1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Cutting Over Graphics

You’ve spent months working over your sheet metal until it was razor straight. Countless hours were spent getting every gap and detail just right in preparation for paint. But once the paint is laid down another step is required to get the big payoff from all your hard work—the cut and buff.


The cut and buff procedure, also known as color-sanding and buffing, is the key to turning an average paint job into a show-stopping, winning work of art. A talented painter can lay down the paint nice enough to please many people, but to get that mile-deep mirror-finish requires more work.


Color-sanding, if done correctly, can turn a good paint job into an amazing one. The idea is to smooth out the tiny waves and bumps in the clear coat (commonly referred to as orange peel) and get rid of minute imperfections in the finish. Very specialized high-grit papers are used that range from 400 all the way to super fine 3000 grit varieties.


This is definitely an area where “practice makes perfect,” and if you’re new to this, you might want to spray a few test panels to practice on first. For some professional guidance on how to do this we cruised over to Best Of Show Coach Works in San Marcos, CA., to watch Jon Lindstrom work over Tommy Lau’s freshly-painted ’67 Camaro. Jon’s been doing this for decades and he’s learned what works and what doesn’t. More importantly, he has a keen eye and the patience it takes to spend 40, 50, 60 hours, or even more, to create a show-winning paint job.

  • Camp 0901 02 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Materials
    To get the job done right you need the right materials. What you see here is far more than enough to do a Camaro. Between buffing pads, compounds, and papers, you can expect to use up to about 200 bucks in materials, give or take. For this ’67s cut and polish, we decided to use Meguiar’s line of professional-grade materials.
    To get the job done right you need the right materials. What you see here is far more than
  • Camp 0901 03 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Cutting Over Graphics
    Jon Lindstrom has been doing this a long time and over the years he’s picked up quite a few tricks. When cutting down over graphics, like these stripes, he uses a different technique compared to regular panels. As Jon told us, “Charlie Hutton, of Foose and Coddington fame, stopped by the shop and said that we should start with a coarser paper and a harder block to knock down the areas over graphics.” This is because, with today’s high-solids clears, a soft pad will just float over the bumps rather than knocking them down. Depending on the condition of the paint, Jon starts with either 400 or 600-grit paper. In this case he chose 600-grit.
    Jon Lindstrom has been doing this a long time and over the years he’s picked up quite a f
  • Camp 0901 04 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Rubber Squeegee
    The 600-grit paper is wrapped around this 3M rubber squeegee. Jon has found that it’s hard enough to knock down edges yet flexible enough to conform to the contours of the car. Also key to this process is water, lots of water. Jon ads a bit of Ivory dish soap to the water and lets the paper soak for a bit to get soft. The soap helps the paper slide against the paint and Jon has found the Ivory, over other brands, is easier on his hands.
    The 600-grit paper is wrapped around this 3M rubber squeegee. Jon has found that it’s har
  • 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Valleys
    Here’s the result after a little bit of work. If you look close you will notice shiny areas adjacent to the white stripe. These are “valleys” in the paint and the goal is to sand until those areas become level with the rest of the clear.
    Here’s the result after a little bit of work. If you look close you will notice shiny are
  • 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail Orange Peel
    This is what we’re trying to get rid of, the infamous orange peel. How much you have determines which grit of paper you should start with. Jon never starts with anything more aggressive than 400-grit paper. The idea is to replace the coarse scratches from leveling the paint’s surface with finer and finer scratches that can eventually be hidden with polish. It’s a tedious time-consuming process, but the results are well worth the extra effort.
    This is what we’re trying to get rid of, the infamous orange peel. How much you have dete
  • 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Paint Detail 600 Grit
    After some time with 600-grit and the 3M hard pad, it’s pretty easy to see how the finish is going from lumpy to smooth. Soon that orange peel will be a distant memory.
    After some time with 600-grit and the 3M hard pad, it’s pretty easy to see how the finish