Grant Liban @ Renu Auto: 67` Camaro Full-Wet-Sand

[RenuAuto]

What a project to be a part of! Over 40 hours of unwavering focus, precision refining and paint correction really brought this special father-son project to a the level of beauty that it deserved :)



This customer had a bad experience with a painter that left his father-son project 67` Camaro with a finish that had more issues to work out than a court-date with Lindsy Lohan. The car was riddled with dust nibs, dramatic amounts of orange peel, and clear-coat hazing that had the car looking like a "7" instead of the "10" that it had the potential to be.



The best part of the two-week experience working with this car was that the client REALLY had an eye for proper paint work and knew the in`s and outs of what a true wet-sand/polish was capable of, so it was one of the few times I really felt that every extra ounce of effort put into the restoration would really result in something that was truly appreciated.



When the car was dropped off, we started with the roof, as it seemed to have some of the deepest craters in the clear, would be a great place to get some 50/50`s and would really give us an idea of what was possible with the rest of the paint work on the car.







An example of a 50/50 of the roof section:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1494.jpg









Orange peel:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1543.jpg





This quick vid shows the bottom section un-touched while the top part has been corrected:



<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21652941?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Untitled (http://vimeo.com/21652941) from Renu Auto (http://vimeo.com/user6444401) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com).







The defects in the paint work were really hiding some true beauty hiding underneath:

Before:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1550.jpg





After:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1544.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1531.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1533.jpg





http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1526.jpg









After several different tests I ended up with a plan of attack that consisted of sanding with 1000 grit, and refining down through 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 with the dA. Some may think going down to 3000 (and even 4000 in some areas) is a little ridiculous, but I like the way the following compound a polish steps progress after refining the sanding that much. I went through with the Kevin Brown Method on Surbuf with M105 and then LC Orange M105 followed by LC White M205 after that. Every part of the car was different though as I found block sanding necessary in some areas and compounding with wool in others.



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1584.jpg







The back cowl had all kinds of issues:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1708.jpg







But nothing that wasn`t tackle-able.



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1713.jpg





One of my favorite before/afters:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1725.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1727.jpg





The front clip had also been re-shot by another paint shop due to some issues with the stripes, and even though their work was LIGHT YEARS better than the previous painters`, there was still a myriad of holograms and other issues to correct as well:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1745.jpg





The lower sections had lots of gloss and reflection being hidden by orange peel:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1748.jpg



After:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1751.jpg







http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1760.jpg





http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1771.jpg





http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1821.jpg





http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1824.jpg





3000 grit on the dA with the right technique leaves things finished out quite nicely:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1766.jpg







Even the interior suffered from areas that needed to be corrected:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1829.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1834.jpg











There was a paint chip that needed to be addressed as well. I wish I had taken some before photo`s of it, as the chip went down to the metal. I actually ended up air brushing the paint into the chip, layer after layer after layer, until it was built up to the surrounding height of the paint besides it (or at least as close as possible) and then M205/LC White the remaining paint off (the fresh paint came off relatively easy and I didn`t want to get aggressive enough to rip paint out of the chip)



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1860.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1867.jpg







Finishing up:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/SAM_1632.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/SAM_1634.jpg

[RenuAuto]

And after several all-nighters (this project was being tackled while existing business was still getting done through the shop during regular hours), it was time to deliver to the anxiously awaiting customer:



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1898.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1891.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1892.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1901.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1899.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1903.jpg



http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/grantliban/Camaro/IMG_1904.jpg

[maxepr1]

Holy @#$%! Nice save! That looks like some DIY painting! I`ll bet the customer was stoked!

[C. Charles Hahn]

That looks absolutely stunning.... nice work saving the crap paint job!

[Barry Theal]

Grant for a pretty boy you sure do some incredible work. :biggrin1: Outstanding man for sure. I loved this thread. You really had your hands full. superb sanding for sure. incredible work my friend.



Barry

[Thomas Dekany]

I hope you video the reaction of the owner.



STUNNING WORK!! :bow

[RaskyR1]

Holy solvent pop batman!!! Dang that thing look more like a 3 with those issues! Looks like you at least had a lot of paint to work with. :)



Excellent work Grant! Most people have no idea how much time and work is involved in doing a job like this correctly!!! Well done sir! :2thumbs:



I have a `60 Impala I`m doing right now...though it doesn`t have the solvent pop (or fisheyes) that yours did, it`s massive with lots of dust specs, crazy curves, and the paint appears to be fairly thin too, at least for a full repaint that`s never been touched.





Rasky

[LS1-MEX]

looks great!. was the spoiler removed to do a 100% wetsand on the trunk???

[JohnKleven]

Beautiful work. You just doubled the value of that car.





John

[Jean-Claude]

Bee-ueateefull job!

[MirrorDetailing]

All previous comments x2. Nice job!

[Greg Nichols]

Off the hook outcome! How much clear had to be removed to get them results?



Cheers,

GREG

[autoconcierge]

Off the hook outcome! How much clear had to be removed to get them results?Cheers,

GREG





Me thinks sh**loads Greg..LOL, highrisk with hopefully a high payday!!, outstanding quality............talk about "Making gold from straw" or the old favorite "Silk out of a sow`s ear".

[Scottwax]

Wow, absolutely amazing improvement! :bow

[RenuAuto]

Grant for a pretty boy you sure do some incredible work. :biggrin1:





:lol: I can`t even argue that first point :)






I hope you video the reaction of the owner.



STUNNING WORK!! :bow





Well actuallllyyyyy....



<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o0_mfw4Rp1I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>














looks great!. was the spoiler removed to do a 100% wetsand on the trunk???





Actually we didn`t on this project. It was a strategic decision after weighing the amount time to install/reinstall and the risk with R&R of the spoiler (scratches, cracking the fiber glass, breaking or stripping nuts/bolts vs. the pro`s of correcting the paint underneath it. The spoiler isn`t a traditional "table" but rather an enclosed body part so you can`t see anything underneath it.




Off the hook outcome! How much clear had to be removed to get them results?



Cheers,

GREG





It`s hard to tell for sure because I was just putting my ear to the car and knocking on the panel to measure the clear after each pass :D