Mean Green Machine - 2014 Premier Edition Corvette CQuartz Finest, DLUX, Forte

[zmcgovern45]

This vehicle was brought to us with only a few thousand miles on it. The vehicle was already in very good overall shape, but the owner wanted to make sure the paint was properly protected for years to come. He opted to go with CQuartz Finest, our highest level of protection, on the paint and also added CQuartz DLUX wheel & trim coating, as well as CQuartz Forte glass coating. These products will provide a durable layer of protection that will protect the surfaces from the elements and will help to keep the vehicle looking its best for years.


Exterior Process
Tires: Omniclean and Tuf Shine Tire Brush, then Tarminator via MF Towel
Wheels: Citrus Wash Shampoo, Wheel Woolies, EZ Detail Brushes, Boars Hair Brush
Wash: Optimum No Rinse
Decontamination: Speedy Prep Towel with Nanoskin Glide
Compound (where needed): Meguiar`s D300 on MF Cutting Discs
Polish: Meguiar`s M205 on White LC polishing pads
Machines Used: Rupes LHR21ES, Rupes LHR75E, Griot`s Garage 3rd Gen, Porter Cable 7424XP
Coating Prep: CarPro Eraser
Paint Protection Coating: CQuartz Finest
Trim Prep: APC wash, CarPro Eraser Wipedown
Trim Coating: CarPro DLUX
Wheel Polish: CarPro Reflect on foam applicator pad by hand
Wheel Prep: CarPro Eraser
Wheel Coating: CarPro DLUX
Glass Polish: Meguiar`s M205 on White Polishing Pad
Glass Prep: IPA & Eraser Wipe Downs
Glass Coating: CarPro Forte (3 coats on windshield, 1 on sides)
Exhaust Tips: CG Metal Wax
Tire Dressing: CarPro PERL (neat), 2 thin coats








Before


he vehicle arrived with some bug guts and general dirt... much to be expected after the 2 hour drive












The barrels of the wheels had break dust buildup.









Wheel faces were covered in light dirt











During


As usual, we began with cleaning the tires. There was a lot of gunk on the tires indicated by the black tire brush (which is white when clean).









he wheel barrels and faces were then cleaned with a soap and water solution.









After the vehicle was washed and decontaminated, we noticed the tires were still covered in gunk









After cleaning with a tar remover, they finally looked as they should. Note: these have not been dressed yet, just thoroughly cleaned.









The wheels were hand polished and then coated with CarPro DLUX. Check out that shine!









The tires were then dressed with CarPro PERL to provide a nice, even gloss.









The paint was in overall good condition with little to no swirls, however there were some deeper defects throughout.







The paint was hard as rock, and we corrected what we could within reason on the areas that needed special attention.







Exhaust tips were lightly soiled







They cleaned up nicely







Matt making sure every inch of the gorgeous rear bumper was polished.







Checking our work on the hood in the setting sun before continuing on for a long night of polishing and coating.







Scratches on the door before correction







Scratches removed







Rear quarter before correction







Rear quarter after compounding







The paint was left nearly flawless with only some deeper defects remaining







Once the vehicle was completely polished, the paint was then cleansed with CarPro Eraser. I then proceeded the lengthy process of coating the paint with 2-3 coats of CQuartz Finest Ceramic Paint Coating.







Finest creates an incredibly strong layer of protection on the paint. Here you can see the coating is actually rejecting itself as we overlap onto a panel that had previously been coated. It just beads right up.







The coating was then baked with an infrared curing lamp to promote higher gloss and surface hardness.







Once the paint was fully protected, I turned my attention to the wiper cowl This was coated with CarPro DLUX for a darker finish and durable layer of protection.

[zmcgovern45]

After


Paint looking good









The car looked incredible the next morning when I pulled it outside


















The sun peeked out for a minute and the car looked stunning!















Stingray









#113/550 of these Premier Edition convertibles. A rather rare vehicle.









The interior received a quick cleaning and was wiped down with UV protection












...Waiting for the sun to come back out









The sun finally came out for more than 30 seconds, and the paint looked incredible










As always, thanks for reading.

[Ronkh]

Great work

[ShaneB]

Awesome job as always!

I really want to like that green but it just doesn`t feel right on a corvette to me.

[ec90]

Nice job. Interesting to see the additional layer of coating not wanting to bond there.

[Pats300zx]

Outstanding work Zach...

[House of Wax]

looks dripping wet. Awesome

[Don]

Awesome job as always!

I really want to like that green but it just doesn`t feel right on a corvette to me.

I disagree, I think that shade of green, especially with it being a metallic looks awesome on the vette. Definitely a great job getting it all polished up.

[ShawnF350]

Great work.
I love that metallic green too.
If I had that vette and no passenger, I would have a large Kermit the Frog riding shotgun.
Something like that might bring first place in a car show too.

[zmcgovern45]

thanks everyone