The after "orange" 72 Chevelle pics

[bobs409]

Well, it took a bit longer than expected but I can now finally offer some after shots. There are still a few things left to do like rear window trim, 3 emblems, headliner and hood pins but those are minor.

Her she is after being wet sanded and buffed out. Paint is shiney and deep! Car turns heads like I thought it would. :brow I'm really happy with the white stripes, they compliment the white interior.

http://www.348-409.com/72pic1.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic2.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic3.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic4.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic5.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic6.jpg
http://www.348-409.com/72pic7.jpg

[Ronnie Russell]

Beautiful job, Bob........ You have a real knack as to what will look good after its finished. Who needs a paint booth? Not you.. Great job... :)

[jim_ss409]

It looks terrific! The white stripes and interior really give it a nice muscle car era look.:clap

[SS425HP]

That is NICE. That's all I can say. NICE

[oldskydog]

WOW! I never cared much for the 72....but that is very NICE Bob. Now you can spend all your free time trying to keep that white interior white.
:cheers :clap

[bobs409]

Thanks guys. :cheers

It sure looks better in this color than the original brown. :evil

[No409]

That looks awesome Bob.

my 55 got white int, and it is a pain to keep clean(if your always dirty like me)

[skipxt4]

BOB: That turned out really nice.:bow Now get busy with the garage. You don't want to leave your fleet of Chevelles/Malibu's outside any longer.:clap :clap Again thats an awesome looking ride. Skip:)

[dq409]

Man,,,, It did turn out nice !!!!:clap

My Impala is on the way !! Let me know when she`s done,,,dq

[droptop62]

Very nice!
Whats next??
we've seen a shortbox chevy get customized with bowtie taillights.
a 66 impala get the full treatment.
and now the 72 malibu got a complete facelift and new half quarter panel.
which one is next?? you must have something being planned.
probably the garage, but I want to see your next car project.
:clap

[wrench]

Hmmm.......I dunno......I think you need to practice up on your restoration, detailing and painting skills. :D :D

I have one you can practice on....my 62 BelAir. :) :) Yeah, that's the ticket....... ;)

BTW, excellent!

[bobs409]

Please, don't send me any more WORK! :D I have 4 more that need the "treatment" as it is. :p

Up next is the garage. Last week we cut down a few trees to clear the way. Had to rent a huge piece of equipment (lift) to get to the damn things! They were all leaning toward the house so not an easy cut down job. Now my yard is completely full of limbs! Now I have to rent a chipper! :p

All my money and time will be tied up in this project for a while. Besides, I don't even want to look at my welder, grinder or anything else my arm was attached to during the last 4 months! :eek: 1 of these "semi-resto's" is enough per year.

As for what car gets the TLC next.. Hmmm. If those repro people would get off their butts and make the outer wheel houses for '63's, I'd love to get those quarters done! If not, I may start hitting the 66 Chevelle. I put all my money/time into the engine but never did the body or interior. Now that I have some practice, I think it may be time to do those.

First I have to pay for everything to build the garage, then the concrete floor, then the electrical, then the insuation/drywall and then and only then, the LIFT! Can't wait for that! Once I have that, my 2 car garage turns into a 3 car garage.

Here's few pics of the current mess.

[oldskydog]

They actually let you cut down TREES? Did you have to do an environmental impact study? Get a permit? Did you hug them first? What's this country coming to?
:rofl :rofl

[Tom Kochtanek]

Bob, that turned out just fine, judging from the photos. I know what an effort it is to color sand that baby, I'm still doing parts on my '62! Having some trouble getting swirl marks out. Did one side by hand, the other with a machine at low RPMs.

Did you use 1500 grit, then 2000 before polishing? 1500 takes forever and a day to get things leveled and smooth. I was told 1000 and 1200 were "too aggressive" by some colleagues. What was your process to take the initial sprayed surface down?

Great work!

TomK

[bobs409]

Tom, most of the car was smooth but there were some panels with light orange peel. (typical out of the gun, at least MY GUN!) :rofl

I wet sanded with 1500, then went to 2000. I used a window squeegy to keep checking it until it was completely flat.

Then I used a 3-M waffle foam pad with Mequiars fine cut cleaner on a rotary polisher on a low/med speed working in small sections. After that, I used the same pad (cleaned of course) with Mequiars #80 speed glaze. That's where the car is now but I will continue on with swirl remover on a foam pad using my random orbit G-100 polisher (Mequiars) followed by the same with show car glaze, then Mequiars NXT wax when the paint is cured enough for that.

Sorry to sound like a Mequiars commercial. :D Their products rock though!

If you have swirls or shimmering when the sun hits the finish, I recommend getting their G-100 random orbit polisher. I had the same problem with the black 66 Impala and by using that with the speed glaze, swirl remover and wax, it took all of that out. The orange car doesn't really show any swirl but I'm going through all the steps pretending as if it were there. That way, I'll get the best shine in the end.

I recommend checking out Mequiars forum. That's where I got the help to do most of the above. http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/index.php?