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As many of you know, my 2002 sixer vert was the automotive equivalent of a pound puppy rescue. It had a good life for the first 6 years of its life, but it had a disastrous 7th year with a cruel mistress, who completely trashed it inside and out, and unceremoniously dumped it on the doorstep of a Ford dealer in Virginia.
Among the many abuses and scars it suffered, some of the most obvious (right behind the left rear quarter panel damage) was the Alabama trailer park paint job on the rear bumper cover, and the deep key gouges that cut down to the primer on the driver's door, the right rear quarter, and across the top of the spoiler. Because it was so deep, I just tried to keep it clean to lessen the effect, and figured it would be that way until the day came that I could justify a completely new paint job.
Recently I parked the beast under a sodium vapor lamp in our parking structure, and when I came out at the end of the day to drive it home, the key marks looked so glaring to me that at first I thought they were new and that the car had been keyed all over again.
Later that evening, it came back to me that several people had commented on Joel's (JoeliusZ28) car detailing skills, so I PM'ed him and asked him if he could do anything for the key scratches. He said that he could.
We set up a time to bring the car out to his place, and on the appointed day he started out by going around the car and filling the gouges with touch-up paint. For some reason, the paint wasn't drying very quickly, so we had to reschedule another day to do the wet sanding, the compounding, the polishing, etc. That day was today.
Here's the result of the paint therapy that Joel gave the beast. It's hard for me to believe that it came out so well. Unless you know where to look, you would hardly ever know the car was keyed. The surface is now even and completely, consistently glossy. Joel even turned the spray-bomb paint job on the bumper into a sweet looking finish.
Another thing we did while the car was in his garage is the removal of the body side rub strips. They had become discolored and were pretty rough looking--almost as if the previous owner discovered through sheer stupidity that you couldn't clean your car with a can of Easy-Off oven cleaner and some Brillo pads. We soaked the strips with Goo-Gone gel, then I pulled them off and seriously buggered up my thumbs by scraping off the remaining adhesive with my fingernails. The moldings were literally just that: MOLD-ings. You could smell a mildewy, musty odor as the peeling strips revealed a slimey black paste of collected filth. Joel also hit this area with his magic once the adhesive was removed, and now the sides of the beast have that smooth clean look that I've admired on Kolin's and Spencer's Camaros.
All I had with me was my iPhone 3gs (can't upgrade until next April!), but these pics give you an idea of how much better the beast looks now. A big thanks to Joel for taking the time to do it up right, even on my 175K mile DD. I almost feel like I'm in love with a different Camaro now!
Here's the freshly-shaved side after the sanding and polishing out of the former key gouges:
Joel is hard at work on the passenger's side:
The rear bumper cover and the refinished quarter panel & deck lid spoiler all gleam with their new shine:
Watch for the beast to debut its new look at the GM Heritage Center gathering this coming Saturday, October 23!
Among the many abuses and scars it suffered, some of the most obvious (right behind the left rear quarter panel damage) was the Alabama trailer park paint job on the rear bumper cover, and the deep key gouges that cut down to the primer on the driver's door, the right rear quarter, and across the top of the spoiler. Because it was so deep, I just tried to keep it clean to lessen the effect, and figured it would be that way until the day came that I could justify a completely new paint job.
Recently I parked the beast under a sodium vapor lamp in our parking structure, and when I came out at the end of the day to drive it home, the key marks looked so glaring to me that at first I thought they were new and that the car had been keyed all over again.
Later that evening, it came back to me that several people had commented on Joel's (JoeliusZ28) car detailing skills, so I PM'ed him and asked him if he could do anything for the key scratches. He said that he could.
We set up a time to bring the car out to his place, and on the appointed day he started out by going around the car and filling the gouges with touch-up paint. For some reason, the paint wasn't drying very quickly, so we had to reschedule another day to do the wet sanding, the compounding, the polishing, etc. That day was today.
Here's the result of the paint therapy that Joel gave the beast. It's hard for me to believe that it came out so well. Unless you know where to look, you would hardly ever know the car was keyed. The surface is now even and completely, consistently glossy. Joel even turned the spray-bomb paint job on the bumper into a sweet looking finish.
Another thing we did while the car was in his garage is the removal of the body side rub strips. They had become discolored and were pretty rough looking--almost as if the previous owner discovered through sheer stupidity that you couldn't clean your car with a can of Easy-Off oven cleaner and some Brillo pads. We soaked the strips with Goo-Gone gel, then I pulled them off and seriously buggered up my thumbs by scraping off the remaining adhesive with my fingernails. The moldings were literally just that: MOLD-ings. You could smell a mildewy, musty odor as the peeling strips revealed a slimey black paste of collected filth. Joel also hit this area with his magic once the adhesive was removed, and now the sides of the beast have that smooth clean look that I've admired on Kolin's and Spencer's Camaros.
All I had with me was my iPhone 3gs (can't upgrade until next April!), but these pics give you an idea of how much better the beast looks now. A big thanks to Joel for taking the time to do it up right, even on my 175K mile DD. I almost feel like I'm in love with a different Camaro now!
Here's the freshly-shaved side after the sanding and polishing out of the former key gouges:
Joel is hard at work on the passenger's side:
The rear bumper cover and the refinished quarter panel & deck lid spoiler all gleam with their new shine:
Watch for the beast to debut its new look at the GM Heritage Center gathering this coming Saturday, October 23!
for joels detailing capabilities!
357ci LT1, cammed, stalled, and driven. 
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