Newbie Needs Help - Detailing a 2005 Vette

[Eisen Hulk]

Well, for my third car I get to detail a 2005 LeMans Blue Metallic Vette. The car belongs to my old roomie, and when he found out I had started a detailing business on the side, he asked me to do his. I know from reading the forum that new Vettes have a really hard clearcoat. I went to his house last night and broke out the halogen to take a look at what I`m up against. This car is garaged year round, and it isn`t his daily driver. Once under the lights, I noticed the usual suspects. Light swirling and marring. Overall the paint is in pretty good condition. He told me he definitely wants me to clay it, since it`s never been clayed.



What I`m looking for is this...I need tips on working the tough clearcoat. I`ll be using a PC since I`m a newbie. I hope to step up to a rotary sometime over the next year, but for now the PC will have to do. What steps should I take to make sure I do the best possible job?



I`m looking for: Types of polish, types of pads, and just basic comments/opinions and suggestions. Here are the materials I currently have: The entire line of Sonus polishes, and the complete line of Sonus pads, as well as most LC pads. I`ve got Klasse AIO, P21S for my wax. I know it`s a very basic kit, so how can I optimize the results???



Thanks, guys.

[deathlok]

if you suspect that it has a hard clear coat get some 4" pads.

[imported_Chris223]

Well I don`t know how the Corvette`s paint is compared to my Grand Prix, but GM paint as a whole is known for being pretty hard. Last summer I used Poorboys SSR2.5 followed by SSR1 and EX-P to seal to take care of the light scratches on my car. It did a pretty nice job, it was my first time actually doing paint correction and I was a little nervous so I didn`t work the polish in as much as I probably should have. But overall it took out a good majority of the scratches. Plan to do the same thing again this summer, only work it a little bit more. Then try some longer lasting wax, like Collinite.

[ptaylor_9849]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you`re not going to do much of anything on a C6 with a P/C. There are many unique things about a vette that make it very hard to correct such as carbon fiber body panels that will not correct easily. You can clay this C6 and give it a polish with your P/C but as far as correction goes your using the wrong tool my friend. I have that car in black so I speak from experience. If I didn`t have a rotary I would have sold it and bought a lighter color.



Patrick

[Eisen Hulk]

That rough, huh? Ouch!



Will I at least be able to remove some of the light swirling? What the best I can hope for?

I`m kind of pissed now knowing that I`m not going to be able to do the proper correction. You`re right though...that Lemans metallic is dark....not black, but still a dark color. Any special tips with the PC that`ll maximize my results??



Thanks, guys!!!






Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you`re not going to do much of anything on a C6 with a P/C. There are many unique things about a vette that make it very hard to correct such as carbon fiber body panels that will not correct easily. You can clay this C6 and give it a polish with your P/C but as far as correction goes your using the wrong tool my friend. I have that car in black so I speak from experience. If I didn`t have a rotary I would have sold it and bought a lighter color.



Patrick

[98Vette]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you`re not going to do much of anything on a C6 with a P/C. There are many unique things about a vette that make it very hard to correct such as carbon fiber body panels that will not correct easily. You can clay this C6 and give it a polish with your P/C but as far as correction goes your using the wrong tool my friend. I have that car in black so I speak from experience. If I didn`t have a rotary I would have sold it and bought a lighter color.



Patrick



The above post is absolutely correct. I know for a fact that Patrick spent many hours :wall trying to figure out the Vette paint. If you want to do any correction on a Vette, a rotary is a must. The PC will get some very minor stuff out, but not a whole lot.

[ptaylor_9849]

When I was going through my correction dilemma, I was growing very frustrated so I turned to two local Autopians who helped me greatly. I am fortunate to live fairly close to Rickrack and Rydawg who have both been very helpful to me. Thank you again guys. I do have some advice about doing this C6 for your friend. As the old cliche` goes knowledge is power. Now that you know that you won`t be able to do a full correction on this particular car, you won`t have to suffer frustration and/or embarrassment when things don`t go exactly as planned. You`ll already know that going into it. If your friend wants total correction then you could introduce him to an Autopian in your area who has experience with vettes. Let the pro due the serious correction and then introduce your friend to a foam gun to keep this from happening again. The other option is to just detail the heck out of this car as best you can. It will probably look much better than it does now. Really clean up areas like tires, wheels, wheelwells, exhaust tips, windows & dress the black trim pieces. Sometimes, knowing what your in for is your greatest tool! :xyxthumbs



Patrick

[Eisen Hulk]

Many thanks, Patrick. I really appreciate you taking the time to help out a newbie.



I`ll give it my best and let you know how it goes.



Thanks to the other who chimed in as well.

[Eisen Hulk]

Many thanks, Patrick. I really appreciate you taking the time to help out a newbie.



I`ll give it my best and let you know how it goes.



Thanks to the other who chimed in as well.

[Eisen Hulk]

Many thanks, Patrick. I really appreciate you taking the time to help out a newbie.



I`ll give it my best and let you know how it goes.



Thanks to the other who chimed in as well.

[imported_JoshVette]

Well after owning my own vette and working on hundreds more, I`ll say go over it with an orange cutting pad with Menzerna SIP and follow up with something less aggresive like Zaino ZPC with a white pad and that should get it to look well enough. I use the LC 6.5 pads, they work great.



With the Menz polish, spread it around quickly on speed 2 then turn it up to speed 6 and work it in thoroughly until almost dry and clear.



With the ZPC same thing spread it around, but only turn it up to like 5 and work in for a short time, do not let dry and wipe off.



Choose whatever polishes you like there`s tons of good ones out there, those are just the ones I like.



Then it`s ready for any wax/sealant you like.



Josh

[Eisen Hulk]

Thanks, Josh. I was actually hoping you`d chime in...considering the user name. Haha.



I wasn`t aware that Patrick had a C6.



Like I said, the paint is in pretty good shape. I think I`m just a little freaked out now that I know how tough the clear is. I`m dying to work up to a rotary...Soon.



Thanks, Josh. The input is very much appreciated.




Well after owning my own vette and working on hundreds more, I`ll say go over it with an orange cutting pad with Menzerna SIP and follow up with something less aggresive like Zaino ZPC with a white pad and that should get it to look well enough. I use the LC 6.5 pads, they work great.



With the Menz polish, spread it around quickly on speed 2 then turn it up to speed 6 and work it in thoroughly until almost dry and clear.



With the ZPC same thing spread it around, but only turn it up to like 5 and work in for a short time, do not let dry and wipe off.



Choose whatever polishes you like there`s tons of good ones out there, those are just the ones I like.



Then it`s ready for any wax/sealant you like.



Josh

[ptaylor_9849]

Josh, good advice with the SIP/orange pad. Just make sure you don`t load up with the SIP like you might with other polishes. Use SIP very sparingly and keep working it till it`s almost completely gone. Let us know how you made out. Oh, one more thing. Don`t wipe too hard with your microfiber towel or you`ll re-introduce more marring. Fold it in quarters and keep it flat so that the sometimes sharp edges don`t roll under while wiping. By the way, if you want to see a real vette master then check out some click & brags from Rickrack. He has forgotten more about vette correction than I will ever know. Here`s just a taste. http://autopia.org/forum/click-and-brag/97899-c5-and-c6-corvette-details.html



Patrick

[tkerr45]

I`m working on a red `93 that is in realy good condition, 23K mi summer ride. Have done the last 3 years, it had some light swirls and scratches. I got a flex this winter so I decided to do a full correction. used IP/ white pad and went to a yellow pad for the deep scratches and followed that with FF/ black pad and topped with WG sealant. Real happy with the outcome. I think I`ll top wiht OS tonite. Will post pics if anyone is interested.

[98Vette]

When I was going through my correction dilemma, I was growing very frustrated so I turned to two local Autopians who helped me greatly. I am fortunate to live fairly close to Rickrack and Rydawg who have both been very helpful to me. Thank you again guys. I do have some advice about doing this C6 for your friend. As the old cliche` goes knowledge is power. Now that you know that you won`t be able to do a full correction on this particular car, you won`t have to suffer frustration and/or embarrassment when things don`t go exactly as planned. You`ll already know that going into it. If your friend wants total correction then you could introduce him to an Autopian in your area who has experience with vettes. Let the pro due the serious correction and then introduce your friend to a foam gun to keep this from happening again. The other option is to just detail the heck out of this car as best you can. It will probably look much better than it does now. Really clean up areas like tires, wheels, wheelwells, exhaust tips, windows & dress the black trim pieces. Sometimes, knowing what your in for is your greatest tool! :xyxthumbs



Patrick



Gotta love the purple wool pad! :2thumbs: