Many here read my recent post on insulating Mrs. Patches black C5 last weekend. I'm on vacation all week and decided I would also polish her Vette properly using the Porter Cable polisher I ordered a while back along with the Menzerna high cut and fine polishes. Using techniques gleaned from the experts in the waxers' section here , I spent a few days going through the process, taking my time and learning as I progressed.

Black, to put it mildly, is not a forgiving color and it took several passes at each panel to remove the battle scars a daily driver accumulates over several seasons. I have come to the conclusion that silver, pewter and possible white are the only truly appropriate colors for a daily driver. The deposits, blemishes, nicks, scratches and swirls apparent on Mrs. Patches' C5 may have been inevitable but, they cut this OCD’er to the bone so I got to work.

I'm delighted to report the surgery went well and the patient is doing nicely.

Here's the basic random orbital polishing kit I used.


First I washed the car and then removed a good portion of the foreign deposits with an application of Turtle Wax Liquid Clay Bar - great stuff. Then I washed it again and pulled my Vette off and drove her Vette onto the lift for a good portion of the process to make access to the lower panels easier. I spent a lot of hours going over each panel several times and then washed it once more before giving it two coats of Zaino. This process did not take one day. In fact, did not take two days.



Here are a few shots of the paint before starting. I purposely kept these pics pretty large so you can see the details in the paint.

Front fender.


Roof - the surface was rough and sandy-looking. The water here is loaded with minerals that I try to filter with an inline unit. I think a deionizer setup is next on my list.


Right quarter panel with bird dropping burned in.


Left quarter panel


Looking straight onto the door - uhg.


Front fender after.


Roof after.


Right quarter panel after with bird defect eliminated.


Door panel after.


Hood after.


Again


Front after


3/4 rear after


Other side after






Was all that work worth it? It is right now. Ask me in six months when it's covered in dirty snow and 3 nail-biting months way from a decent wash.

 

Yes black is pain to keep clean. My favorite vette color is Torch
Red. For a daily driver or a vette that you dont have to worry
about keeping clean go with silver. My daily driver is silver and
its a breeze to keep clean. Silver just doesnt show the dirt.

 

You did a great job. I want to try polishing a car with something besides my hands, but I'm afraid I'd strip the paint too low.

 

God d@mn!

I need to do/get that done to mine....

 

Good job man. I used Menzerna on mine about 1 1/2 years ago and need to get on it again.

Dangerz you won't mess your paint up with the PC.

 

Fantastic job Ed.

 

You are to be congratulated. I was so happy when I replaced my black C4 DD with a silver C5. I just could not keep the black car looking good and would never have been able to do the fantastic reclamation you pulled off

 

Looks great!

I had a polo green C4. Beautiful color when clean but showed every spec of dust and/or dirt. I got an MSG C5. Very forgiving.

 

Great job. I was THIS close to buying a black 2000 FRC in NY. Car had low miles and everything I wanted and after a long talk with my brother...I got a red one in Cincy!

Black is beautiful...and a lot of work!

 

Hey Patches..OK the black Vette looks good, but....I bet you $200.00 that you couldn't do that to a Torch Red vert. which happens to be in NY (in my garage)

 

Fantastic job. The torch red looks really good as well.

With that being said, how is torch red maintenence on a scale of pewter (0) - black (10)? I'd assume not very hard since it isn't really metallic but that's just conjecture.

 

Very nice results.

questions:

1) how long has the bird bomb been there?
2) how exactly did you remove it. I have a similar spot on my "halo" that i've attempted to remove, but seems to be in the paint.

 

Great job; when black in clean there is no other color to have...

 

I have one of those on my hood? previous owner left it there for me, havnt figured how to get rid of it

 

It sure looks good now Ed!

 

Holy smokes!! A great job.

Just about every time I wash mine, I have to put a coat of wax on to take care of the do-do from being a DD.

 

Looks great. What pads did you use? I am soon to pick up some Mizerna, and white is still a PITA on show day.

 

WOW - Excellent work....looks GREAT

 

WOW!! I wished I lived near you, I would pay you to make my Vette look like that!!

 

Looks fantastic

Someone else said it best.... "It looks great when clean but the cleaning never stops".