96GreenPSD
Member
This 61 Corvette has been in the owner's family for two generations, was repainted approximately sixteen years ago and just had the engine (327 IIRC) refreshed before I detailed it. The repaint was of good quality; it had been wetsanded nearly flat and showed only a small amount of minor ripples in the body and other flaws, basically it's a very nice driver and not an all-out show car. After sixteen years the paint was as you would expect it to be; riddled with swirls and light scratches from years of wipe downs and also hard to correct. You can see in the before pictures that the paint didn't really glow in the sunlight and the finish was dulled significantly by the marring in the finish.
Pictures before beginning work:
DSC03517 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03562 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03560 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Closeups of the accumulated damage to the finish:
DSC03518 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03519 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03521 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03526 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03527 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03556 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03563 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Given the severity of the marring we decided to shoot for an 80+% correction rate to improve the gloss, depth and reflectivity of the paint while not going for perfection since the owner isn't obsessive about keeping the paint in pristine condition. Given the age of this car I used ONR to wash, making sure to keep excessive water out of any cracks or crevices. The paintwork was then clayed, all trim was taped off and I began identifying areas of the body where gaps and edges didn't align. Where panel heights differed I taped off edges and corrected one area, then taped the corrected area and moved onto a new panel to ensure that the edges were protected from over buffing. Correction was performed using the Rupes 21 & 75E polishers, with Optimum's MF cutting pads and a M101/D300 mix used for compounding work, followed by two stages of finishing via Lake Country Polishing and Finishing pads with HD Polish. Protection was provided by two coats of DoDo Juice Supernatural.
Some pics during the correction process:
DSC03620 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03609 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Paintwork starting to look much improved:
DSC03652 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03672 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Afters:
DSC03680 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03682 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03687 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03688 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03691 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03692 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03696 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03699 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03700 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03703 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
DSC03712 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Close to 90% correction was achieved and the client was very happy. It was a beautiful car and fun to work on and see the improvement in appearance as the polishing process went on. Thanks for looking, as always, any comments and questions are welcome. (996 writeup in the next post).
Mike
Pinnacle Auto Detail- CT
Pictures before beginning work:
DSC03517 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03562 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03560 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrCloseups of the accumulated damage to the finish:
DSC03518 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03519 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03521 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03526 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03527 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03556 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03563 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrGiven the severity of the marring we decided to shoot for an 80+% correction rate to improve the gloss, depth and reflectivity of the paint while not going for perfection since the owner isn't obsessive about keeping the paint in pristine condition. Given the age of this car I used ONR to wash, making sure to keep excessive water out of any cracks or crevices. The paintwork was then clayed, all trim was taped off and I began identifying areas of the body where gaps and edges didn't align. Where panel heights differed I taped off edges and corrected one area, then taped the corrected area and moved onto a new panel to ensure that the edges were protected from over buffing. Correction was performed using the Rupes 21 & 75E polishers, with Optimum's MF cutting pads and a M101/D300 mix used for compounding work, followed by two stages of finishing via Lake Country Polishing and Finishing pads with HD Polish. Protection was provided by two coats of DoDo Juice Supernatural.
Some pics during the correction process:
DSC03620 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03609 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrPaintwork starting to look much improved:
DSC03652 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03672 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrAfters:
DSC03680 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03682 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03687 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03688 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03691 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03692 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03696 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03699 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03700 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03703 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrDSC03712 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on FlickrClose to 90% correction was achieved and the client was very happy. It was a beautiful car and fun to work on and see the improvement in appearance as the polishing process went on. Thanks for looking, as always, any comments and questions are welcome. (996 writeup in the next post).
Mike
Pinnacle Auto Detail- CT
