How to machine polish to remove holograms and create a true show car finish
This is a body off, ground-up no expense spared, restored 1958 Chevy Impala Convertible. Purchased just a few days ago by my buddy Billy.
At first inspection I was really impressed with the quality of the paint. In fact, most people when looking at this car would consider it flawless. The level of swirls showing in full sun are nominal. In fact, a gentle application and wipe-off a a show car wax would probably mask the majority of the visible swirls.
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Closer to a raised and curved panel the swirls kick in a little deeper and more visible, that's because these area are just tick more difficult to buff as compared to a large flat panel.
Full Sun - The best light for revealing tale-tale signs of holograms
The lines visible in the paint as revealed by bright overhead sun show that the paint on this car has holograms.
The holograms are faint, that is hard to see and without the bright overhead sunlight chances are very good most people would never see them at all.
But I have a trained eye and full overhead bright sunlight.
Here I'm pointing to two vertical lines in the paint, these are not lines per se but the visual appearance of holograms mimicking the direction a rotary buffer was moved over the paint.
The direct drive, single direction rotating action of a rotary buffer imparts it's own swirl patter called holograms.
Because these holograms are very light or shallow in depth, my guess is they were inflicted by a soft foam buffing pad and anybody's guess as to what type of product was used but probably a light cutting polish of some type.
Again, a good coat of wax would go a long way to mask these holograms.
Here's a closer shot of the hologram lines in the trunk lid...
To make sure everyone understands it's the lines and not the swirls I'm referring to, I've drawn an outline around the holograms using the same picture as seen above.
It's still a VERY cool car... it just needs to be re-polished using show car worthy products, pads, tools and techniques. This will be the car used to teach my class how to machine polish to remove holograms and create a true show car finish on
black paint.
What a beauty....
Anyone want to take a guess on the purchase price of this car?
I've posted this for a number of show cars we've worked on in the past and here goes again.
It's easy to take a car with a horribly neglected and swirled out finish and undo the damage to create a dramatic before and after appearance. That's easy.
What's difficult is to take a car with a finish in seemingly flawless condition and then take it to a higher level. This will be the challenge for my class this weekend.
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