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A Look At my Job: Detailing a 1964 Corvette

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  • A Look At my Job: Detailing a 1964 Corvette

    Hey guys, its me James stopping by to give you guys a look into my job. I now have me own auto detailing busines - Calais Auto Detailing. This is a copy of a thread I posted in a couple of detailing communities I am a member of so some of technical acronyms may not make any sense, but it should still give you guys an idea of the kind of effort that goes to the kind fo work I do. This Rod Saboury Corvette is a one of a kind custom built speed machine, if you have any time google "Rod Saboury" and see what kind of vehicles he builds.

    This 1964 'Vette is combination of classic styling and raw hotrod power. The interior is mostly original with mint condition seats and dash with functional meters and and tinted windows. He's got some fancy looking racing wheels and some big meaty racing tires. The engine is a 350 small block with big blower. The car is putting about 650hp and took well over $100k to build. This 'Vette has been sitting under a cheapo car cover in storage in the back of a mechanic's shop, it certainly needed some love and care.



    I started by wiping down the vehicle with a few Shamrock ultra-plush towels and some Last Touch. I clayed every surface with blue clay. I polished the front wheels with NXT Metal Polysh and the rear wheels with Nevr-Dull. I then began the tedious task of polishing every square inch of the (un)polished aluminum blower, valve covers, block and other various engine pieces to a mirror finish with NXT Metal Polysh. I then cleaned all the other engine surface was Safe D-Greaser (without running water) and dressed with M40. I cleaned the tires with Westley's Bleche-Wite and also dressed with M40. So concluded day one, total time 5 hours.



    Day two began with some final touching up on the engine, a dusting of the interior with QID and thorough vacuuming. I dressed all the interior leather with Gold Class Aloe Conditioner. Doorjambs were cleaned with APC and side pipes polished with Nevr-Dull. And so the paint polishing began. The paint was in pretty decent shape with regard to correctable defects, I found that the paint responded best to some M205 on a 4" polishing on the G110. Every part of the paint polished until swirl-free, I continually checked with my swirlfinder to make sure I was getting the level of correction I wanted. I waxed the paint with Pinnacle Souveran wax on a 4" finishing pad on my G110. I then topped the wax up with a light coat of a 3M final glaze product he had for a bit more slickness by hand(no more gloss or depth could be achieved after the Souveran). I used UQW on the windows and Invisible Glass on the inside of the windows. I polished the bumpers, immaculate original chrome, with Nevr-Dull. I sprayed half a can of clearcoat on some rough paint in the edge of the hood's hinge. Another 7 hours.



    12 hours total and we were ready for Autofest in Hicksville, LI the next morning. About 200 cars were present yet we took "Best in Show" and First in KK class. This being the first show he's entered it in and the first time I'm working on one of his vehicles, we were both thrilled. On with the pictures!


































  • #2
    Shots from the show:







































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    • #3














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      • #4
        And here are the trophies!!







        Thanks for reading!

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        • #5
          Wow! It gives me whiplash just looking at it! Beautiful job!
          Looks like an 8-71 blower with two Holley double-pumpers.
          Did you drive it?
          Last edited by USSWisconsin; 22 Jul 10,, 07:19.
          sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
          If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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          • #6
            Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
            Wow! It gives me whiplash just looking at it! Beautiful job!
            Looks like an 8-71 blower with two Holley double-pumpers.
            Did you drive it?
            Not a chance. Until that front end gets swapped out and tightened up the owner won't even drive it.

            On a side note, I got to drive a 1971 Buick Skylark with a 350 thanks to a very happy customer.

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            • #7
              Very very nice indeed. Fantastic looking vehicle. It's good to hear that you are having a bit of fun as well.:)

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              • #8
                Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool mate , brill job ;)

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by jame$thegreat View Post
                  Not a chance. Until that front end gets swapped out and tightened up the owner won't even drive it.

                  On a side note, I got to drive a 1971 Buick Skylark with a 350 thanks to a very happy customer.

                  I like that one too, nice detailing, this one looks like a driver.
                  A friend of mine had a blue two door Skylark 350 that year, back in the 70's, it was a blast.

                  That beautiful vette, alas looks like it is too precious to drive.;)
                  But it would sure make my adrenaline flow if I could take it down a quiet country road - which would loose the quiet as a result. I'd love to hear it run, even sitting still.

                  I was always impressed by "Generous Motors" and their four different 350's (B,C,O,P). I think the Buick version was the most phsyically compact of them all, and it produced more torque than the others at lower speeds - making it feel more powerful in stock condtion and normal driving than the higher HP Chevies and Pontiacs. The Olds 350 was kind of in between the two camps.

                  Congrats on the dream job - sounds like fun - I used to enjoy test drives on cars like these most of all when I was turning wrenches.
                  sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
                  If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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                  • #10
                    Ahhh!! Finally some really sweet car porn!! That vette is double sick!!

                    Good to hear from you James, glad to see you doing something you enjoy!

                    How's your ride lookin these days?:)

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
                      Ahhh!! Finally some really sweet car porn!! That vette is double sick!!

                      Good to hear from you James, glad to see you doing something you enjoy!

                      How's your ride lookin these days?:)

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                      • #12
                        James....very nice indeed. Good going!
                        Welcome, you step into a forum of the flash bang, chew toy hell, and shove it down your throat brutal honesty. OoE

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                        • #13
                          James ,

                          Bravo. Cannot imagine doing that type of detail work. I hate just washing the car..

                          But I think you made a mistake in your post.

                          You called it your "Job".

                          A man once told me that "You will never have a job as long as you are doing something that you love"

                          Your having too much fun for it to be a job
                          Last edited by Gun Grape; 24 Jul 10,, 20:11.

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                          • #14
                            I know there's a lot more to the vette than body and paint, but I wanted to point out a good detailer makes bodymen and painters shine, so to speak. Anyone who has seen a car fresh from the booth knows what I mean. Great job. By the way, your Cutlass (78-80) is what I wanted in school, but I had a Celebrity sedan instead. Go me. Beautiful Cutlass, James.

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                            • #15
                              Wow James...that looks REAL GOOD!!! :)
                              “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix
                              "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
                              sigpic

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