1966 Chevelle SS 396 car in for some paint correction (Aztec Bronze)

[RaskyR1]

Been a while since I've posted some of my work again....

First I have to give thanks to everyone who referred the owner to me over on AGO. I also have to thank the owner for giving me the opportunity to work on his baby and for making the long trip down from Canada. There is a really great story to this cars history but it's been a couple months since I did the car and unfortunately I've forgotten a lot of the details. I believe he bought it new, used it in his wedding, eventually sold it and many years later found it again and restored it to the condition you see now. He wasn't really looking for the same car either, it just happened to be listed for sale at the time he was looking and a friend mentioned seeing it....sounds like fate to me!


Car as it arrived.

Overall condition was actually in great shape! The owners main concern was a bird dropping stain and some water spot etching on the roof. It had been 7-8 years since it was painted and I pointed out some fine swirls and light shrink areas. I had also found several long, straight, moderate scratches on the horizontal panels...anyone want to guess what those are from? After looking the car over we agreed to hit the more noticeable areas with some wet sanding and do a 1-step correction after spot hitting the deeper defects.

Shrink

More shrink and light bird poo stain

1500/3000 grit sanding via my new Mirka Ceros DA sander and by hand around the fender. Gotta thank Kevin Brown for getting the Ceros to me!

Light swirls were hard to capture

After with Fenix LED

After with Brinkmann

I had really hoped to get some nice sun shots when we were all done but this was the weather I had.....we waited a while but ended up loading it back up in the rain.

Finished shots...these don't do any justice for the color and it looks amazing in the sun!

This was a Canadian spec car so you may notice some differences over the US models.

Did I mention that it had a 427 with over 630hp and does the 1/4 in the high 10's? (Owner still has the 396 too)

After loading it up and drying it off in the trailer the rain stopped! Go figure!!! All dried down and covered back up for the long ride home.

Thanks for looking,
Rasky

 

[6supersport7]

Great work. Being a chevelle owner makes me really appreciate this. Aztec bronze is a very hard color to get painted right from what I have read.

 

[MarkD51]

Just a killer car, what a beauty! And evidently you have the knowledge, and the reverence of such a vehicle to get it done right! Bravo!

The 1966 was my fav Chevelle.
Mark

 

[Marc08EX]

I'm always blown away with your work, Chad!!! I can't believe how big of a difference you made. The reflections are now crisp and clear. Not to mention the deep gloss. Wetsanding really takes some skill and you clearly have it.

Keep up the good work buddy!

 

[RaskyR1]

Great work. Being a chevelle owner makes me really appreciate this. Aztec bronze is a very hard color to get painted right from what I have read.

Thank you!

Yes, in talking with the owner this color is a real PITA to get right. He was at the shop most the time I worked on the car so we talked about it quite a bit actually. Apparently one owner paid big bucks to have one of the paint manufactures (Dupont I think) figure out the correct formula to the color. He actually shared it with this owner so it should be very close to the actual color. I did some quick searching on one of the Chevelle forums and you can find discussions about the whole deal. Some people are upset that he's not posting/sharing the formula, but I can understand why he would not want to.

Just a killer car, what a beauty! And evidently you have the knowledge, and the reverence of such a vehicle to get it done right! Bravo!

The 1966 was my fav Chevelle.
Mark

Thank you!

I'm always blown away with your work, Chad!!! I can't believe how big of a difference you made. The reflections are now crisp and clear. Not to mention the deep gloss. Wetsanding really takes some skill and you clearly have it.

Keep up the good work buddy!

Thanks Marc!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Nice work as always Chad...


How does Mirka Ceros compare to,

Mirka Abralon
Meguiar's Unigrit Discs
3M Trizact


I've used the Abralon for years, the Unigrit since it was introduced and Trizact for the last 4 years but I've never used the Ceros system.

They're all top notch brands that's for sure...

 

[RaskyR1]

Nice work as always Chad...


How does Mirka Ceros compare to,

Mirka Abralon
Meguiar's Unigrit Discs
3M Trizact


I've used the Abralon for years, the Unigrit since it was introduced and Trizact for the last 4 years but I've never used the Ceros system.

They're all top notch brands that's for sure...

Thanks Mike!


I used Meguiars sanding discs on this car.

The Ceros was the electric sander (Pic from Buffdaddy.com). rops:

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nice work Chad. Im sure it was a joy to work on that Chevelle.

 

[Pats300zx]

Amazing job Chad !!!

 

[XSSIVE]

Wow, gorgeous color even indoors. Bet it's jaw dropping in sunlight. Great work.

 

[Wors]

Sweet car and great work Rasky!

 

[CCC4me]

Thanks Mike!


I used Meguiars sanding discs on this car.

The Ceros was the electric sander (Pic from Buffdaddy.com). rops:

I've been considering the Ceros or the 3m brushless sander. How do you like it? Truly as smooth as the air versions? Ever thrown a pad on it to try to bog it down with buffing and see how much power it has?

 

[RaskyR1]

Thanks again guys!

I've been considering the Ceros or the 3m brushless sander. How do you like it? Truly as smooth as the air versions? Ever thrown a pad on it to try to bog it down with buffing and see how much power it has?

I love it! I would say it's equally as smooth as the air sanders (not that I've done a side by side) but you don't have the stiff air hose to deal with or the noisy air compressor, which for me was the main reason I got it. I also do some off site wet sanding from time to time and there isn't always an air compressor on site.

I first used the Ceros at the NXTi training last September. It had a 6" MF cutting pad on it and I was polishing out sanding marks with ease using D300. While it more than had enough power to compound out the sanding marks, at the high speed setting needed for polishing it had a vibration that my hands didn't like...almost tickled in a way. Some guys felt the same thing and other didn't notice it so I would say it depends on how sensitive your hands are. I think it would be fine for a finishing polish but I'll probably only use it for sanding. It did seem to get a little warm when used for heavy compounding too.

NXTi class

Using the air sanders...we busted out the Ceros later on after the class...guess I don't have pics though.

 

[CCC4me]

Thanks again guys!



I love it! I would say it's equally as smooth as the air sanders (not that I've done a side by side) but you don't have the stiff air hose to deal with or the noisy air compressor, which for me was the main reason I got it. I also do some off site wet sanding from time to time and there isn't always an air compressor on site.

I first used the Ceros at the NXTi training last September. It had a 6" MF cutting pad on it and I was polishing out sanding marks with ease using D300. While it more than had enough power to compound out the sanding marks, at the high speed setting needed for polishing it had a vibration that my hands didn't like...almost tickled in a way. Some guys felt the same thing and other didn't notice it so I would say it depends on how sensitive your hands are. I think it would be fine for a finishing polish but I'll probably only use it for sanding. It did seem to get a little warm when used for heavy compounding too.

Thanks!

 

[johnsmith1121]

That is how you make a good looking car look even better!

 

[CDN SS]

Big thanks to those here who referred me to Chad .......what a great experience !! not only does the car look awesome
I learned a ton about how best to care for my paint ...... Chad took the time to educate me all through the process, products and equipment and even had me try the different polishers etcetc ..... the education I received was a bonus and much appreciated Thanks again Chad !!

I will have car back in Minneapolis this weekend for CarCraft Nationals so drop by and check out Chads work ........and yes I have thrown away the california duster and the water blade .......honest I only used that water blade once Chad but he found the telltale scratch !!! I was just blown away by the time Chad takes to do a panel right ....slow and always checking with that light of his ..... I have had cars "polished and wet sanded before but always compound flying everywhere wet sanding mess ....... Chads "damp sanding " technique was so clean etctc anyway the end result on a 7 yr old paint is outstanding .....



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