1966 Corvette Stingray Paint Correction Detail
by DJ MayoThis beautifully restored Corvette comes from the same owner as the recent Porsche Article I posted. You will also see another older vehicle that I have spent several hours with. Coming into this detail the plan off attack would be much different than the Porsche. With the harder clear and the fiberglass panels, would make for a longer more extensive job to achieve the same results. After doing an evaluation of the vehicle, there were several areas on the car that had some DA sanding marks, deep scratches, and some heavy wool pad marks from a previous job. This would require a rather aggressive approach to refine the surface to the desired level.
After spending some time prepping the vehicle for polishing we got started right away using the Surbuf R Series Pads and Meguiars 105. (Please refer to my How-To Article using the Surbuf Pads)
Spending most of the day making our way around the vehicle fully leveling the paint using both 5.5 inch Surbuf pads and 4 inch for the tighter, more hard to reach spots. This left the paint leveled nicely but would require an additional step to refine the clear. Switching to Optimum Hyper Spray Polish and a white pad using the Porter Cable cleaned the paint further, removed the compounding haze and marks and left us with a defect free finish. At this point, the gloss that was already revealed was night and day from when we first started. Remember, proper prep is the key to your finish.
Using both Brinkmann lights to see the different degrees of defects.
Here in the next few pictures you will notice the degree of some of these defects. They were deep and very stubborn.
Finishing down with the white pad on this hard clear coat. On softer clears, a black or blue pad is recommended.
After all polishing was completed, all wheels, chrome trim, etc were treated using Optimum Metal Polish. This alone will make a big difference in the overall quality of the job. After this is done, I then did the usual which is cleaning the paint with Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze before applying Blackfire Wet Diamond Paint Sealant.
Have I ever mentioned how this leaves a super slick finish with tons of gloss?
This area required the same steps but the top had to be removed in order to reach it.
A couple final indoor shots before pulling the vehicle outside
Here is the final product
The 427 Turbo-Jet
A little preview of what is next from 19 hours of polishing.
As always, thank you for taking time to view my work. If you or anyone else has any comments or question, please submit in the comment box below.
Great job bringing that classic Vette back to life DJ! The red looks crazy in the after photos. Obviously we see this kind of transformation on a daily basis, but it still amazes me how much of a difference a proper polish makes.
Great work DJ! The car looks absolutely stunning! I love the lines on these cars and they are a joy to work on. 🙂
Rasky
Looks good DJ, I wish I could have helped you out on that one! Did you surbuf it for the first step?
DJ,
2 things. First, Beautiful work as always. Seriously, I winced at the second picture.
Second, I hate your client…he has 2 of my 4 dream muscle cars.
Keep up the great work, I have learned much from you, Todd and the other writers here. Thank you.
Josh
Great work DJ. The paint looks absolutely stunning. The two cars bring back memories. My dad had a ’65 convertable Vette and I had a ’71 Black Chevelle SS that looks exactly like the one in the last pic. I miss those automotive days.
Nice Paint ^^
Looks good my friend, did you work on the black one as well????
Very impressive! the car looks better than new! Are these kinds of results possible with a random orbital polisher, or is a rotary buffer the only way?
DJ,
Great work it looks amazing.
Danny R.
Thank you for all the comments guys, I’ll be back next week to start on a Bentley. In regards to the steps, M105 on the DA via the Surbuf pad was used to level the paint, then Optimum Hyper Spray Polish was used on DA for finishing.
DJ, I have a retiree detailing business and I use Blackfire Wet Diamond for my final protectant. Unbelieveable product and a recent 911 black Porsche Turbo I detailed turned heads everywhere on my way back to delivering it to the customers. The finish is so smooth and slick if you do the proper prep before applying it. Awesome job by the way.
I forgot to mention after I saw a comment that I use a Porter Cable DA polisher and the results are fantastic.
I too like applying my sealants by machine.
I recently used the surbuf 4″ pads with Megs 105 while working on a 2002 civic (I know its no stingray) either way; I found it very hard to remove the polish when I was complete. Also I did not see hardly any correction come from using this combination. I followed your write up the best I could with no avail.
Any suggestions?
Garrett-
Spray some IPA or Prep Sol on a towel and try to remove that way. Sometimes the weather can cause certain polishes at time to act up in a funny manner. Also, did you try a less aggressive combination in that area first? Reason for asking is that the Honda paint should be rather soft and usually a Surbuf is not needed. Also what you can do is, next time the polish won’t come off, put a foam pad on, 1 small dot of polish, and work in the same area. A chemical that is stuck can usually take itself off. Let me know what you find.
Thanks DJ, I was actually using a cyan pad and 205 on most of the car (105 on some rougher spots). But the trunk was really torn up as if it had been keyed or something. So I thought I could possibly get enough cut out of the surbuf/105 combo with my XP but alas I could not. The customer was still very pleased with the outcome of the car so thats good but I was not pleased with the trunk. Perhaps the solution was wetsanding?
It’s kind of hard to tell without seeing, but I finished a Bentley Arnage today with a total of 19 hours and the Surbuf/M105 Combo worked slowly was knocking out nearly all of the VERY deep scratches that this car had from the original owner using a bristle brush on it. Some were a tad too deep even with wet sanding but I was very impressed how much it got with the Surbuf pads. Owner was thrilled. I would continue to go over the area a few more times with slow passes and some decent pressure before trying to sand. You could be surprised. Let me know.
Hi DJ:
I’ve passed along your name to a friend who has a ’67 small block Corvette that he’s looking to put on the market and I’ve suggested that he has you prep his car before doing so as it will add to the value. BTW, he’s a huge golf nut, too….
Bob