My dad's 97 Corvette got a full repaint and FULL paint correction!
01-24-2012, 03:17 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
My dad's 97 Corvette got a full repaint and FULL paint correction!
A couple years ago I did a full detail on my dad's C5. Came out nice and he and my mom took it to So-cal for a vacation. Unfortunately on their way back it got hit by several large chunks of broken up cement that came falling out of a big semi truck.
Fast forward to a month ago.....the corvette underwent a full repaint. I asked the bodyshop to take it easy with the buffing after they did the wetsanding to leave as much clear coat material as possible. To the guys doing the work this translated into "oh we don't have to really do much at all..." Hack work ensued and left a severely scratched, swirled, and deeply scored surface. The paintwork itself was good, it was just the finishing work that was poor.
As this car belongs to my father, the job had to be exceptional. So the task was to tackle all the defects, and there were many. Sanding scratches, heavy swirls, DA sander pigtails, overspray, random isolated deep scratches (RIDS), holograms/buffer trails, etc....
35 hours was what it took to do a full correction on this car. Upon completion, the paint was above 98%+ flawless.
The pre-wash rinsing showcases strong water beading. This indicates the presence of a heavy glaze filler applied by the bodyshop. This will hide swirls, scratches, and other imperfections. Also explains why many cars look great after a bodyshop buffs them but look quite poor after a week or two.
Foaming the car to get it ready for washing...
Initial test spot on the hood. After compounding with a wool pad, serious correction resulted, but wasn't quite good enough. More extreme measures were needed.
Compounding finished and starting to look better, but still a long way to go.
Some of the paint issues around the car....
DEEP scratches
Some deep sand scratches
Making more progress....
After...
Ok.....it gets kinda bad here.
After heavy compounding with wool and rotary, the heavy defects were leveled out. Final polishing will remove the rotary holograms and restore even more gloss.
All paint correction work is now finished and the paint is ready for protection.
Since the paint is only a few weeks old it needs to be able to breathe and out-gas. Applying wax or sealant is not advised during this 30-90 day process. Luckily Chemical Guys Blacklight is a new product that protects the paint but allows it to continue the out-gassing process.
Gotta have the sun pictures to show the full correction.
Remember that trashed passenger door?.......
Looking better now!
Reflecting.....everything
Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed the read!
Fast forward to a month ago.....the corvette underwent a full repaint. I asked the bodyshop to take it easy with the buffing after they did the wetsanding to leave as much clear coat material as possible. To the guys doing the work this translated into "oh we don't have to really do much at all..." Hack work ensued and left a severely scratched, swirled, and deeply scored surface. The paintwork itself was good, it was just the finishing work that was poor.
As this car belongs to my father, the job had to be exceptional. So the task was to tackle all the defects, and there were many. Sanding scratches, heavy swirls, DA sander pigtails, overspray, random isolated deep scratches (RIDS), holograms/buffer trails, etc....
35 hours was what it took to do a full correction on this car. Upon completion, the paint was above 98%+ flawless.
The pre-wash rinsing showcases strong water beading. This indicates the presence of a heavy glaze filler applied by the bodyshop. This will hide swirls, scratches, and other imperfections. Also explains why many cars look great after a bodyshop buffs them but look quite poor after a week or two.
Foaming the car to get it ready for washing...
Initial test spot on the hood. After compounding with a wool pad, serious correction resulted, but wasn't quite good enough. More extreme measures were needed.
Compounding finished and starting to look better, but still a long way to go.
Some of the paint issues around the car....
DEEP scratches
Some deep sand scratches
Making more progress....
After...
Ok.....it gets kinda bad here.
After heavy compounding with wool and rotary, the heavy defects were leveled out. Final polishing will remove the rotary holograms and restore even more gloss.
All paint correction work is now finished and the paint is ready for protection.
Since the paint is only a few weeks old it needs to be able to breathe and out-gas. Applying wax or sealant is not advised during this 30-90 day process. Luckily Chemical Guys Blacklight is a new product that protects the paint but allows it to continue the out-gassing process.
Gotta have the sun pictures to show the full correction.
Remember that trashed passenger door?.......
Looking better now!
Reflecting.....everything
Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed the read!
01-24-2012, 02:44 PM
#3
Pro
Wow! That looked like a massive amount of work but well worth it. Looks better than new. Congrats. Thanks for the pics
01-24-2012, 04:14 PM
#4
Intermediate
Member Since: May 2005
Location: Florida
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i'm kinda confused. how in the world is the brand new paint job the "before" pics???
what the hell did they do to the car? because the answer doesn't appear to be "paint it"
what the hell did they do to the car? because the answer doesn't appear to be "paint it"
01-24-2012, 04:36 PM
#5
Drifting
Thread Starter
Thank you!
Thanks so much!
Those were my thoughts too when I first got it dropped off.... but it is new paint. Take a close look behind the tires, front end, mirrors.... I promise you this is brand new paint. It hadn't even been washed since it left the bodyshop....this was all installed by them. It was my job to un-install the shoddy work.
Those were my thoughts too when I first got it dropped off.... but it is new paint. Take a close look behind the tires, front end, mirrors.... I promise you this is brand new paint. It hadn't even been washed since it left the bodyshop....this was all installed by them. It was my job to un-install the shoddy work.
01-24-2012, 07:49 PM
#7
Drifting
Thread Starter
01-25-2012, 02:30 AM
#9
Le Mans Master
Absolutely stunning!! Congratulations! 
01-25-2012, 09:00 AM
#10
Le Mans Master
Nice work and save. No surprise they handed it back to you like that. I'm sure they think they did a great good with it.... ugh.
Looks great.
Josh
Looks great.
Josh
01-30-2012, 04:55 PM
#14
Racer
Member Since: May 2009
Location: Shakopee MN
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Great work as always Jeff!
Typically body shop...Judging by the before pics they probably used the same wool pad for years with no cleaning other than an occasional spurring...probably gets left out in the open too with all the sanding dust!
Typically body shop...Judging by the before pics they probably used the same wool pad for years with no cleaning other than an occasional spurring...probably gets left out in the open too with all the sanding dust!
