasky. She looks MUCH better now. Thanks for sharing.

I know it's not on you, but as mentioned, the wheels have to go. It's a shame to deface such a fine automobile with those.
 
Thanks agian guys!

I did tell the owner about all the feedback on the forums about the wheels and it sounds like he is going to put the stock ones back on. ;)
 
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