Out of retirement!.... sort of. It's been awhile, and I'm not detailing anymore as a source of income as I completed my engineering degree just over two years ago and have been working full time in my field, but I thought some of you may get a kick out of this detail. This car is owned by a co-worker and friend of mine. We find ourselves talking about cars frequently at work, and my detailing work was discussed at some point. He's a full-blown car nut that takes outstanding mechanical care of his vehicles, and cringes at the though of anybody turning a wrench on it other than him as it's the only way to guarantee it's done right. Some jobs, however, require extreme amounts of time or specialized equipment that force him to to pay professionals. That brings us to the car in question, a 2011 corvette. It's been modified already with suspension and exhaust work with the necessary dyno tuning. The next modification on the list is a supercharger, and to get the power to the ground, the stock rear wheels won't do the trick....but a z06 widebody should help stuff some more rubber under the arches! A splash of obsidian black was required on the new panels, so a corvette specialty shop with a good reputation was located to perform the painting and installation. All was well, until a few days in the sun exposed some pretty heavy swirling and some general defects. Other assembly problems with the job depleted his confidence in the shops ability to complete it to satisfaction. He corrected the issues himself, and asked me to attempt to correct the paint's finish. We decided on a budget and I was asked to make it as good as possible, within reason and within budget. The car found it's way to my garage and I set off on an hourly-rate quest to get the obsideon black shining as it should. I can't say this was a very easy car to polish.... the new paint was soft and grabby and the body's curves kept it challenging for the rotary, but overall, it was an enjoyable rewarding experience for me. Do consider that perfection, IMO in most cases is an irresponsible goal to attempt to achieve and this finish does still have flaws. However, 24 hours of hard labour later, I can say that it's very, very good. I was pleased with the results and the owner is happy and relieved to say the least. He tells me it looks better than the day he purchased it. Wheels/Tires Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner Meguiar's Wheel Brightener Bug + tar remover (over the counter) raceglaze brush set raceglaze XL wheel brush zep citrus for tires duragloss 253 Megs NXT 2.0 Tech Wax Exterior Auto Obsessed (MTM) foam cannon CG Honedew foam + wash Zep citrus (stripping) Riccardo yellow clay Optimum No rinse (clay lube) Correction Metabo PE12-175 rotary Meguiar's M101 Detailers Domain Uber Yellow Pads Porter Cable 7424XP Meguar's M205 Detailers Domain Uber Green Pads Detailers Domain Uber Black Pads Collinite 845 Pak Shak Towels Engine Much like the exterior! with some dressing Interior vacuum Exhausts P21S polishing soap, Mother's Power ball, Super secret drill attachments Megs M85 Colli 845 So lets get to work! no? well lucky you the work is done already... just look at the stinking pictures already! This car has not been washed in the 30 days since the bodywork is complete, so it's wearing some late-night battle scars. my supra knows it's going to have to leave the garage soon, and it's not very pleased. it's worse than it looks... the brake dust had a good grip on the wheel's barrels! oh hai there... looks like some compound left not sure what this is, some white residue of some sort just needs a quick wipe. you know what this means. The dash has some chalky residue not bad at all, but I can't leave this! one of my trade secrets is these garden sprayers. sonax FE working it's magic my brush broke on the first wheel. fantastic. might as well get to it! 2BM fired up. might be time for a new rinse bucket. further proof that this actually works is how spotless my soap bucket still is after a few years of hard service CG honeydew and zep citrus mmmmm hmmm now back in the garage, I could get some halogens on it. holograms, swirls and sanding marks. Yes, I could not believe it but this 30 day old paint was pretty hammered. There must have been glaze on this. Just wow.... again, the owner has not washed this! best spot I can think of for a 50/50 fixed. some holgrams left after the compounding much, much more time later and some M205 after the M101 and we have this the OEM painted panels have some swirls much better roof needs work. Also note the amount of masking that was done on this car corrected door corrected quarter before to be honest, I think some of this must be from claying? not sure, but it's gotta go much improved trunklid some touchup required here tail lights are looking good check your work! more time required to get this straggler out some weird debris on this quarter. I hope this isn't overspray... but I suppose at this point it doesn't matter. hit the road, jack! problem solved making our way over to the driver's door corrected and now the driver's fender. Very easy to solve compared to the other side that's what I want to see Front bumper oh the horror! corrected Now, some colli 845. Every time I use this wax on a polished car, I wonder why I bother trying anything else. Now to admire the hard labour in the daylight! believe it or not, armor all natural shine was perfect for this material. left a nice matte finish but took the scuffs off tips were cleaned with a drill, P21S, a round buff, M85 and top sealed with 845
As the proud owner of a black C6, I can appreciate the level of effort you put into that. Great job! -Mike
Wow!! I think you should quit the day job!! I know more money just joking but great work looks fantastic!
