98 Corvette needed some help

white gecko 99

New member
Hey guys, this 98 Corvette came to me from its very enthusiastic new owner today. Corvettes were his favorite cars as a kid and now he finally got himself one. He mentioned over the phone how the car looked great in the dealer's showroom. This was a dealer of classic, muscle, and sports cars only. I drop by there once in a while to drool over their enormous collection, yet always leave with my head shaking when I see the swirls on them.



So anyway, we talked about what could be done with the car and I knew paint correction was a must. Once I arrived I got to see the the true extent of the damage. It had been detailed recently before he bought it. When I saw what this dealer called a detail I was horrified, but not entirely suprised. Once I explained the paint flaws to him and educated him on what to look for, he immediately opted for a more extensive detail. His eyes were opened. And this is what he saw......







The finished pics will be up tomorrow when I get home. The car is coming along nicely though. One thing I wasn't expecting....customer's house is 1 street down from my ex's house. Lame. Haha, oh well.
 
Yeah, that's fairly typical for a 10 year old Vette. Probably never been polished.



Have you ever polished a C5 Vette? The paint is as HARD AS A ROCK so you need something with some cut.



With these cars I usually start with PB/SSR3, PC-orange pad, then ZPC-white pad.



Finish with you your fav wax/sealant.:drool:
 
Luster said:
Yeah, that's fairly typical for a 10 year old Vette. Probably never been polished.



Have you ever polished a C5 Vette? The paint is as HARD AS A ROCK so you need something with some cut.



With these cars I usually start with PB/SSR3, PC-orange pad, then ZPC-white pad.



Finish with you your fav wax/sealant.:drool:



It has holograms and buffer trails all over it. Some hack tried polishing it and thats what I got to fix lol.



Yes I've done many Vettes and am quite familiar with how hard the clear is on the C5 and C6.



I ended up using a LC PFW and SIP, followed by LC white with Menz Nano. It was the magic combo! It cut swirls like a normal car! It didn't feel typical vette hard. I LOVE the PFW!!!!! Uploading finished pics now.
 
A couple more swirly shots





before



after







before





after











After finishing the correction, I pulled it out to inspect the paint for holograms and swirls. As I did, 4 neighborhood kids came running up to check out the car. Some of the things they said were just priceless. They asked the owner if it was brand new. That sure made me feel good.



As I inspected it I was able to see about 90-95% correction, with almost zero swirls and just some RIDS left.





the kids.....





Inspection pictures. No holograms to be seen, just a little residue showing that kinda looked like holograms, but immediately dissapeared when wiped again.







Sprayed down and a quick soak with suds followed by an IPA wipedown.
 
Really impressive work on probably the most un-detailer friendly car there is. That car wash trashed! Love the direct sunshots as well, no better way to prove the true level of correction you achieved!
 
dsms said:
Really impressive work on probably the most un-detailer friendly car there is. That car wash trashed! Love the direct sunshots as well, no better way to prove the true level of correction you achieved!



Thanks!!







Here are the final pics. Was dueling with the sun, so I had to do the pics before I was totally done. Wheel wells, air dam, exhaust tips had to be done after pics.









*no holograms here... cloud streak in the sky..*





Owner got some stainless letters and asked if I could put them in. Definately a nice touch to this car.
 
Hey Gecko!!!! Nice work on the Vette!



I originally mis-read your post title... I thought it said "Need Help"... when you were saying "Vette NEEDED Help"!



Obviously you didn't need any! :rofl Looks fantastic.....



:kewlpics:goodjob:goodjob:goodjob
 
Hemin8r said:
You did an awesome job on that vette. Looks stunning & flawless!





Thank you!



weekendwarrior said:
Nice job. I am surprised the PFW pad cut that hard clear. I typically have to use a more agressive wool for the first step on Vettes.



I wasn't expecting that much correction with just 2 steps, to come out that good! I love the PFW + SIP. Great combo.



gtpaul said:
I will own a Vette one day...



Me too. I just can't decide which one I want!



bwalker25 said:
very nice work! :bigups



Thanks!
 
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