1962 Corvette show car 100+ trophy winner detail by Immaculate Reflections

**white gecko** · 10-02-2011, 02:33 PM

I met up with the owner of this classic corvette a couple months ago. After inspecting the car it was quite apparent it needed an extensive paint correction. It had been repainted a few years ago and the finish was substantially lacking clarity and gloss. Heavy swirls, RIDS, sanding marks, DA pigtails, etc.... This car had a bit of everything.

Because the owner had multiple shows coming up he wanted it ready for them, but my schedule was heavily booked. I ended up pulling 20hr days for about a week, working on a couple other cars then coming home and putting an additional 4-7hrs/day on this over the course of 5 days. There was about 27 hours into this classic. Many hours went into finding the right combination for this car and was quite challenging and complex, so that part I will keep to myself. Feel free to ask anything else!

Last step product was Blackfire Wet Diamond with 2 coats.

Car looked great from a distance, but when you got closer you could see there was a lot to do.

Removing all the old tire dressing and restoring the white on the tires.

Some "non-factory" ghost flames. Unless you have direct light on them, they are almost invisible. The paintwork was nicely done, however the finishing was quite poor.

After compounding only. Multiple polishing steps followed afterwards.

**white gecko** · 10-02-2011, 02:34 PM

Final polishing finished

Another area where the body shop got lazy and decided to take an extra long lunch break...

.....Compounding multiple steps. A few deep scratches here could not be "safely" removed.

After final polishing, the paint looks "ship shape" again.

Deep swirls and RIDS on the door and rear quarter panel.....

Looking proper again

50/50 compounding shot on the trunk

**white gecko** · 10-02-2011, 02:35 PM

After compounding

Another spot the body shop missed. Some DA induced pigtails, and these were DEEP. Much time was taken to remove this as it was close to an edge and had to be finessed carefully for safe removal. If you look closely, the body shop had already burned an edge, so I had to use extreme caution around this compromised area!

Looking better, with final polishing to be carried out later. Although nothing could be done about the burned edge (compliments of the body shop guys).

50/50 shot on rear quarter and trunk lid.

Severe swirls and marring on the trunk lid.

After multiple stages of correction

After jeweling the finish for a few hours....

**white gecko** · 10-02-2011, 02:37 PM

Since the car was finished at about 1:30 am, there were no sun shots to be had. So a week or two later I met up with the owner for a few pics out in the sun. We decided to get some of the many trophies this car has won and do a few photos with them. This is a TINY collection of all the trophies and awards this car has won. It has since brought a few new trophies home as well! Still looked very good after multiple wipedowns from a couple car shows.

Thanks for checking it out!

**Brad B** · 10-02-2011, 05:59 PM

Looks great. Just curious, you mention a 100+ point winner. What sanctioning body/organization awarded the 100 points?

**white gecko** · 10-02-2011, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by Brad B.

Looks great. Just curious, you mention a 100+ point winner. What sanctioning body/organization awarded the 100 points?

Thanks Brad.

No, its won a 100+ trophies.

**C. Charles Hahn** · 10-02-2011, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by Brad B.

Looks great. Just curious, you mention a 100+ point winner. What sanctioning body/organization awarded the 100 points?

I think he just meant 100+ total trophy wins, not like an NCRS or Bloomington Gold score. With the ghost flames and radial tires I don`t think that would be possible anyway.

**imported_sal329** · 10-02-2011, 07:27 PM

Sweet ride, awesome turnaround

**Brad B** · 10-02-2011, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by gofast908z

No, its won a 100+ trophies.

I got it. That`s impressive! Need a garage just for all the hardware!

**mikenap** · 10-02-2011, 09:15 PM

Wow, that`s some pretty horrible body shop work. Fantastic save, Jeff. That thing looks awesome now.

**autoconcierge** · 10-03-2011, 08:51 AM

Tightness certified....................

**countrysquire** · 10-03-2011, 09:56 AM

Great recovery. It can really be a pain working on some of these older cars with all of the smaller parts, nooks and crannies.

**DeanSweet** · 10-03-2011, 11:56 AM

Looks fantastic now. No idea how he won 100+ trophies though...

Must have been some small shows cuz that`s not near what I have seen in the past couple major shows I have traveled to. Ghost flames on a `62 standard should be considered sacrilegious.