Liquid Blue C6

[Todd@RUPES]

Corvetteforum member LJD51 was making the trip from VA down to Sebring, Florida for the 12 hour race. Now I have to hand it to John (LJD51), because he and his friend drove straight from VA to my house in Florida for to let me examin the car, then drove another 75 minutes to thier hotel, to turn around and bring the car back over (75 miles back) to my house this morning at 5 a.m., only to drive to Sebring (160 miles) tonight! Geeze!



John is a Zaino user, but felt is finish could be taken to another level with a professional detail. Despite several coats of Zaino, swirls were apparent in sunlight and finish looked a little dull. I knew we could make it better (sticking with my mantra that its not the final product used but the prep that goes into the paint).



The process was this...



Washed with Meguiars DC and a two bucket method

3x with #84 compound with a Megs cutting pad @ 2000 rpm on the entire car

2x with #80 with a Megs polishing pad @1300 rpm

1 coat of #26 by hand

Hotshine on the tires

Hyperdressing in the wheelwells

Exterior Detailer on the plastic





Some pics...



Starting early, at 5:30 AM

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6001.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6003.jpg



I tried to capture some of the defects, but was having difficulty..

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6004.jpg



I went to work. The stiff and rough Megs cutting pad does a good job of cutting out swirls on the tough C6 clear coat, but definetly leaves behind some horrible trails..

This is after 3 passes of #84, you can see the swirls are removed but we have terrible hologramming...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6006.jpg



I polished the area with 2 passes of #80 with a polishing pad and topped with #26...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6009.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6008.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6010.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6011.jpg



My brother came over to help out and spent about 40 minutes polishing deep into the pipes with some Meg`s NXT All Metal Polysh. You can see the results...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6012.jpg



John taking some photos and inspecting the finish...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6013.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6014.jpg



http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m194/tropicaldetail/LMB06/06LMBC6015.jpg



The best part of this job is of course meeting new people and hanging out. I had such a good time with this detail it was like getting paid to hang out with cool people. Infact, many times I had to refocus because I forgot I was working! I had such a good time with this car and gentleman who drove it and I hope you guys enjoy the pictures!

[gben]

Absolutely beautiful job! The pic of John walking around the car really captures the quality of your work.

[imported_JoshVette]

Saw this on the CF and still love looking at that color. Good job.

[coupe]

Im suprised you used #84. I know the CC on vettes are really hard but #84 would be way over kill if the swirls werent that bad or even moderate.

[imported_JoshVette]

Im suprised you used #84. I know the CC on vettes are really hard but #84 would be way over kill if the swirls werent that bad or even moderate.



It really takes a lot to even phase swirls on a Vette clear.

[Scottwax]

It really takes a lot to even phase swirls on a Vette clear.



:werd: Several passes with orange Cyclo pads and OHC on a Vette I did this summer. :nervous2:



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The car turned out really deep and wet looking. :) Beautiful blue color.

[Stickman81]

The car looks great.

Great story to go along with the detail too. :up

[Thomas Dekany]

Looks awesome!

What part of VA is he from?