Pair of 'Sixty-Nine American Muscle Classics, presented by AutoLavish

[jlb85]

1969 was a great year for cars, not good for pavement. Big V8s with tons of torque, relaxed LEOs, lots of attitude made for fun leisurely rides down the boulevard. Here we have two of the vehicles that dominated said cruises, beautifully restored to perfect condition.

Both these vehicles were some of the cleanest vehicles we have ever seen. The 1969 Pontiac GTO is driven almost every weekend to local or semi-local car shows and gatherings. Notice the trophies on the wall – just a sample, all for this Green Goat!

Being driven regularly the car’s condition really stood out to us. Obviously very well restored to begin with, everything was clean and proper from the interior to the underbody. We stood in awe for awhile at the car, then at the walls.

We had plenty of time to drool over this 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS. Having already worked on a few vehicles for this owner we had seen this and others in his collection many times. This vehicle is restored to a near 100% original condition, including correct overspray on chassis, bolt finishes, etc. The battery had to be upgraded. This vehicle is barely driven.

Side by side we see just how nice these vehicles really are. The condition of both is superb.

Although near perfect, both vehicles needed polishing to clear the finish of swirls and RIDS collected over time. The GTO had lighter swirling, but were somewhat deep. The SS had more defects with many swirls, areas of marring and severe RIDS. Neither of the finishes were original, and both were clear coat systems.

Cleaning starts first. The GTO had a tighter budget so we were not able to do things like the door jambs and engine bay, while the SS got a hardcore door jamb treatment.

Tires are tackled first. White lettering turns brown with time and wear. Over the counter wheel and tire cleaners had not been able to clean them back to white. We simply uses some Meg’s APC+ at 4:1, and a good scrubbing with a brush followed by a scrub with a SchMitt.

Just using brushes to clean tires can result in this:

Black SchMitt:

 

[jlb85]

The Camaro’s tires had barely ever been dressed, and it showed. Although brown (a natural occurrence of rubber in air), they cleaned up with a brush quite nicely.

The Camaro’s wheels were cleaned with Sticky Gel at 3:1

The Pontiac’s wheels were cleaned with the same foam used for the paint:

Next were the details. Emblems, jambs, crevices and seams were hit hard with P21S Total Auto Wash, Meg’s APC+ at 10:1, small brushes and high velocity water.

No, the interior did not get wet during that last shot, and any overspray was wiped off and dry immediately (an advantage of having two people).


The paint on the Camaro was hard, so we did not hesitate to use a brush for the crevices. On most soft paints using a brush, even a soft one like this, can result in marring. When you clean emblems and creases use very light pressure. Let the chemical do the work, and opt for Q-Tips or smaller more focused brushes when the risk of marring is high.

Nice and clean:

Clay was next. Both vehicles has some contamination, but nothing like a typical modern driver.

After a final wash and drying with both microfiber towels and a leaf blower used only for detailing (never used in a dirty enviroment) we were ready for polishing.

The GTO received a two-step polish. We taped up the hood and proceeded to try out some combinations. Here we are refining with a black pad:

 

[jlb85]

The Camaro also received a two-step polish although the owner was not looking for much correction. We would require a more aggressive combination. After trying a few, here is the result.

Marc here is working on the upper curvature on the body. Although the paint requires a more aggressive pad, the curvature is too extreme to fit a pad in that will not conform.

This would result is straining the paint at the edges and not reaching the paint in the concave. A softer pad with a small backing plate permits some flexibility and much better surface contact. It would take many more passes, but well worth it. Notice how Marc preps the pad for polishing by priming the edges as well.

A similar process was used for the spoiler, which has even more concavity.

The rain gutters needed polishing as well. Marc applied both M105 and M205 to foam applicators and squeezed it into the gutter to polish.

 

[jlb85]

Refining under the LED Brinkman:

Paint after polishing prior to sealing, looking under Halogens:

Next was a final wash to rid the paint from polishing oils and the crevices from dust.

Windy!

LSP for the GTO was a sealant. Running out of time we were not able to get pictures of the application process. Similar to our other applications of sealants, laying in on the paint nice and thin using the PC is our preferred method. The GTO will be driven much more than the Camaro, and will be outside more of its time. So sealants were the logical choice.

For the Camaro we opted to use a wax appropriate for the vehicle:

The top got wiped with 1Z Cockpit Premium as no dressings or shine was desired. The 1Z offers a minimal amount of UV protection.

The flat black trim was dressed with Meg’s Spray Trim Detailer and a soft brush, then buffed even. Mike Phillips from Meguiar’s (now at AutoGeek) recommended me to use this product on flat back a few years ago and it never fails. It evens out even more as it dries further.

Applied to the bumper trim as well:

The chrome britework was polished and waxed:

 

[jlb85]

Finally, the reveal:

Insane shine!

Two of the same picture white balanced differently. It is hard to capture the color in low light.

Tires were dressed with a water-based matte tire dressing, Optimum Tire Shine.

Reveal Camaro:

Although opposite to the GTO conditions, the color in bright light makes for difficult pictures as well.

 

[jlb85]

Thank you for reading!

-AutoLavish

 

[BobbyG]

What a trip back to my youth!

I was the proud owner of a 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible and I'd like to thank you for the great ride!

Two classics for sure and worth every pains taking minute to keep their heritage alive. What great work you do and to work on a couple of legends like this must be a real thrill..

Now, lets talk about the blue and white Shelby Mustang in the background!! rops:

 

[silverfox]

I know. I was there.

 

[jlb85]

What a trip back to my youth!

I was the proud owner of a 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible and I'd like to thank you for the great ride!

Two classics for sure and worth every pains taking minute to keep their heritage alive. What great work you do and to work on a couple of legends like this must be a real thrill..

Now, lets talk about the blue and white Shelby Mustang in the background!! rops:

Bobby, which one? The 350 or the 500 I would LOVE to get my hands on either of those, but there really is little we could do to them. True 100-point restorations on those, all original parts, but modernly repainted. Thanks for the love!

 

[dad07]

As soon as I saw the title of this thread I new it was going to great! 2 Awsome looking cars.Very ,very Nice work! Great write up! and as always just Awsome:dblthumb2:

 

[Shane731]

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful! :dblthumb2:

 

[BobbyG]

Bobby, which one? The 350 or the 500 I would LOVE to get my hands on either of those, but there really is little we could do to them. True 100-point restorations on those, all original parts, but modernly repainted. Thanks for the love!

I'm pretty sire it's a GT 500 but I'll take either one, I'm not fussy....:laughing:

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Wow... impressive work as usual guys!

Sad to see that Camaro going under a cover right away, considering covers can cause marring You did say it had hard paint though.

 

[sullysdetailing]

Great Job guys

 

[c5z06camaro]

wow love the camaro and gto. Nice work btw!

 

[Jsuro]

Gorgeous cars and excellent work!!!!!:dblthumb2::dblthumb2:

 

[Mirror Detailing]

The only way this thread could have more win than it already does...was if you had a '72 Mach to boot. Great work as always, was a great read all the way through.

 

[Pats300zx]

Amazing work guys. I have no doubt the client will have many more trophies to put on his wall after you worked your magic.

 

[cobalt9123]

Great work and awesome cars!

Where'd you guys get the wheel covers? I'm tired of using trashbags :laughing:

 

[Kristopher1129]

Nice job on a pair of beautiful cars. Love your work. Nicely done!:dblthumb2: