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So just over a month ago I purchase a 2013 Black 3LT Corvette, my first. One of the items I didn't like about it at the dealership was the abondance of little swirl scrathes on it so I had them markup the we owe to remove the scratches. They supposedly tried and didn't seem to make much of a difference. I reached out to a local company here to have some paint correction done (learned what that was after joining this forum). First time they tried it, they didn't seem to get a lot of the them out and I didn't pay attention to what they used but it was M105 or M205. I was not happy with the results personally since this is what it looked like AFTER the paint correction.
So I asked them to come back and do it again which after some failed appointments due to weather it got done again this week. This time they used some M100 over the whole car and then polished it. It looks better but not what I was expecting. What do you guys think? Without taking my car to a place 5 hours away (Atlanta) where more reputable paint correction shops exist and spending several thousand should I be expecting more?
I already have plans to pickup a Porter Cable and the associated goodies to maintain the car here in the short term. So I suspect I'll be trying some other options to see if they work with me doing them but they may not be for a month or more when it starts to warm up.
Wait until your supplies arrive and do it yourself. It does take time and effort. The second picture is an improvement. No one will do it like you will. There are a ton of videos out there that can help you. Pretty hard to damage your paint with the Porter Cable unless you drop it on the car. Most shops/dealers will not spend the time to totally "fix" the paint. If the entire car looks like that first picture, it will take you many hours.
With time & patients you can get your paint flawless, the Flex or Rupes polishers would do a better job than the PC. The clear on your Vette is pretty hard and is a little harder to correct. When you do start make sure that you do a 2x2 test section so you will know what it takes to get your paint corrected.
Check out this video!
With time & patients you can get your paint flawless, the Flex or Rupes polishers would do a better job than the PC. The clear on your Vette is pretty hard and is a little harder to correct. When you do start make sure that you do a 2x2 test section so you will know what it takes to get your paint corrected.
Thanks for the link to the video, lots of good info in there and honestly it gave me some hope that I'll be able to get this paint a little more correct than the "pro's" that worked on the car twice got to.
When I got it done the first time I didn't know much about the process they'd be doing but I kinda felt it should have taken more than an hour including the wash and wax. Second time around at least took them over three hours.
So just over a month ago I purchase a 2013 Black 3LT Corvette, my first. One of the items I didn't like about it at the dealership was the abondance of little swirl scrathes on it so I had them markup the we owe to remove the scratches. They supposedly tried and didn't seem to make much of a difference. I reached out to a local company here to have some paint correction done (learned what that was after joining this forum). First time they tried it, they didn't seem to get a lot of the them out and I didn't pay attention to what they used but it was M105 or M205. I was not happy with the results personally since this is what it looked like AFTER the paint correction.
So I asked them to come back and do it again which after some failed appointments due to weather it got done again this week. This time they used some M100 over the whole car and then polished it. It looks better but not what I was expecting. What do you guys think? Without taking my car to a place 5 hours away (Atlanta) where more reputable paint correction shops exist and spending several thousand should I be expecting more?
I already have plans to pickup a Porter Cable and the associated goodies to maintain the car here in the short term. So I suspect I'll be trying some other options to see if they work with me doing them but they may not be for a month or more when it starts to warm up.
Thanks for the feedback,
Steve
Having owned several C5/C6 Corvettes .... do yourself a favor and pickup two Menzerna polishes. SIP and 085rd. Menzerna's abrasives break down while being used and their gloss rating is one of the highest. The two should be able to easily cleanup the spiderwebbing and marring in your pics. Blackfire and Wolfgang are also nice two steps with similar design.
The PC is a great buffer, but will take some additional time. I would also suggest the Griots Random Orbital for more torque and similar pricing. Best part, they share the same accessories. Get a 5 inch flexible backing plate and 5.5 inch pads.
If you would like to study how to's then first visit our site and the "detailing how to's" area in our toolbar. I might also suggest looking at the dvd's and books that Mike Phillips offers. He is considered one of the best in the industry and has made things easy to understand. He also offers boot camps here in South Florida.
Last edited by Killrwheels@Autogeek; 01-22-2016 at 09:46 PM.
I just corrected mine. I first used a cleansing lotion, thinking my paint wasn't bad. Then I happened to see a halogen work light at Walmart, it was only $20, so I bought it. When I shined the light on my car, I was shocked! It looked terrible. I then went over the entire car again with Mcguiars d300 which cleaned it up well with an orange pad. I followed that up with Souveran wax. I think I may have close to 20 hours invested. Do yourself a favor and get the most powerful work light you can find. It will tell you the truth.
Thanks everyone for the good information. I've started putting a materials list together and started ordering some items. This way come spring I'll be set to tackle this one even if little by little.
Right now I've got a variety of pads coming in and some parts to start doing 2 bucket washes with grit guards. I just need to decide which chems and tool I'll end up with after some more research.
Thanks everyone for the good information. I've started putting a materials list together and started ordering some items. This way come spring I'll be set to tackle this one even if little by little.
Right now I've got a variety of pads coming in and some parts to start doing 2 bucket washes with grit guards. I just need to decide which chems and tool I'll end up with after some more research.
Thanks everyone for the good information. I've started putting a materials list together and started ordering some items. This way come spring I'll be set to tackle this one even if little by little.
Right now I've got a variety of pads coming in and some parts to start doing 2 bucket washes with grit guards. I just need to decide which chems and tool I'll end up with after some more research.
Steve
Let me know when you need help ....there are many good products and several great products.
Buy a flex 3401 and don't look back. LC hybrid orange pads. I had luck with 105 and fg400. Still playing with finish polishes. Menards or lowes sells LED double shop lights...5k at least 4k of lumen. If you do not put shop lights on your paint expect the sun to show what you missed..then do it again...need a bottle of isopropyl alcohol to mix in a spray bottle with water to wipe off polish to see the paint. Use ONLY Korean microfiber towels.
Let me know when you need help ....there are many good products and several great products.
So my need for a polisher got bumped and escalated. I went to grab some lunch today and some shlep in the parking lot backed out of a spot behind me and 5 or 6 spots over. After making his wide swinging turn which left him looking away from me he at that point blacked out, fell asleep, had a war flashback, time traveled or just start fitzin with his cell phone. I know one of these happened cause while I was sitting in my car watching him do this in my rear view mirror I watch him slowly cover the 40-50 feet now between us at idle speed in reverse. By the time he was 6-8 feet from my car at jumped out and hollered at him and this apparently woke him up or caused his transdimension state to be reverted back to now cause he hit the brakes right AFTER making contact with my bumper. Longer story short, everyone who has seen an episode of cops has seen this subsequent conversation (I'm a volunteer state police officer btw). License, registration and proof of insurance please... Ummm this isn't my car, it's my um girlfriends. Fine same question again. Ummm registration and insurance have expired. Sigh.
So now I have some low speed scuffs on my bumper I will need to remove. I've pretty much settled on the Griots polisher now and already have a host assorted of Chemical Guys pads. I need to get some actual polishes and want to see what you guys think will be needed for this little lunch turd I got . I read some older posts and see that someone recommended starting with Meguiars M105 and finishing with M205. Considering the guys who tried to correct my car used Meguiars and it didn't come out super I'm going to be looking at some alternative options likely. Here is a crappy pair of pictures from a few minutes ago with less than optimal back lighting. You'll have to ignore the dirt from last nights rain and today's pine pollen covering the car. The weather here in Charleston has swung from 30's mid 70's several times since December 1 and this week is in the 70's so for the third time *this year* the pine tree's started dropping pollen.
The pictures I do think make it look worse than it is. I can not feel them with my fingernail. I can feel them when I run my hand over them because of the rubbery tough feeling from well rubbing bumpers. What do you guys think here? Start with spitting on some 120 grit and rub vigorously in 1 direction till the scratches are no longer visible .
Thanks for all the help guys I appreciate it.
Steve
First step is to wash the car well and then assess the damage. You will likely be able to buff out or reduce the marks pretty well. The Griots buffer is a great choice.
For polishes Megs 105 is a great polish. 205 is the natural finishing polish should you stay with Megs. I personally prefer the outcome of using Menzerna for final polishing. Our own Blackfire, Pinnacle, and Wolfgang polishes are very nice too. Generally speaking, you can vary the degree of cutting by changing not only the polishes, but also the pads.
Last edited by Killrwheels@Autogeek; 02-06-2016 at 04:35 PM.
I also have a 2013 black vette and its work to keep it looking like new. I would try doing this at home and the Griots Random Orbital unit and Menzerna polishes are very good choices to start with.
You may have to have the bumper scratches professionally removed.
I keep Pinnacle Souvern wax on mine once all the cleaning, claying and polishing are done.
I also have a 2013 black vette and its work to keep it looking like new. I would try doing this at home and the Griots Random Orbital unit and Menzerna polishes are very good choices to start with.
You may have to have the bumper scratches professionally removed.
I keep Pinnacle Souvern wax on mine once all the cleaning, claying and polishing are done.
Good luck
Thanks for the info and thats a good looking car you got there. My Griots polisher arrived yesterday so I'm sure I'll try an area of the car this weekend. It's suppose to stay in the sub 50's here down to the 20's at night so I'll need to warm up the garage so the polish isn't to thick. I'll try to remember to take some before and after pics to load up.
OK so it got up to the mid 70's here and this provided a great opportunity to bust out the new Griots Polisher and some M105/M205 on the recent damage. I tried out the Griots on the damage and started with the M205 on a Chemical Brothers White pad. Not seeing to much difference I switched over to the the M105 on an Orange pad followed up with some M205 on the White pad again. While the M105 did much better it didn't get rid of it entirely. Mind you it looks MUCH better but at the right angle you can still see it there. I also tried a light scratch on the hatch lid with little to no success. In both cases the scratches can't be felt with my fingernail but seems to be just below the reach of the M105. Should I give the M105 another try with a more aggressive pad? Aside from the scratch the paint looked fabulous in the area I worked on. Have a look at some of the pictures where I tried to show the scratches but they didn't come out. Looks hands down better than the job the "pro's" did that worked on it. I can't wait to try this on some other area's of the car like the hood.
A different angle where they really stand out, this are BEFORE pic.
Here you can see the remaining scratches right above my shadow.
Another shot after polishing.
A shot of the hatch lid scratch that didn't seem to be affected by the M105. There are 2 actually with the main one running horizontal through the middle of the picture.
01-22-2016, 10:37 AM
Paint Correction on my new to me Black 2013
. I read some older posts and see that someone recommended starting with Meguiars M105 and finishing with M205. Considering the guys who tried to correct my car used Meguiars and it didn't come out super I'm going to be looking at some alternative options likely. Here is a crappy pair of pictures from a few minutes ago with less than optimal back lighting. You'll have to ignore the dirt from last nights rain and today's pine pollen covering the car. The weather here in Charleston has swung from 30's mid 70's several times since December 1 and this week is in the 70's so for the third time *this year* the pine tree's started dropping pollen.
.
