Technical 57 Chevy 210 rework thread & need some buffing advice.

I'm doing some work on my dad's '57 Chevy 210 2 door hardtop and I thought I'd start a mini-build thread and also ask for some advice on buffing.

A bit about the car, it was hot-rodded at some point many years ago with a 327/Muncie 4 speed/Olds rearend and repainted tomato soup red (was originally green). It has some neat custom made door panels and they chromed the whole speedo cluster along with the glovebox door, ashtray and some other dash bits.

It also had some terrible 80's wheels and got it's original seats swapped for some giant headrest jobs from the late 70's. Last year it got the steel wheels and dog dish caps and a new engine, still has the Muncie and Olds rear.

Now I'm in charge of finishing it out, needs a headliner and new carpet, repaint of the dash (keeping all the old chrome stuff, plus radio and clock deletes), recovering an original set of seat frames (not cheap, but just doesn't look right without them), along with some new window gaskets and exterior detailing.

Here's what it looked like last year after Round 1 of repairs,



I'll take some more pictures as the build progresses.

But for now, I could use some advice on buffing. The paint on the car is ancient but in surprisingly good shape. It did have quite a bit of wear on it though and many touchups so I decided to give it a buff job.

I color sanded the whole car with 2000 grit paper (didn't touch it with anything heavier than that) and it seemed to knock flat really well. Now I'm just wondering what the best course of buffing materials would be.

I've got quite a bit of material around, I've got a gallon jug of 3M Perfect-It II rubbing compound, a bottle of 3M Imperial Compound and Finishing Material, some 3M Finesse-It III and some Wizards Turbo Cut. I tried buffing it with a foam pad and both the Wizards and the Finesse-It but both left a haze.

I ***ume I need a wool pad (going to buy a new one tomorrow, my old ones are pretty rough) but would anyone like to suggest what the best material would be to take out my 2000 grit scratches, and what a good finishing material/sealer would be?

 

I don't know about buffing, but I sure like that hot rod 57!

 

Whichever way you choose to buff with wool or foam, I would first wet sand it again with 3000 grit and a drop or 2 of Ivory dishwashing liquid soap. Safer way to remove scratches and make final buff easier. Maybe try a small section first?

 

Wow, look at that, a 210 hardtop.
What a beauty, wonder how many people look at that and say; boy that's a nice 57 BelAir.
If they only knew how rare they are, not a lot of these around anymore.

 

Squablow,

I may be telling you something you already know... if you go lookin' for original seats for the 210, the '57 front seats are actually a little different from the ones that came in the '55 & '56. I don't remember the details, but it's significant enough that if your dad wants original style interior from Ciadella or someone else, that it will fit differently. I don't remember if the rear seat is different between the years, but the rear seat is different between the sedans & HT's.

Love the look of that 210. Was it painted the original Matador red or some other of the bazillion reds out there?

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

We've already found and bought an original set of '57 2 door hardtop seats. They weren't cheap but the seats that are in there are just awful.

As for the paint color, I'm not real sure, it could be that original red, it definitely has that slightly orange tint to it that the original red seemed to have. I think the paint is older than I am though, so not real sure.

 

You mentioned the car was originally green. Out of curiousity... which green? Highland? Surf? Laurel?

 

The backs of the 57 seats are thinner than the 55-56.

 

There are only a few areas showing the original green so it's kinda hard to tell but it looks like it was originally Surf green. It seems too light and bright to be Highland green, definitely not Laurel green.

Was probably cool looking when it was new. Looks to have been a V8/Powerglide car originally.

 

These are the seats we got for it, I will be recovering them in red and black in the Belair pattern, we got a repop kit. You can kinda see the old custom door panels someone made for them, red pleated vinyl and black with the trim to cover up the seams (nothing was sewn). They're in good shape yet and neat looking so those we'll keep and the new seat upholstery matches pretty well.

 

Old, cured paint is pretty tough to buff out. I agree with at least cutting it with 3000 grit, it will help. But if you're already at 3000, buffing should be easier. I would even try buffing it with a foam pad with Meguire's Double Cut Compound, or the most aggressive 3M Perfect-It compound. The wool pad may be a bit rough for doing over a 3000 cut finish. Always try the least aggressive way to get the shine back. It will save steps afterwards, and not remove as much paint film.
After the compound cut, go with foam, and Meguire's #2, or their dual action ( I forget the #) polishing liquid. If you want the ultimate, then use a very soft foam pad, with # 9 or a glaze, like Race Glaze, or 3m's Imperial. Lastly, if the car will be in the elements a lot, a pure carnuba wax.

 

I have yet to see a custom tri-five Chevy interior that looks better than the slick stock G.M. stuff from the 50's......that stock G.M. upololstery defiantly defines that era. Your Dad is going to end up with a nice Chevy!

 

I recently saw photos of a Surf green '57 210 HT. I though it was *bay, but I couldn't find it there. Sounds like you and your dad have everything in order. Lookin' forward to seeing it when you get it all taken care of.

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

Honestly I never knew 3000 grit even existed, but my automotive shop says they can have some for me tomorrow and I'll go over the 2000 with that, 3000 grit should buff out really easily I would think.

 

Use the Ivory soap as well.

 

Oh boy .... I never thought I would offer any tips to you Squablow ... your threads are epic ! Love 'em all.

Wetsand your balls off. Mind your bodylines, and sharp edges. Yes 3000 grit, but also yes to 4000 & 5000 grit. If you're **** as all get all .... remove any trim, handles, and related. Easier and more dramatic end results. Slicksand it smooth. Don't lean into it. We like paint.

Once you get to 5000 you can polish with whatever finishing creme you choose. No compound. No wool bonnet needed. Baby spit and foam pads will do it. Wring baby liberally.

I love going over good paint like this. It's an amazing end result. Obviously something with thin paint already ... is a beware situation. Not a process for a greenhorn. You sir ... are not that !

Take care, and thanks for all your posts. You're a "can do" kind of guy. Nice '57 !!

 

5000 grit! That's some damn fine paper!

I took the door handles off to buff around them better. It's mostly the upper surfaces that need the buffing most (as you'd expect from 40 year old paint) and I'm very careful about edges since I've burnt my share of them off learning how to buff.

I prefer the Finesse-It on a foam pad but in this case it just wasn't taking the haze off, I think I'll forgo the wool bonnet for now and just go way finer on the paper. I think I am going to buy a thicker foam pad though, those thin ones can be dangerous.

When I think back to the body shop I used to work at, we never had anything more than 1500 grit and everything got a wool pad and heavy compound, on fairly fresh paint too. There's a big learning curve for a high school kid putting a buffer like that onto a just-painted 50K Thunderbird.

I must have picked up bad habits, but in this case, I'll happily let them die. I've got a couple other buffing projects I have to do this summer and all the good advice I can get, I'll take.

 

I've heard a drop of dish soap helps too, I'll do that.

 

Yes sir ! Dish soap sweeps the water and keeps its tension on the panel you're working over. Keeps your paper cleaner, and the water sticks to your area better.

You can get finer grades of paper in Europe, Germany uses a lot of that 'ztuff. 5000 is my last stop though. The local color supply in Dallas is higher priced than internet is. Stay away from Chinese made. Its cheap, but it ****s. Granules fall off, and the paper scratches the paint. Go figure !

Jewelers polish with abrasives. Nothing but stone to stone. Kinda' hard to fathom, but they buff with abrasive material all the way to the last step. The medium we use is liquid historically, their's for millenia is rock to rock. Pretty cool to wrap your head around.

P.S. sorry for all the edits. This damn smart phone is near the HAMB cut off date. Keep having to close thread and reopen to talk. It's akin to gargling with mashed potatoes.

 

What type of paint is it?

 

My 3000 grit came in and I'm going to go try it now, but earlier today I made a junkyard run to find some much needed pieces. Found what I needed too, including some hardtop-only roof/headliner moldings inside this gem. Great to have a local junkyard that doesn't crush stuff like this!

 

Squablow,

your comment about headliner mouldings made me curious... are you talking about the inside stainless above the side windows on Belairs? Atleast in '56, the 210 HT's didn't have any stainless above the side windows. They had an unusual double seamed detail sewn into the headliner. Even the inner C-pillar moulding didn't extend to the side moulding. It's a 210 HT specific piece (for '56).. I know someone locally with an all original '57 210 (restored) that he has had for almost ever, but I can't remember how the headliner is treated in that.

I'm remembering you said your Dad is opting for the Belair seatcovers in his 210...

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

I wondered about that, but the corner pieces definitely indicate a molding over the sides, although those corner trims could have been swapped out for Belair parts at one time I guess. I don't know how to cover the staples and tacks if it doesn't have the molding over it, but now I really want to see what a '57 210 hardtop looks like on the sides of the headliner.

 

I noticed your parts car photo showed a Starchief, which I think was treated the same as a Belair as far as the stainless goes. I have an extra pair of the C-pillar stainless (interior) from a Pontiac 860 and/or 870 series (chieftain) that is like the '56 210 that I picked up for a song at a swap meet. It was so cheap and so perfect I couldn't say no to the cheap price. You're making me think that the double extended seam on my 210 HT maybe hiding those staples/tacks.

So, after looking, I think I found a '57 210 HT interior that appears similiar to stock, atleast for the headliner. Goto 1:56 and you'll see some interior panning of the interior:

This was first thing I found after doing some searching. You'll notice the c-pillar stainless only branches to the rear window moulding.

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

OK, here's a better vid showing a 210 interior, appearing as original. At 6:29 you can see them panning the headliner details.

 

Ah, the little tri 5 nuances. There are a few pieces for these cars that you just can't buy new, 210 dash trim included.
The Bel Air interior is going to look super in the car.

This is a 210 interior pic.
the ''shattered safety gl***'' pattern is what I call it.

 

Good info on the headliner. A new headliner came with the car when my dad bought it, I'm going to check to see if it has that seam on it.

I think I might use the trim anyway though since it'll be so much easier to hide my staples and stuff with trim. It got a spray of buckshot on one side so I'll probably just fill it in and paint it to match the windshield garnish trim. The car is a bit custom anyway, I think it'll work.

I agree about the Belair seat pattern. It's cooler than the 210 pattern, seems like a period swap for a hot rod anyway. Anything is better than the super high back buckets that were in there, I only have this one bad pic but you get the idea.

 

I like that you are getting rid of the high back buckets. I don't have too much trouble accepting other seat choices in the tri-fives, but seats with headrests stick out like a sore, gangrenous thumb on these cars... to my eye.

 

Good looking car. The guy I got my 210 from was in the process of collecting trim to make it a bel air. I sold all that off.
sounds like youre on track for buffing, cant wait to see it shining

 

I find its easier to sand then buff.GO TO 3000 THEN GO TO FOAM.I LIKE EAGLE ABRASIVES.