This vehicle was booked for a minor paint correction, but since I’m a fan of blue I gave it a little extra The vehicle: 2006 Corvette Convertible Here is the vehicle as it was delivered to me: The vehicle was covered with polish/wax residue. Every single crevice was filled, I couldn’t help but notice them as the owner and I walked around the vehicle and owner finally admitted that he did that him self, I told him I would do my best with the vehicle :thumb: Well on with the show, first up the shoes of the vehicle and for the shoes the proper tools are used: I decided to go with Menzerna Gel, various brushes and P21S Total Auto Wash. First Menzerna is applied: Wheel wells receive some P21S Total Auto Wash: The inside of the rims were done with the help of my EZ brush: Wheel wells were agitated with the demoted Zymol sponge and once again very limited space for my hand to reach :shakehead: The face of the rims were agitated with a Zymol brush. Well this process was carried out for all four rims, tires and wheel wells. Once they were all done it was time for the rest of the body. First I wanted to completely remove any LSP the vehicle had, so I sprayed P21S Total Auto Wash on the entire vehicle: Wile P21S was doing it’s job I connected my CR Spotless system and got my two buckets out to play. The shampoo of choice once again is Meg’s Gold Class: Once the entire vehicle had been washed I proceeded to clay it, the vehicle felt quite rough during the washing. I decided to go with Yellow Riccardo clay, here is the clay after claying half the passenger fender: This vehicle was covered with contamination :what: The claying process took a bit longer then I had anticipated but well worth the efforts. Once the claying was done vehicle was brought inside for more inspection :thumb: First, paint gauge readings. This was done with my PosiTector 200: Vehicle had plenty of clear coat and I was happy to see that: Taking paint gauge readings on Vette’s usually takes me some time but extra cautious is required on these vehicles as they are non metal. Well with the help of the 3M Sun Gun it was time to inspect the vehicle: Oh yes, more polish residue For the main event, owner pointed this one out and requested it minimized or removed: Well first combo is: Menzerna polishing foam pad with 3M UK Extra Fine Compound. This combo delivered reasonable results. Before: After: This area required two passes to get it just right. Here is a 50/50 of the driver side fender: Closer look: Well this combo delivered good results so I stuck with it, next I polished the driver side head lights, before: The head lights look hazy. After: Regrettably, the haziness was inside the head lights, so no difference was made :shakehead: Shame :shrug: Well on with the polishing, here is a 50/50 picture of the front bumper: Well so far combo was delivering good results, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t last, the clear coat on this Vette was tough specially in areas that had more swirls/deeper scratches. So the combo was bumped up to a Menzerna Compounding foam pad with 3M UK Fast Cut Plus, here is how this combo performed. Passenger fender before: After: Before: After: For the roof, before: After: Passenger side pillar before: After: Passenger side mirror, before: After: Passenger door, before: After: A few holograms but nothing that 3M UK Extra Fine Compound with a Menzerna polishing foam pad can’t take care off :thumb: 50/50 of passenger quarter panel: Passenger side lower bumper, before: After: 50/50 of trunk: Tail light before: After: Rear bumper before: After: Now this scratch: Is on the driver side of the rear bumper. Here are the results after just one pass with Fast Cut Plus and Menzerna Compounding pad: It took a total of 4 passes to end up with the following results: Not completely removed but two more passes and it was all gone. I could have just wet sanded it but since I gave the area several passes with a compounding pad I figured might as well continue :shrug: Well on with the show, driver side pillar before: After: By the time I was done here is what I was left with: No worries, dust was removed with Zymol duster: Well that about does it for the paint correction process, now to refine the finish. This was followed up with Menzerna polishing foam pad and 3M UK Extra Fine Compound and to finish it all off it was further refined with: So much for being a minor paint correction huh :shrug: Well now for the protection, owner originally wanted long term protection but I convinced the owner to let me put a Carnauba LSP, not just any wax I decided to use my Crystal Rock on this vehicle. The reason I went with Crystal Rock is because the vehicle has lots of flakes and I wanted to make the flakes pop, I applied Crystal Rock via applicator: Wile I left Crystal Rock to bond I proceeded to finish of the final bits. For starters the rims needed some polishing, for this I used: After the rims were done it was time to polish the exhaust tips as well. The interior was given a quick vacuum, glass was cleansed with Stoners invisible Glass with a Glass micro fiber towel. Crystal Rock was buffed of with various Cookie Monsters and leaving the following results: Tires were dressed with Optimum Tire :thumb: Now for some outdoor pictures: Well that about does it for this vehicle. A big thank you goes to the owner because he let me drive the vehicle. You see the vehicle was scheduled to receive 3M protection and owner allowed me to drive it to the shop where the 3M was to be installed, I drove it there and drove it back and I can totally understand why people enjoy these vehicles, lots of power. Oh the owner also changed the exhaust and it now has a nice deep sound to it and it took me a bit to get used to the sound but at the end I enjoyed my self driving it. Hope you enjoyed this detail.
Great job Nica, wait till you see the one I will be posting later today. All I can say I have never seen a car with so much acid rain/water spots.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it eace: Look forward to it Rocket, I'm starting to understand why people purchase Corvette's :idea:
I agree, I enjoyed the color...it made the end results a bit more enjoyable for me, I've always been a fan of blue :shrug: Yes, I've been getting quite a few phone calls for details lately...not that I'm complaining as I enjoy detailing but my own vehicles need a good detail...need to find time to do my own vehicles :coffee:
Excellent work as usual Carlos. I'm curious do you turn the steering wheel to get better access to those tight wheels wells?
Great work Carlos. How long did it take you? I would say 6 hours for compounding 6 hours for taking out the hazing and maybe 3 hours to burnish the paint? You must have been tired after that but I am sure the drive to the shop for the 3M bra rejuvenated you Quick question Carlos, In situations like these where a customer comes in for a one step but you believe it needs more than that how do you usually approach the customer? I've been lucky and have had passionate owners and understand the need to bump up the amount of polishing. However I am sure I will come upon a customer that will only want the one step but will want it to yield the same results as a multi step because they feel there is very little defects. One more question how did you get those "bling" sun shots? I always try to get those but I don't get as much blinging
I'm with Tim on the outside shot of the car..looks GREAT!! I know that looks better then when the owner picked it up from the dealer..shame all of the extra wax in all the cracks of the car.. Why did you use the Menzerna Tire Gel for this particular car?? I don't know that I have seen you use Menzerna before..well atleast when I have been on these forums.. Always though, thank you for taking the time for pictures for us to get to see your work.
Nice work Carlos, that color really highlights the curves and overall beauty of the car and you making it look like that accentuates it ten fold
Carlos..the 'Vette looks great! The wheels really make that car, IMO. Do you seal the wheels after using the Autosol? Just wondering. The Afters look great...I'm sure you showed him better ways to apply wax than into every little nook and cranny, LOL.
Looks good Carlos, LS car just cant be shut up they roar my GTO is pretty loud but not nearly loud enough... Matt
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it eace: :nod: I'm glad I convinced the owner to let me use a good Carnauba wax rather then sealant, I'll put the sealant in a month or so. Well I didn't turn the steering wheel but I should have :doh: it would have made it easier to reach inside the wheel wells...hopefully next time I'll remember :idea: Glad you enjoyed it. The time frame you put sounds about right, to be honest I don't keep track of time when I'm detailing...I just go to my garage and I say relax and enjoy my self and best part I don't even have a clock in my garage, don't want/need one. As for how I approach customers that want one step but I believe require some more? Well before I answer that question I should point out that I detail for pure pleasure/fun/enjoyment. Having said that if I feel the vehicle needs a little extra I just do it, don't even tell the customer. I do this for one reason and that is this vehicle was a referral and when I get referrals I see them as (this is just me) I have a reputation to maintain so I feel I have to blow the owners mind when he receives his vehicle....so I do what ever is necessary to accomplish that. Like I said, detailing is a passion for me, I'm not in it to get rich or to make it my main income for that I have my day job. So I go that extra mile for pure personal satisfaction and to maintain my reputation, I can't have the individual who vouched for me look bad so I make sure the vehicle is flawless or close to it. As for the bling pictures, well it comes down to the angle you take the picture try taking a picture about 45 degrees from where the sun hits the vehicle that should give you the sun reflection. Having a good lens helps, it gives you that star look to the sun reflection, high end lenses have more blades inside the lens and give a sharper look but try it with what what ever camera/lens you have first and go from there...just remember angles are your friend. Hope this helps. Well I went with Menzerna because the rims weren't in too bad shape, I've had Menzerna gel for wile now but don't like using it too often just once in a wile, glad you enjoyed the write up and pictures eace: Thank you guys, glad you enjoyed it eace: Thank you richy. Yes, I always seal the rims with DG 601/105 combo after using Autosol, I forgot to mention that :doh: Oh and yes I showed the owner the difference between a cheap (when I say cheap I mean Canadian Tire cheap) vs a good high end Carnuaba. I showed him I can apply the waxes I own over any trim and no mark would be left...then he asked the price for Crystal Rock and said "No way!" hahahaha I have to admit I got a giggle out of his reaction lol. Thank you guys for the feed back, very much appreciated :chest: Glad you enjoyed it :hippie: I'm starting to see how important the sound of a vehicle is, it separates it from regular traffic.
Great work Carlos, i have a couple of questions for you if you dont mind. Do you do your side detail work by primarily word of mouth? If not, how do you advertise? Were these wheels coated? If so, you feel like using a metal polish is ok? This would be great to hear your thoughts on. Amazing detail as always!
