# 1959 Chevrolet El Camino - Extreme Makeover - Modeled by Tina



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*1959 Chevrolet El Camino - Extreme Makeover - Modeled by Tina*










:thumb:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Inspecting the paint visually - Outside*

As soon as Al arrived to Autogeek I went outside to do my best to use what was left of overhead sunlight to capture the swirls in the paint. It was almost 5:00pm so the sun is low in the sky making it difficult to get good sun highlighted swirl shots.

*Here you can see holograms or what are called rotary buffer swirls...*



























*Wiping car clean*
*Now we've moved the El Camino into Autogeek's Show Car Garage Studio and started to wiper her down..*









*Inspecting the paint visually - Inside*
After wiping the exterior down using Detailer's Pro Series Waterless Wash it was time to inspect the paint for swirls using artificial lights...

*The entire finish looks like this...*








































































*Inspecting the paint physically with your sense of touch*










*Here's Al feeling the paint using a plastic sandwich baggie...* 









*The Baggie Test*









*Rough Feel = Paint and smooth surfaces need to be clayed*
The paint felt very rough all over, including the vertical sides, under the rear horizontal fins, all over the glass, chrome and even trim, so next up is using detailing clay to clay the exterior.









*Here's Jeff claying the trim and the white paint inside the trim strips...*









*This was the first time Al had ever used detailing clay but it only took a few seconds to get a feel for the technique...*


















*There was all kinds of gunk bonded to the outside of the car, here's a picture of what was coming off the paint and onto the clay...*









*Al claying like a pro!*









*Here's Robert claying the custom made and very rare hard tonneau cover...*









*Even the chrome bumpers had some type of gunk or overspray on them...*









As we finished up the claying step I took this picture because you can see even though we have not done any paint polishing the paint is already looking better and more glosssy...









*Benefits to claying your car* 

*Gloss comes from smoothness*
*Claying restores smoothness which restores gloss*
*Claying also enables your choice of wax to stick or bond better to the paint so it will last longer...*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

_Continued..._

*Doing a Test Spot*

Next up we did a Test Spot to see what it was going to take to remove the swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation in order to restore a show car shine...

Before buffing out the entire car we first tested the paint to see what it would take to remove the defects. I did the test spot and started with a Tangerine Polishing Pad with Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover on a PC 7424XP on speed setting 6









*Robert strips the paint using IPA diluted with water to about 12% dilution strength...* 









*Robert wiping off the panel while Jeff watches...*









Here's the before and after difference using the flash from my camera to light up the paint...

*Before Side*









*After Side*









*Before Side*









*After Side*









*Before and after...*


















*The Major Correction Step*
While the Tangerine pad worked we switched over the the Cyan Hydro-Tech pads for a more aggressive cut to speed things up.

*Robert applying Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover to the face of a 6.5" Cyan Hydro-Tech Foam Cutting pad on a Flex 3401 *









*Steve applying Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover to the face of a 6.5" Cyan Hydro-Tech Foam Cutting pad on a Meguiar's G110v2 DA Polisher*









*Jeff working the swirls and scratches out of the hood using a Flex 3401*


















*Rene working swirls and scratches out of the hard tonneau cover...*









*Steve removing swirls and scratches using a Griot's Garage DA Polisher*


















*Rene working down the side of the bed...*









*Robert using a Flex 3403 Rotary Buffer with a prototype 4" Cyan Foam Cutting Pad*


















*Me using a wool cutting pad on a Flex PE 15 on the top of the fender...*









*Me following the wool pad with a prototype foam Cyan Hydro-Tech foam cutting pad...*









*The Polishing or Minor Correction Step*

*Al machine polishing with a Porter Cable 7424XP with a Tangerine Polishing pad and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish *









*Jeff machine polishing with a Flex 3401 and a 4" Tangerine Hydro-Tech Polishing Pad*









*Sharif machine polishing with a Porter Cable 7424XP with a Tangerine Polishing pad and Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish*









*Rene and Sharif machine polishing the roof...*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

_Continued..._

*The Sealing or Protection Step*

After machine polishing we switched over to Crimson Hydro-Tech Finishing pads to machine apply Detailer's Pro Series Max Wax.

*Here's Steve wearing a microfiber glove as he applies a paste wax to the face of a foam pad...*


















*Rene machine waxing the roof...*









*Jeff machine waxing the hood with a Flex 3401*


















*Steve machine waxing the front passenger side fender using a Griot's Garage DA Polisher...*


















*Rene having way too much fun as usual...*









*Sharif carefully removing the wax using a* Super Soft Deluxe Green Microfiber Towel *with a rolled edges...*








__________________


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Beauty Shots*






























































































































































































:thumb:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Swirl Girl #7 - Tina
*Like always, I hope *everyone* will join with me in welcoming *Swirl Girl #7*

She's kind of a Tomboy as she grew up with a dad that's into cars and she definitely knows her stuff and... brings a little charm to the car world.

She also might join the forum and say "hello" to all of us that are so passionate about this craft so hang tight and I will go through my memory card real quick and pick out a few pics to post...
















































































































































































































Thank you to everyone that worked on this project, thank you to All for trusting Autogeek with his very cool car and thank you to Tina for stopping by and lending a hand inspecting our work...

:thumb:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

_Continued..._























































*I call this the dreamy shot...
*



























*Stunning finish by Max Wax...
*


















*Autographed Swirl Guns for a Charity Fundraiser
*



























*Here's the Motley Crew...*

_From left to right..._

*Sharif, Al, Rene, me, Robert*
*Steve and Jeff...
*









My friend Robert had to leave early but had time to get his picture taken with Tina...


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Excellent work as always mike. I tried swapping the mustang for an el camino a while back but alas was too late 

Tina is the best swirl girl to date:thumb:


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

She drives a lifted 4x4, pretty cool looking. I'm going to have her and Nicole back to put a show car shine on her truck and have her be part of the crew.

I met Tina through Nicole, they are good friends, here's Nicole with Tina...










Probably won't be till February as we go into TV production in 11 days...


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

I absolutely LOVE your threads.....American Cars are just AMAZING, in my opinion.

If I was to commit suicide, I would chuck myself in front of one, just to go with a smile on my face  :thumb:


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## ChrisST (Jul 19, 2009)

Stunning :thumb:
I just love American muscle and classics, thanks for posting.

I agree with Stang regarding Tina..great looking girl.


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

ChrisST said:


> Stunning :thumb:
> I just love American muscle and classics, thanks for posting.
> 
> I agree with Stang regarding Tina..great looking girl.


I agree with all of the above...

Nicole's Dad, Tommy, he's the guy with the 1970 Camaro below with his daughter Nicole modeling it, just introduced me to *Sam*. She's going to be Swirl Girl #8

*Sam*









*Nicole*









Just need to find the right car for Sam...

:thumb:


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## ChrisST (Jul 19, 2009)

Just need to find the right car for Sam...

:thumb:[/QUOTE]

Ooh, find a 1970 Chevelle SS and i'll be in heaven.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

ChrisST said:


> Just need to find the right car for Sam...
> 
> :thumb:


Ooh, find a 1970 Chevelle SS and i'll be in heaven. [/QUOTE]

It is a little spooky but that's the EXACT same car I thought of when I read that! So I will make another request, get me a 57 corvette, dark blue with White maybe  Sam will look great in it


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

I have 3-4 friends with 1970 Chevelles around my home town, this one is going to be on our TV show and we could easily use it for one of Autogeek's Car of the Week projects.

Sorry for the lousy camera focus I struggle with my stock camera lens getting good shots in the dark...

*Bob's 1970 Chevelle SS 396* 









We start shooting the next season of our TV show on January 9th and I'm busy all the way till after the second shoot in February so it might be a while before I have time for another car and another Swirl Girl...

It's a hard job but someone has to do it...


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## Big Buffer (Jan 1, 2011)

Yank motors are ace. I have a soft spot for the 69 Impala some huge panels on these things


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