Cross

So I decided it was time to clean up the Exterior and Interior of the Corvette hoping to have it done by the end of October for the Car Show for Cancer this year.

Plans include:
Satin Black Paint Job
Centennial Badges
Recaro Suede Black Seats
C5 Deep Dish Matte Black Rims
Embroidered Floor Matts
Corvette Fuel Rails Modified
Z06 Screens
Line Lock
Testing out Depo Lights Painted Body Color (Painting Stockers too)
Some small interior item clean up (I have a WTB Thread)

So far I have ordered or already bought the following:
Centennial C6 Badges (Ordered and have Arrived OEM Badges)

I am going to have to work with a heat gun lightly to give the front one the slight bend it will need. The rear will not be an issue.


Evo 8 Recaro Suede Black Seats (Installed and loving them)

That was from the initial install mockup. I have to say I love these seats!


C5 Deep Dish 17x9.5 18x10.5 Matt Black Rims with Rivets (Ordered hoping they get here Tuesday, then I need to sell my Current C6 Zo6 Deep Dish Rims)



The Satin Black paint job was started since I was hit lightly in the rear. I am going to finish it up hopefully next weekend so the whole car is done.



Embroidered Floor Matts are here! They were Z06 ones but I got an excellent deal on them so I could not say no. I was going to do a different style but at this price I am more than happy!
Cheyenne wanted to help so she has been painting the Fuel Rail Covers and New Center caps on the rims the Light Blue off the C6 Corvettes, by the time of the car show it should be done and ready to go!


Since I have pretty much finished building the car (With the Exception of 3.90 Gears for the rear and a small 100 shot install) it really was time to clean it up and get it really nice looking. Hopefully this will all pull together like what I have envisioned in my head.

Cross

Tomorrow Morning is the day, Painting starts at 8am!

Cross

And its painted! It took a little longer than planned and we were worried about color matching exactly what Watson did so we painted the whole car. (That is why the tail lights were taped off instead of coming out, originally I had not planned on painting that part as it was just painted by Watson Chevrolet)

After a gun issue we had good results, the lights did not come out as we wanted so those will be coming off and I am debating stripping them down and trying again or just selling them as I painted the stock covers.

Here is the progress yesterday:
Taped off awaiting wipe down and tack cloth



First Coat on



And the final result right out of paint



Z06 Screens and C6 100th Badge

Corvette_Ed

I'm not getting the C6 emblems on a C5.

Cross

I liked them and they are rare, granted I only used one.

The black style of the 100th badges were just what I liked so its what I wanted to use.

MSG C5

Very cool! I have always liked the satin black treatment, especially on track cars. The seats looks great.

Not crazy about the Centennial emblems though. I know they represent the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet vs. the Corvette, however the C6 logo looks out of place on a C5. Sort of like the 50th anniversary badges showing up on a C4. I think some blacked out C5 logos would look pretty good with your theme.

But hey, just one man's opinion. Looking forward to the finished pics.

Cross

I bought two and have to agree I thought 2 was just to much so I am staying with the Carbon Fiber Overlayed Rear Hatch Logo I just need to get some adhesive for it. But the front logo was one I wanted to change I just felt this design was cleaner and as I said before the right color scheme I wanted. I didn't want to go to far with the Black out the lights everything will stay the way it is. I need to get better front pictures well just finished pictures in general but with the Car Show this weekend I have a feeling that will not be an issue.

c5vetteguy

I don't believe I've seen these seats (Evo 8 Recaro) installed in a C5 before. Can you elaborate on how these went in? Any modifications to the interior to make them fit? What did you use for tracks?
And if you wouldn't mind, your dimensions (height, waist)? I'm still looking for the "right" seats, but am trying to avoid cutting up my interior. Thanks!

hockeyspokes

Very 50's retro when most could not afford paint so they just black primered and waxed over it. I like it. Very Stealth

Vetteman Jack

Not a real fan of satin black paint (I prefer more of a shine), but it looks like you did a very good job and it doesn't look bad at all. Good luck getting everything ready for the show.

Cross

Me with a Buffer is a bad idea I destroy the pads lol, another reason I liked the Satin look but thank you that's exactly what I was thinking in the old retro era. I really like that look and felt that's the direction I wanted to go with the Vette.

On the Seats I believe a few others have done it.

What I did was use the stock feet basically I removed the studs holding them in place (I believe they actually have a different name for those pins that hold them in) and bolted them to these seats then I made brackets to extend the rear ones forward a little and they work great.
However there is one flaw, the seat adjuster would not fit without modification its easy but the pin was too long so you shorten it and if you want to move them once in you have a little more fun because the **** will only fit if your short and I am not lol. I will take some interior shots to show you.
Oh and I am 6'1 135lbs

If you look in the prep picture the night before that Corvette behind me has Carbo's or however its spelled and having sat in both these Recaro's are much more my personal choice, they feel better to me and the driver of that Vette.

Tron Z

The car looks great!

I have been in a few Evos and I like those seats a lot. I'd also be interested in a few more details on their installation.

Cross

I will see what I can do. On the adjuster not fitting I did not cut anything to make it fit I just keep the **** in the glove box as I don't really move my seats once they are set anyway but just encase.

Blitzkrieg

OP I'm sorry but your going to hate my guts in a minute!

Im a little curious as to why the body shop didn't remove your tail lights, the front license plate cover, your exhaust, the mirrors from your side view mirrors, your front marker lights............................

I just had a talk with my body shop guy about my hood and he explained to me the PROPER way to paint a vette is to remove all the body panels as the factory did when it was painted

I'm going to guess you are going to find all kinds of overspray everywhere! Did you get the jams, trunk, and engine done also, or just the outside shell only! Hope you got a great deal on the paint work and don't plan on selling the car!

Again OP sorry, but I call it the way I see it, if my car was painted that way, My body shop guy would experience " A Very Significant Emotional Event", and not in a positive way!

So, are we still friends?

Cross

Because I did the prep work, I rented the booth and I just had a painter shoot it.

The tail lights are explained but honestly the difference here is over 3000.00 and there is a reason for that. I am not going to pull everything, try to realign it, try to take it all down there and get it all done then back out and in the truck in the time frame they give you in the booth.

Maybe if I was going for a serious show quality job with a paint color change would I go through that. But this was a same color just flat change basically so there was no need. The tail lights would have been removed if I knew we planned to do that. However since I drove this too the booth then had to drive it home all on a Saturday time line for the business so that was a factor. We spent until 2pm on this and that was just in the manor we brought it in. Think of the difference if it was in pieces.

Also those lights stayed in to match the body's paint lines. I am already worried about the stock's colors. I like things sanded in the direction you paint. My sanding followed the way you would paint the parts on the car not off. That's why the headlights stayed in since they were aftermarkets being painted custom to match the body.

Over Spray is an issue when you do not tape and cover correctly, that is not an issue here everything was moved or taped before hand and no Jams were not done again its a black car that was really over kill yes it would look different but honestly I was fine with the gloss black inside since there is not going to be anything Satin Black to contrast it in a positive way it would only damper the clean look of the interior with something that dull. (That's also why I changed the rims to match the exterior)

Had I wanted to play the perfectionist game and waste another 3k I could have however 3k is better spent else where in my opinion. I already sold the car once for 17k I doubt painting it Satin black with all the other changes I have made lately is going to make it worse. Every painter and shop has the way they like to do something and different levels depending on need and customer situations. This fit mine and if you really must push yes it was not expensive the booth, materials and little pieces was under 550.00. The painter is family so his time was basically free (I traded out some other work he needed done electronics wise) and since he sold his paint shop (Larry's Paint and body) a few years ago we rented that booth which he set up from knowing the owner.

Blitzkrieg

Ummmmm ok! It's your car and if your happy then thats all that matters!

So basically, you didn't want to do it the right and proper way, so you just cut a bunch of corners and did a RUSH job to save money! Great job!

Did you use a coupon?

Cross

LOL Yeah sure I did, still worried if we will like each other or did you not get the "Your a jerk" reaction you were hoping to be able to reply too?

Again everyone knows "Someone" but most people have never actually done any work they just talk to someone else. Much like when I went to E85 with my NA setup and no one understood why. I don't think you would be the one to prep your car or buy the needed items to paint it because you would just take it to some one. That's fine and all but frankly that has never really been what I like to do.
A Car salesman will tell you that you should never buy a car without a salesman how many of us believe that? Its all knowledge and comfort level, friend (Although we have never met and I have no clue who you are but you seemed worried if we were friends as we were before somehow...?)

As for the Rush job comment I spent two weeks off an on prepping it but the time in the booth was limited as was the painters time. If that's a Rush Job to you along with all the other comments of supposed Over Spray, lesser quality etc then so be it. Frankly your just trying at this point to push buttons and I don't care its the internet so what.

Blitzkrieg

I understand why you changed over to E85, and I just wanted to say what was on my mind! I am a big fan of the Satin/ Flat black though.

No Body/Paint work is one thing I will not do my self as I am to picky, If it's not perfect I won't do it. Thats why a body shop is painting my hood and spoiler!

Enjoy the car man as you picked a nice color and will turn heads!

Quick question? Is the satin clear coat just as strong as normal clear coat? Is it durable to bird crap, road grim, tree sap ect................

Can you wet sand and polish it if needed or will that change the finish?

Cross

Basically to get this flat look when you apply the clear coat you add a flattening agent. So technically its still a normal clear and if I wax the car a few times it would look shiny like the factory.
However Flats have a flaw, you cannot just wetsand them as they will start to gloss back up (Much like polishing metal). There are a few tricks beyond my level to fix flat paint but its not the same as your usual base coat clear fix. (Much like you were asking about)

The strength is the same I have heard claims otherwise but honestly the way you care for this is much the same and that goes for scuff or bird crap too. Clean it up, a little spray wax and rubbing and that's it. You cannot wax out some of the things you would do with glossy clear but in the same light you will not have the same swirl marks you would be trying to fix with those. As for deeper scratches I cannot comment there.
A bird did hit it shortly after I took it out of the booth and it cleaned off just fine. Of course it never fails clean or paint something and a bird will most likely find it.

jrose7004

Nice work.