Houston, Texas Extreme Makeover Project - AGO members needed!

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Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.

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Houston, Texas Extreme Makeover Project - AGO members needed!


Back in February of this year we had a new guy join the forum, his name is Chip and he joined because he inherited an all original 1959 Pink Cadillac with the original single stage lacquer paint.

Chip found my article on how to restore single stage paint and wants to use the technique I share in the article to hand-rub out this brittle, dry 57 year old paint job.

This is the same technique I used to hand-rub the original paint on Wayne Carini's 1953 Hudson Hornet.

I spoke with Chip on the phone and Chip invited me to lead up the team of guys to restore the paint on his Cadillac but to be honest my schedule is so busy right now that it's hard to take on every project that comes my way. Besides that, I'm confident that we can put together a team of local AGO members that are skilled, knowledgeable, experienced and most important... passionate about the art of polishing paint to help Chip bring this paint back to life.

So just like I put together a team of guys to tackle our Thursday Night car projects here at Autogeek I'm using the AGO forum to reach out to our Houston, Texas area forum members that want to be a part of the Extreme Makeover Team for this project.

The exact time and date have not been set in concrete yet but we're talking about a Saturday coming up in the next 2-3 weeks.

This project is going to require everyone to go back in time and using their hands and simple wash cloths plus a good amount of old-fashioned elbow grease, rub this antique paint out by HAND.

If you feel you can physically take on the challenge of helping to rub out a car that's around 20 feet long and want to be part of really fun project plus make some new friends in the process then reply to this thread. After you reply I'll add your name to the list below.

1. Haris
2. Vargas
3. Christian
4. Tac07
5. BrianMcLeod
6. Curtis
7.
8.
9.
10.


Final date, time and location will be posted once it is determined but this project will take place in Houston.

I wish I could be a part of this project as saving antique single stage paint probably my most favorite aspect of car detailing. I know the team we put together will see this project through to success.


:dblthumb2:
 
Here is the Extreme Makeover Project Car


All original 1958 Cadillac Coupe De Ville

tKoutpD.jpg


xo6sveW.jpg



Since joining this form and talking with me, Chip has left the paint completely alone, it's as untouched today as the day he tool possession of this car.


:xyxthumbs:
 
Awh geeze, seriously Mike!!!

Kick a man while he's down why don't ya!

Wow! What an amazing opportunity. A once in a life time one for many & most won't ever get even one!

I bet you would love to be part of this one Mike! As would I. Can't wait to see the results on this one. Awesome! :dblthumb2:

Damn Pacific Ocean.

Aaryn NZ. :xyxthumbs:
 
Aaryn NZ said:
Awh geeze, seriously Mike!!!

Kick a man while he's down why don't ya!
Click to expand...

Sorry.... :D



Aaryn NZ said:
Wow! What an amazing opportunity. A once in a life time one for many & most won't ever get even one!
Click to expand...

Good point Aaryn and something I like to point out as well.

The opportunity to work on an all original 1958 Cadillac with the original single stage paint is about as rare as Hen's Teeth. I'm a serious as I can get when I say this because it's so rare.

In fact, after the paint on this car is restored, there's now one less classic car in the world with original paint to be restored.

So if you're live in or around Houston, Texas then get signed up for this project. If you know someone that lives in or around Houston, Texas then send them the link to this thread.

Team members must be a part of the AGO forum and reply to this thread.



Aaryn NZ said:
I bet you would love to be part of this one Mike! As would I.
Click to expand...

Hey these are the type of epic details that only come around once in a life time.... I have

Cars & Coffee - Saturday, April 11th
Boat Detailing Class - Saturday, April 18th
Boot Camp Class - Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Cars & Coffee - Saturday May 9th

And a few projects I can't mention...

So it's not that I don't want to be a part of this project it's just busy here at Autogeek pretty much all the time but that's okay... it's good to be busy.


:)
 
Mike, I would love to participate in this! I'm a mobile detailer living in Houston and would be more than willing to help out.
 
Mike i just need to know the date so i can work it into my schedule.
 
haris300 said:
Mike, I would love to participate in this! I'm a mobile detailer living in Houston and would be more than willing to help out.
Click to expand...

Good to hear Haris. You have a great posting history on this forum as a stand-up guy and professional detailer, you'll be a real asset to this team.

Projects like these are great learning experiences. As a detailer, down the road if a customer ever comes to you with a classic car with the original paint and asks you if you know how to safely and properly restore the original paint you can say "yes" with confidence and point to the write-up that will be created from this project.


:xyxthumbs:
 
refreshauto said:
Mike i just need to know the date so i can work it into my schedule.
Click to expand...

Excellent Vargas.

I spoke with Chip yesterday and gave him my advice based upon experience concerning the brand new engine and drivetrain in his 1958 Cadillac. My advice was to drive the car for a few weeks to make sure all the bugs are worked out before tackling the extreme makeover to the paint.

The reason why is because even the best shop in the world if they plan to do 100 things to a car and miss 2-3 it can leave you dead in the water and it's by driving the car that you work out the bugs or the missed tasks.

I was watching "Chasing Classic Cars" with Wayne Carini and on one episode he purchased a freshly restored 1949 Chevy 5-Window Pickup Truck. After the auction was over Wayne was driving the truck across the parking lot when gasoline starting leaking or actually pumping out of the gas line from the pump to the carburetor. The reason it was leaking was because a 49 cent hose clamp wasn't fully tightened down. This would have been one of the 100 or more thing the restoration shop needed to do when restoring the truck but when doing this type of work it's really easy to miss something as simple as tightening a hose clamp.

And that's my point. It's not that the shop doing the work on Chip's 1958 Cadillac isn't pro quality and qualified it's just when you take on projects like these and do a million things it's easy to accidentally miss something and the thing that's missed can leave a car and the owner stranded.

So my advice is upon receiving the Caddy back is to drive it for a few weeks and make sure all the bugs are worked out and THEN do the paint restoration.

My guess is it will be around the weekend of Saturday, April 25th.



For everyone reading this into the future, Vargas is a completely qualified Pro Detailer. He's an alumni of the 2014 Detailing Boot Camp Class.

Pictures: Detailing Classes at Autogeek - May 2014

Here's a picture of Vargas machine wetsanding a 1963 Impala SS as a part of the class he attended.

May_2014_Detailing_Class_024.jpg




He was also a part of the Autogeek Pro Detail Team in Kentucky when we did a Show Car Makeover live at the show for the TV show, "My Classic Car" with Dennis Gage.


Autogeek's Pro Detail Team in Kentucky!

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From left to right...

David aka Trutech74
Vargas - refreshauto
Bob - b0b
Billy - Billy B
Allen - OCD-Tailing
Dennis Gage
Mike Phillips
Jordan - FlawlessJ
Chris - PorscheGuy997
Paul - EastsideAutoSpa


Not pictured is Wendall Jarvis....


Here's Vargas working on the top of the front fender....

watermark.php
 
I would love to be apart of this. I'm just a hobbyist but I would like to learn/contribute.

Thanks,
Christian
 
Hi all: to the 3 folks who have expressed interest in helping, my dates are flexible, but as Mike pointed out, perhaps Saturday, April 25 would be best. I'm open to other dates, and if others work better based on people's schedules, we can try to pick a date. However, for now, let's all shoot for the 25th.

As Mike mentioned, I've not touched any of the paint. There are a few problem areas that we'll have to be very careful of, but by and large, the paint is in good/workable condition. It is quite dirty now too, so we're all going to get some amazing before/after photos. The car was sitting in a storage unit/undriven/unwashed for nearly 20 years. So, while dirty and neglected, it's not been exposed to sun, rain, rodents, etc. Bottom line, it's very salvageable.

Mike wasn't kidding about this thing being a boat too. If you can believe it, this 2-door car is longer than our Suburban, so it's going to take a lot of we-ll greased elbows to get it done.

I'll provide plenty of ice cold refreshments and slap some BBQ on the smoker for us as some extra incentive while we are working too. I'm looking forward to meeting you all.
 
I'm 200 miles away, but it's tempting........you are gonna need about a dozen people, one per panel if doing by hand, that thing is huge!
 
anyone else interested in joining? If we need a more convenient date, please let me know.
 
Chip, I would love to help, April 25th works for me, I am in Victoria, but I will be there to work on this epic opportunity!
 
This is tempting I would love to be apart of this but it is a bit of a drive I'm north of Dallas. PM me and I'll send you some pics of my work to see if I'm worthy lol
 
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