black vette.....you know the drill...

[blacksaleen95]

I`ve been lurking here for a while and I hope I can get some help from some of you guys...





I`ve got a 99 black c5 and I can`t for the life of me get some minor hazing out.... I`ve tried a PC witha polishing pad with ssr1, the rotary with FPII with a polishing pad....etc...





I`ve tried almost whatever I have in my arsenal and it`s not taking it away completely....



I`ve got mostly poorboys SSR1,2,2.5 and Menzerna products (IP/FPII)



I usually work the IP in with an orange LC pad with the rotary around 12-1500 rpm then follow up with fpII with a white polishing pad on the rotory....still minor hazing.



I`ve had a lot of unfortunate events happen to the car including spray paint overspray and having someone do me the favor of putting my car cover on when the car was dirty...so I`ve had to polish this thing a few times... I can`t remember having this hard a time getting the hazing out...



Any ideas?

[ptaylor_9849]

From one vette owner to another, I feel your pain my friend. I believe your IP with an orange pad is leaving the hazing and FP 2 is not strong enough to remove that hazing. Therefore, I have two options for you. The first is the least expensive and least amount of work since it only involves one product. In either case, you`ll need to put aside the FP2 and use 106ff. Especially on hard clears like corvette. Ok here goes:



Option 1. 106ff with a purple foamed/wool pad via rotary at slow speed and some pressure.

Foamed Wool 6.5 inch Polishing/Buffing Pad (http://www.autogeek.net/lc-foam-wool-pads.html)





Option 2. SIP (super intensive polish) with an orange pad via rotary followed with 106ff and a polishing pad to remove the holograms that you will leave behind until you get good with SIP.

Menzerna Super Intensive Polish, Menzerna PO 83 , Mernzerna PO85RD 3.02 (http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-super-intensive-polish.html)



I know there are many other ways to tackle your situation but this is what worked for me after many months of frustration. If you really want to talk to a corvette master on this site then seek out Rickrack. He has corrected more vettes than you could ever imagine. But trust me on the purple pad and 106 combo. If you have further questions simply PM me. :2thumbs:



Patrick

[MrNorwall]

Try SIP with a white pad, see if that gets rid of hazing and doesnt cause more

[Alfisti]

I know what you mean! The most difficult paint around, IME. I completely feel for you. :( A black C5 once nearly beat me. I spent about 20 hours on it. Was about to throw the towel in.



From my research here (including posts by ptaylor :up ) and on MOL, I discovered `Vette clears are VERY hard, BUT...scratch sensitive. It took awhile to get my head around that concept. Normally scratch sensitive means `soft`.



What it means in the real world is that it`s easy to marr, difficult to correct. Or putting it another way, easy to put marks into it (even with abrasives) but difficult to remove paint to level them (which require abrasives!). The worst of both worlds. :faint:



If the abrasive isn`t broken down completely and the pad is too aggressive (even slightly) it`ll show up on a `Vette`s clear. If the abrasive is too aggressive to start with, it will show up - as it seems the diminished abrasive isn`t tough enough to cut out the previous micro-marring left by its former larger size.



I realised that the abrasive size seems to make the difference. On regular paint you can get away with starting with a medium polish like regular IP and it`ll break down marr-free. Not the highest gloss, but marr-free. You can`t do that with black `Vettes.



To finish off, you need to start with a very mild polish that has the small size abrasives needed not to marr, but hard and sharp enough to micro-level the hard clear. I tried a ceramiclear polish first, figuring it`s for hard clears. I tried PO85RD which has a cut of 1.5 and gloss of 5 (different to PO85RD 3.01/3.02 which has a cut of 3.5 and gloss of 3...confused?) but came across the hiding characteristics that the Menzerna ceramiclear polishes are infamous for.



The results were better, but not perfect after a Prepsol wipe-down. (I know, I know...it could`ve been my lack of experience with these polishes, but I didn`t want to do the whole car only to find out I had to redo it).



So I came across an old friend suggested over on MOL - #80 Speed Glaze! It worked perfectly, even after prepsol check. I always knew that the abrasives in #80 are different - small but hard and sharp. Just what the doctor ordered. You still need to be careful with your pad and technique but far more forgiving and quite easy at the end of the day. A big thanks to Mike Phillips! :bigups



I hope this helps with your frustaration.

[Rickrack]

blacksaleen95- Did you end up polishing your Corvette yet? I came across this thread just now.



Corvette paint is definitely not easy to correct. I`d probably say the hardest I have ever worked on, but you can really get agressive with it if you need to.



I have brought more than a few Corvette`s back from the dead!



Here is an example from a while back: http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/68789-black-98-corvette-3-day-makeover-56k-no-way.html

[blacksaleen95]

From one vette owner to another, I feel your pain my friend. I believe your IP with an orange pad is leaving the hazing and FP 2 is not strong enough to remove that hazing. Therefore, I have two options for you. The first is the least expensive and least amount of work since it only involves one product. In either case, you`ll need to put aside the FP2 and use 106ff. Especially on hard clears like corvette. Ok here goes:



Option 1. 106ff with a purple foamed/wool pad via rotary at slow speed and some pressure.

Foamed Wool 6.5 inch Polishing/Buffing Pad (http://www.autogeek.net/lc-foam-wool-pads.html)





Option 2. SIP (super intensive polish) with an orange pad via rotary followed with 106ff and a polishing pad to remove the holograms that you will leave behind until you get good with SIP.

Menzerna Super Intensive Polish, Menzerna PO 83 , Mernzerna PO85RD 3.02 (http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-super-intensive-polish.html)



I know there are many other ways to tackle your situation but this is what worked for me after many months of frustration. If you really want to talk to a corvette master on this site then seek out Rickrack. He has corrected more vettes than you could ever imagine. But trust me on the purple pad and 106 combo. If you have further questions simply PM me. :2thumbs:



Patrick



....better late then never right?!



I was inbetween a move last few months and never got around to detailing the vette.... however 2 weeks ago I placed an order for the suggested items, and last week I was able to try out what you suggested.



Seriously dude. I owe you a beer, not just one beer but a case of beer...hell the whole brewery. Months and months I had the same results using different techniques, pads, combos etc...they all left me with hazing and I never got much depth to the paint. FINALLY after a "quick" polish I was able to get the car looking "good enough" for me.... I used the purple foamed pad with the 106ff and it was nearly lsp ready. I ended up going over it with a green polishing pad with 106ff again and then blackfire GEP, RMG, EX and natty`s blue. I can`t thank you enough. I`ve got some pics I`ll post soon...(no befores :( ) but I think the car came out pretty good.



To whoever comes across this...don`t even waste your time with anything else. Corvette clears are a pita....the fact that this car came in black with this clearcoat shouldn`t even be legal. Purple foamed pad, 106ff, rotary, 1200-1500rpm... worth it`s weight in gold.

[Alfisti]

blacksaleen95, I`m sorry to say this but I think the products you`ve used have simply hidden the micro-marring that Corvette paint is infamous for.



106ff has lubricants that create significant concealing. You need to prepsol several times to remove the lubricant wax. GEP and RMG are both glazes so more concealing.



Sorry to spoil your day. :(