Corvette Grand Sport, another sticky paint Subaru STi

**Scottwax** · 03-01-2013, 08:08 PM

2012 Corvette Grand Sport. Polished and waxed it this past November. True to his word, the owner had me out again 3 months later. We didn`t have much sun (even though it was forecast) that day but I was still able to get out the vast majority of swirls and defects. He wanted to see if we could get it even closer to perfect this time. Plan has been to sneak up on the swirls while keeping the car protected (he travels between Dallas and Austin), guess its almost like making payments on a correction! Less sticker shock I guess.

The car still looked really good. Most of what was left was very light so I did two steps on the paint again, its probably 95% plus corrected now. He wants to have me go over it one more time in a couple months, get it as close to perfection as possible, then apply Optimum Coating. He already ordered some ONR Wash and Wax and plans to maintain it that way, then have me come out every once in a while to detail the interior and inspect the paint.

ONR wash-no need to clay this time, paint was glass smooth

Meguiars #105 using a 5" Meguiars MF cutting pad and my Meguiars G110 v2 DA Polisher

Optimum Hyper Polish using a 6" Optimum MF cutting pad and my G110

Optimum Opti-Seal to protect

ONR wash and wax at 32:1 to clean glass

Armor All on tires/fenderwells

The car definitely looks more orange in the full sun at different angles but my camera also seems to struggle with reddish paints so it really isn`t as orange as it looks in some pictures.

So, so close to perfect now! Just a few stray deep RIDS, ordering Meguiars #101 soon, hope that knocks out what very little is left.

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2011 Subaru Imprezza STi. Another sticky clear Subie. The owners main concern was all the marring, scratches and spider swirls in the paint. Knowing the issues I had with the last one with nothing wanting to wipe off, I started to experiment. The hood was by far the worst part of the car, Optimum Hyper Compound was up first. Great job removing swirls and scratches, wouldn`t wipe off. Meguiars #105, again, great at removing defects, wouldn`t wipe off. 3D HD Cut. Again, removed defects, wouldn`t wipe off. HD Polish, soft paint so it was removing defects. Wouldn`t wipe off. Optimum Hyper Polish. Removed defects, wiped off with effort, enough I was afraid of marring the finish. HD Speed. Didn`t really remove much but it wiped off a bit easier than OHP. Optimum G-P-S. Removed more than HD Speed, not quite as much as OHP. But the paint clarity was excellent and it was wiping off pretty easily-switching to foam slightly reduced the cut but it was then a breeze to wipe off. All the testing on the hood got everything out but it ate up a ton of time, neither of which my customer nor I really had today. So I went with G-P-S on the whole car, got out 75-80% of the defects. Hopefully when we go back out in 5-6 months, I can come up with something that is aggressive enough to remove whats left (at least the hood looks great!) and that I can also wipe off. Wish me luck!

The owner was really happy with how it came out, said the improvement was very noticeable. He was also happy I charged him for what actually worked and didn`t add in the hour it took to figure it out. Didn`t think it would be fair to him to do that anyway.

ONR wash, Opti-Raser mild to clay

ONR and Optimum Power Clean cut 3:1 to clean the wheels

Optimum G-P-S using a Meguiars yellow foam polishing pad and my G110 v2

Collinite 476 Wax

ONR wash and wax at 32:1 to clean glass

Armor All on tires/fenderwells

**kakeuter** · 03-01-2013, 08:56 PM

Nice work Scott, dreading the day I come across a Subaru.

-Kody-

**maxepr1** · 03-01-2013, 09:23 PM

Scott I would immediately put those Vette pictures on you site and hit the Vette forum. Those are MONEY! Can`t really see any RIDS left. Subaru looks killer too, not allot of people understand how much work is involved in these "Little" cars. I`ve been messing with adding a little D301 to the compound to give it some "lube" for removal. Seems to help, sometimes.

**Scottwax** · 03-02-2013, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by kakeuter

Nice work Scott, dreading the day I come across a Subaru.

-Kody-

Someone said they use Optimum Hyper Compound, don`t bother trying to wipe it off, they just go back over it with G-P-S and it works. Have to try that next time.

Originally Posted by maxepr1

Scott I would immediately put those Vette pictures on you site and hit the Vette forum. Those are MONEY! Can`t really see any RIDS left. Subaru looks killer too, not allot of people understand how much work is involved in these "Little" cars. I`ve been messing with adding a little D301 to the compound to give it some "lube" for removal. Seems to help, sometimes.

When the guy who made my site either teaches my brother (who uses him for web design for all his clients) or me to update my site, those pics are going there. Hopefully when I am at my brother`s office on Tuesday he can get the web guy down there so I can add more pics to my site.

There are still some stray defects in the paint but now few and far between. The owner was really happy but I told him I`d see if I can get them all before we apply Optimum Coating to it.

**IHA Mark** · 03-02-2013, 08:11 AM

Great job as always Scott.

I had a Meguiar`s distributor tell me once that with D300 you can just leave it on, then go over it with the Megs finishing wax. Don`t know if its true or not but might be some sort of process for the sticky paints.

**Scottwax** · 03-02-2013, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by IHA Mark

Great job as always Scott.

I had a Meguiar`s distributor tell me once that with D300 you can just leave it on, then go over it with the Megs finishing wax. Don`t know if its true or not but might be some sort of process for the sticky paints.

Someone in the detailer buddies group on Facebook says they`ve had good results with Optimum Hyper Compound, leaving it on and then going over it with G-P-S.

**sulla** · 03-02-2013, 11:54 AM

Scott I never see you mention ultrafina again ? It wipes easy for me on soft paints.. Did you try it on this one ?

**Thomas Dekany** · 03-02-2013, 02:33 PM

Loved reading the stories Scott! The work is fantastic as always.

**Scottwax** · 03-02-2013, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by sulla

Scott I never see you mention ultrafina again ? It wipes easy for me on soft paints.. Did you try it on this one ?

I still use Ultrafina, mostly if I use the rotary or as a final glaze on jet black. I didn`t try it since it wasn`t the finishing process but the cutting that was the real pain.

Originally Posted by Thomas Dekany

Loved reading the stories Scott! The work is fantastic as always.

Thanks Thomas!

**imported_Rcrew** · 03-03-2013, 06:46 PM

Boy I hate working on most Subie paint. It really separates the men from the boys!

Both cars look really good, and I appreciate the insight on your processes and customer interactions.

**Scottwax** · 03-03-2013, 07:34 PM

Thanks! And hopefully I now have some pointers that will help make the next one easier.

**ls7drew** · 03-03-2013, 07:37 PM

Both look good, you definitely need to put the pictures of the Red vette on your site. That will sell a bunch of customers on choosing you, they look GREAT

**Scottwax** · 03-03-2013, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by ls2drew

Both look good, you definitely need to put the pictures of the Red vette on your site. That will sell a bunch of customers on choosing you, they look GREAT

Hoping to find out Tuesday how to update my site. One of the web guys from the company who did it will be at my brother`s computer business on Tuesday when we go up there to detail some cars.