My 1st rule whenever I detail a classic car is if you’re going to get it wet, make sure to dry it asap, and that means bone dry as much as possible. Use your blow dryer to dry the nooks & crannies while at the same time being mindful of what you’re doing because some of the oddball parts like exterior mirrors can be kinda loose on old cars so you gotta be careful sometimes.
Dry behind chrome & moldings. But for the most part they’re sort of easy to do.
My old Godfather [RIP] used to be 1 of founding members of a famous car club here in Los Angeles. He owned several cars similar to that 50’s Chevy^
His cars were perfect and he wouldn’t let anyone touch them. But there was 1 time that I guess he had no other choice because it was a bunch of high school cheerleaders having a carwash to raise money for something that he was obligated to donate to. He didn’t trust what they were using so he told them to only use plain water and no soap. Highly questionable decision looking back… Just goes to show how long ago that was and how times have changed. Lol. I wish he was still around because he was a true car guy.
I detailed this 1973 Porsche a while back. I used Megs APC to clean the interior without issue. Just go easy, don’t go busting out the steamer on that 50yr. old vinyl. Lol.
If it’s a re paint, odds are it’ll have more paint than if it were the original paint because they usually use more paint than originally came from the factory. There’s a chance it might be soft, which will provide you with some gained experience once you’re done with it.
As far as getting the engine wet? I don’t like getting any engines wet, so I can’t comment on that part.
