Below is Paul's description of the work done to this model.
This
Ertl Hugger Orange, 1970 Nova SS-396, L 78 option started out
as a "donor" car for my first extensive detailing project,
an Ertl LeMans Blue, 1969 Nova SS-396. The donor car’s contributions
were the original bucket seat black interior (I just couldn’t
handle the blue Nova’s blue interior) and white letter tires
and wheels. I hadn’t planned on resurrecting the Hugger Orange
car because the paint had a lot of orange peel and since I got
it on sale at Target for $15 dollars I thought I would just use
it as a parts car. Then I got the bug to "salvage" the
car (waste not, etc.) and contacted
Frank at DCAS about obtaining a replacement black interior. Frank
said, "Why not paint the blue interior?" Yeah, why not!!
So I reviewed my Nova reference data and determined that the 1970
Nova offered a Saddle custom interior. Rather than defaulting
to the all too common black on orange treatment, I decided to
go with the Saddle interior.
The detailing project entailed the following:
Exterior:
Applied Bare Metal Foil to front and rear window moldings, bright roof drip moldings and SS fender ornament louver’s trailing edges, headlight and back-up light reflectors. Painted correct bright metal grille bars. Painted window weather strips and seals; rally wheel lug nuts and center wheel cap inserts; windshield wiper blades and bright metal wiper arms; retouched paint on door locks and painted trunk lock bezel. Polished all windows and wind wings with Meguair’s plastic cleaner and polish system, rubbed out the hugger orange’s "orange peel" with Meguair’s swirl remover and sealed the paint with Meguair’s Gold Class wax system.
Interior:
Spray painted saddle color. Applied Bare Metal Foil door and rear side wall panel trim. Painted custom interior wood accents on door panels and rear seat panels; dashboard details, radio speaker grille and window defroster vents, glove box lock and instrument cluster trim; headlight, window washer and climate control knobs; steering wheel, steering wheel trim and wood accents; headliner, sun visors, gear shift knob and boot; gas, brake and clutch pedal bright metal trim and weather strips on doors.
Engine and engine compartment:
Added spark plug
wires and distributor/coil wire, battery cables, starter cables,
alternator wiring, power brake vacuum hose, PCV hose and water
pump to intake manifold hose; brake lines to master cylinder,
throttle return spring, fuel line from frame to fuel pump and
fuel pump to carburetor. Painted distributor and coil, radiator
and battery caps, windshield washer fluid reservoir with fluid
level showing; molded engine compartment wiring, under hood sound
deadener, power brake plenum and master cylinder; radiator and
heater hose clamps, engine pulleys and various fasteners; transmission,
starter, oil filter, carburetor, radiator support and other under
hood structure. Used the Dremel to partially grind away the hood
hinge cross bar to clear spark plug wires and painted hood hinges.
Cut air cleaner emblems to look correct.
Chassis:
Painted exhaust tips, brake lines, various fasteners, differential cover, universal joints, gas tank straps, steering linkage and various other underbody areas. Painted all exposed inner body areas flat black.
If you have any
questions regarding this detailing project, please feel free
to drop
me an e-mail.
