# New Product Testing - Monster 4x4 1957 Chevy Bel Air



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*New Product Testing - Monster 4x4 1957 Chevy Bel Air*

Nick came to my office recently with some new product to test. I knew that in order to really put the collection of new products to a real test I would need something large in order to spend *hours buffing* not just a few minutes buffing out a fender or two. So I contacted my friend Billy and asked him when the last time he had his old 2-door Chevy detailed and he said it had been over a year. Since this car doesn't fit inside his garage it's parked outside 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. When there's not another project in the middle of the build he does have a carport that's tall enough to park under so it does get some protection from the sun's rays and full-on South Florida weather.

Here's Billy's car. It's a Monster 4x4 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Yes, I asked, it's a real Bel Air not just a 1957 Chevy with the Bel Air Trim package. And if you're wondering how big those tires are, it's sitting on 46" Micky Thompson Baja Claws!










The paint is a modern urethane single stage metallic, both the pearl white and the green sections. Over the last year the paint has oxidized and become stained. It also has a lot of contamination as Billy does a lot of metal fab work and painting at his shop.



















If you look closely, you can see lines in the paint in the next three pictures running from top to bottom, these are the stains in the paint following the path of gravity.





































Waterless wash
First thing I need to get it clean and since it's as large as an RV I used *McKee's RV Wash & Wax on the Go* to wipe her down. This waterless wash work great to clean both neglected paint and paint in excellent condition. It's available by the 32 ounce bottle and also by the gallon. You can also purchase it as a concentrate and mix your own ready to use waterless wash yourself.



















Nanoskin pads
If you've read my book, *How to use the FLEX 3401 for both Show Car Detailing and Production Detailing* then you know I think the Nanoskin Autoscrub pads are one of the the best ways to get contaminated paint perfectly clean and smooth. So for this Monster 4x4 that's what I used to remove the above surface bonded contaminants only instead of the FLEX 3401 I used the new *FLEX XFE 7 - 15mm Free spinning, long stroke orbital polisher*.



























































































McKee's 37

For the testing I'm going to use the vertical panels because I can reach them while standing on my two feet. So for the higher, horizontal panels, I knocked these out using a one-step product called *McKee's 37 Jewelling Wax* with an *Autogeek's 6.5" ThinPro White Foam Polishing pad*. This product cleaned, polished and left the paint on the roof, hood and trunklid protected in one step. Now I can return the JLG Hydraulic Lift back to the warehouse.


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued...

New Product Testing

Now that the paint on the sides of the Monster 4x4 Chevy Bel Air are clean and decontaminated it's time to busy testing new products. This is where classic body styles like this 1957 Chevy Bel Air com in handy for hours of buffing to see how new product will react over time.




































































































*Nick even stopped by to get a feel for the new products...

*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued...

Time to seal the deal

In order seal the paint and maximize the gloss and protection I chose 2 products from Dodo Juice Carnauba Waxes. *Dodo Juice Light Fantastic Soft Wax* and *Dodo Juice Rainforest Rub Soft Wax*. I love the *Griot's 3" Mini Polisher* as a machine wax spreader and also for machine wet sanding with 3" sanding discs. There's no sanding going on here but there's a lot of sheetmetal real-estate to cover. With a 3" foam pad I can place the pad directly into the jar of wax and then simply blip the on/off button on the polisher to get some wax on the pad. Then it's just a matter of spreading it over the panels.

Dodo Juice Carnauba Waxes and the Griot's 3" Mini Polisher


















































































Griot's Garage PFM Wax Removal Towel

To remove the wax I'm testing out the new *Griot's Garage Pure Freakin' Match Wax Removal Towels*. What makes these cool is they are single sided so no need to fold and re-fold or remember which of the 8 sides of a normal 16" x 16" towel has been used or not used. The towel also offers something I talk a lot about when it comes to restoring antique single stage paint with Meguiar's #7 Show Car Glaze and that's a large loop nap towel. For restoring paint I use a large nap cotton towel to act as both a gentle forum of abrasive and also to slice into the thick oily layer of #7 when it's time to remove it.

This is a microfiber towel so you get the safety and plushness of microfiber but the large loop works to slice into and break up layers of wax or actually anything you want to remove.



















*Enough talking... time to start removing wax...*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued...

Here's the results... 
































































_This 4x4 Monster Chevy Bel Air is ready to cruise or go mud bogging!_


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Bloody hell mike that is a real monster to detail, loving the lift and I do like the black polisher! I wonder what it is ??? Mmmm


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

chongo said:


> Bloody hell mike that is a real monster to detail, loving the lift


Here in the states this type of car build is what's called *******.

Just an American thing...


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Big job - products look good and as always a great review


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