1955 Chevy. An American Classic

A great American classic is brought it’s shine back. This was a Fun project that I worked on for 3 days. Alot of the car needed to be wet sanded, the chrome had very bad water etching, and so on.

    In the early 90s this was a frame off restoration, Someone spent alot of time and money on this car. But the paint was not very great and was in need of some tlc. 

Here is what the car looked like after it was washed and clayed.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7950.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7948.jpg

Not much reflection or any depth to the paint at all. The orange peel was some of the worst i have seen on any repaint.

Before any thing was done to the car, i took about 300 paint reading so i new just how much paint i had to work with, and what i could safely correct. Alot of spots the paint was very heavy while others was very very thin.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7951.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7953.jpg

Every measurement was noted, so any thin ares were given the upmost attention.

Some sun shots to show the condition of the paint. With the metallic flake, i was having troubles getting the camera to pick up the defects.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7927.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7926.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7915.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7914.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7913.jpg

The car was then pulled inside the owners garage where i spent 4 hours of tapping off all the edges, trim.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7958.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7955.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7956.jpg

Heres a good photo that shows the amount of orange peel the car had

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7969.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7983-1.jpg

I didnt get any pictures of me wet sanding, I wanted to get started on the job ahead.

Here was one of many scratches that were around the car.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7991-1.jpg

And here is what it looked like after

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7992-1.jpg

Before
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7998.jpg

After
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7999.jpg

This guy was about a foot long and very deep
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7995-1.jpg

unfortunately was down to the metal in some parts, and could not be 100% removed

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_7996-1.jpg

The tail lights were polished out.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8008.jpg

After
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8011.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_2734.jpg

The wheels need alot of polishing.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8019.jpg

and after.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8020.jpg

The water etching on all of the trim.
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8017.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8016.jpg

Afters
http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8044.jpg

the engine bay was also completed along with alot of polishing work. no before pics.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8024.jpg

And Here are the final shots of the car. The gloss, depth and shine is brought back to this American classic.

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8031.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8033.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8042.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8046.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8040.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8037.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8047.jpg

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/ac352/gt08vapor/IMG_8028.jpg

As always thanks for looking.

Beautiful. And your pictures sure have improved :tup:

So good. Both the car and the detail.

thanks, I am slowly figuring out this new camera

---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

thanks, I love working on these classics. the body lines are just amazing

Looks amazing.

Thanks.

Great work. I wish I had enough paint on my MR2 so you could detail it.

Looks awesome. :tup:

Fantastic work, great photos. Really impressive job, if I was still in the area you would be getting my business.

puts a new meaning to DETAILING a car…nice job