Rain on your proverbial parade is one thing. Hail on your pride-and-joy 1967 Chevelle is something else. In this particular instance, it’s an interruptive setback to happy motoring.
As we’re getting acquainted with the job at hand, we’re optimistic the existing finish might be enough to fair away this dang many dings. For the most part, this car’s body parts are still OE from GM.
Around these parts of northwestern Montana, we hear our hail described as “baseball size” and even “softball size” on occasion. When the Big Sky hurls big hail, what’s caught outdoors will surely take a beating.
This OE-style cowl induction hood is not OE. It’s an older reproduction part. We suspect it’s stamped from something less than 18-gauge steel, as its dings appear deeper. It’ll be Tony Smith’s call, but this hood might be replaced.
When we asked Andy Winters (our subject Chevelle’s owner) about his damages, he likened the offending hail size to that of Bing cherries. Although it could’ve been worse, Winters’ insurer might consider his car a total loss—at least according to the first appraiser to come and have a look.
With the decklid removed, its hinges would still be in the way. If we popped the torsion rods we’d likely never get them reloaded. Smith handles it this way, and it just seems worth a mention.
It’s been 14 years now since Tony Smith of TBS Customs refinished Winters’ Chevelle, but prior to the hailstorm it showed no signs of deterioration whatsoever. One contributing factor to this older finish’s longevity is mil thickness—or perhaps mil thinness would be a better way to put it. At any rate, excessive mil thickness limits a finish’s all-important ability to expand and contract with temperature changes.
As seen on sociable media, here’s a sampling of the latest in blocking (we say fairing) technology at work. Smith begins with 180-grit wet as a test. He then switches to continue and finish with 500.
Last time, Smith began by abrasive blasting the car’s body sheetmetal down to bare steel. To ensure continued longevity, it really should be stripped again. Rather interestingly, however, the appraiser representing a known-and-trusted insurer of classic cars thinks otherwise. In line with company policy, insurance will help with repair costs, but it won’t cover the cost of stripping any existing finish.
While fairing the roof skin wet, we don’t clearly see results as we go. Following this bit of squeegee action, we’re about to get a gander.
At times like these, it’s good to hatch a plan B. Apart from material buildup concerns, the existing finish could make a solid substrate for additional topcoats. If by chance it could be faired down far enough, we just might maintain some durability. If by chance we could also fair away countless hailstorm dings, well that’d be a win-win, wouldn’t it?
The shiny spots are obviously hail damage. Quite fortunately, we see no cracking (it would’ve by now), so existing topcoats are at least somewhat flexible.
For the purpose of practicality, the OE roof skin really should be salvaged. If the decklid and filler panel happen to fair out and survive, we’ll gladly take that, too. Repair of this car’s older reproduction cowl induction hood might not be as practical, so we’ll consider a newer reproduction hood from Auto Metal Direct (AMD).
Roughly several hours later, this previously pelted roof skin has indeed faired out favorably. At this stage in 500-grit, it’s an OK candidate for recoating.
As this job progresses, you may note the absence of a typical automotive paint booth. For color consistency of the chosen pearlescent metallic hue, Smith knows to shoot all body panels in the same session. This car will be refinished in pieces, which wouldn’t fit in most booths at one time, anyway.
While side panels aren’t so damaged, we must still fair them down for a new finish to last. Whiter areas are old urethane clear. To the right, the darker spot is old basecoat.
Day in, day out, Smith refinishes big trucks and heavy equipment, so the expanse of the building you’ll see is his paint booth. It’s well designed, kept clean, and rest assured, there’s more-than-adequate ventilation.
Well, what do you know—the OE decklid no longer shows damage. It’s been faired out wet, the same way as we’ve seen. Currently in 500-grit, it can be recoated as well.
With those things said, the tech to follow won’t be so much about shooting as it will be about repairing the actual hailstorm damage. If anybody’s wondering, materials used will be Montana-compliant, but we won’t focus on brands that you might not have access to.
. Deciding to replace the heavier-damaged hood, Smith placed an order with AMD. Perhaps in shipping, the outer box took an obvious forklift hit, but there’s an inner box.
In such situations where we must do the same big job—twice, it’s nice to gain a little something. TBS Customs is the shop next door. Tony Smith is a respectable artist and craftsman—and we know him well enough to call him “friend.” We also know him well enough to know that pre-loss condition won’t be his stopping point. No indeed, he’ll make this old Chevelle even nicer than before.
As it’s emerged from the unscathed inner box, this new hood looks really nice. Just a few passes with a fairing board, however, reveal the new hood’s needs.The new hood’s raised centersection is just fine as it is. Here on this side, we now see highs and lows.On the opposite side, the fairing board reading is about the same. It’s better than the old hood. We’re happy to get it, but it’ll require some work before paint—so know thatAs we’ve come to find out, the new hood is not an AMD-manufactured item but rather an AMD-stocked item. Autobody survivors of the ’60s might tell you the surplus of OE parts they used were imperfect assembly line rejects, anyway—so know that, too.We won’t expound each step, but here’s minor filler work, finished, just prior to primer. Mil gauge readings vary up to 12 mils, which really don’t amount to much at all.Now let’s switch to living color! As we’ve said, shooting all panels in one session helps to ensure color consistency. For this pearlescent metallic hue, it’s just about a no-brainer.Before we proceed, a day or two in summer sunshine will promote the curing process. Then there’ll be all the usual cutting and buffing to attend to.Panels painted in horizontal positions are naturally susceptible to settling impurities, but these’ll buff right out. By the way, the reproduction hood turned out beautifully.There will still be manual color sanding, but here with 1,500-grit, a Hutchins Water Bug is speed equipment for such expanses. Quite conveniently, it’s a Summit staple.For checking progress often, the trusty squeegee is our timesaving little buddy. Here again, we’re about to get another gander—and instinct says we’ll be buffing soon.Those of us who’ve done much buffing know about back pain—especially when we’re hunched over a roof, right? Here we might take a tip from Smith, as he’s tilted the car.It’s nice when a job of this size just reassembles itself overnight. Of course, that rarely happens. It’s not what’s happened here, but this isn’t a nuts-and-bolts story.No indeed, we’re just admiring our reflections. The OE front bumper had a peeling re-chrome job, so Smith opted to replace it with this beautiful reproduction, also from AMD.With other jobs to juggle, this took about four months with upwards of 100 hours invested—and as we’ve expected, the redo from hail is levels above pre-loss condition.
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