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1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

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  • 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

    The owner inherited the car from his brother after his untimely death ten years ago. He owned a body shop and painted it himself, including three coats of clear, but never sanded or buffed it. He had that done earlier this summer, but was very disappointed with the work. The guy skipped several panels, like they were inconvenient or something. There was also a LOT of buffing compound stuck in cracks EVERYWHERE. The owner found my ad and thought I sounded like I had a better sense of detail.



    Things I found wrong with the car:

    SWIRLS!!!





    This one shows the wing after one lap with M105/solo light cutting wool pad:



    Leftover sanding marks:






    There was also a lot of orange peel that was never sanded out from the start. I sanded on the nose where they had done some touchup work after the original paint job, then did some sanding just above the drivers side headlight:



    Some sanding on the drivers door where there were some little ripples in the paint:



    Some sanding on the rear decklid (I later had the owner help me get the wing off...much easier!!!):



    AFTERS:
















    And, the owner climbing into his "new" ride!





    If I can figure out how to white out the plates, I have more cool pictures to ad. I have a Mac and don't even know where to do this!

    Process:

    - pray!
    - remove any emblems that could be unscrewed and remove taillights
    - tape all lights, vents
    - clay some paint overspray with Mild Detailing clay (blue) and Last Touch for the lubricant
    - wet sand remaining orange peel, ripples, the clear coat blend on the nose and a couple bird dropping etchings with 2000 grit Nikken paper, Meguiars sanding block and #00 as a lubricant
    - M105/solo wool light cutting pad/Makita rotary/1800 RPM (I had a double-sided wool pad in the mail when I accepted the job, so I just had to do extra laps for now)
    - M105/yellow polishing pad/rotary/1500 RPM to clear up the wool pad haze
    - M205/yellow pad/rotary/1200 RPM to bring up the gloss a bit
    - M205/black finishing pad/DA/speed 5 to take care of any remaining buffer holograms
    - NXT 2.0 - two coats for maximum gloss and coverage
    - #40 dressing on hoses and shrouds under the hood and rubber gaskets around doors
    - Endurance High Gloss tire gel
    - PlastX on lenses

    The owner was thrilled. "Now THAT'S what it was supposed to look like!" He recently had his truck detailed and was sorely disappointed and will now be bringing that to me for swirl removal. He also brought some of my cards to the local Corvette shop to tell the guy about my work!
    "Do the job right, or don't do it!" - Dad

  • #2
    Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

    SWEET! Awesome job on the Vette. Never got tired looking at those classics.
    Learning new things everyday

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

      Awesome work man the car looks fantastic

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

        Beautiful work! Where did you place your add?

        Either way the paint looks awesome and a great write up.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

          I put my ad in Craigslist. I've done nine cars, all of them more than a cleaner/wax and often a full buff-out, just from Craigslist since maybe the end of April. I just did this as a hobby and did a few paid gigs to pay for pay for gear and materials until I lost my job in November and have now been using it as supplemental income.

          I just got an email from the owner and he's going to tell everyone he knows about my services. It was beyond what he could have imagined that it could look like.
          "Do the job right, or don't do it!" - Dad

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

            Amazing work, It Looks brand new!

            I once put swirls in my paint just to see what it looked like.

            I don't always detail cars, but when I do, I prefer Meguiar's.
            Remove swirls my friends.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

              Great save. The vette looks awesome. great save. Way to go.
              quality creates its own demand

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                Excellent work and nice attention to detail. Thanks for including the wetsanding "in-process" shots. A lot of members tend to leave those shots outs because they lack impact, but it's important to see what wetsanding looks like during the job.

                Really loved the first after shot. Nice job of catching a triple sunburst!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!



                  Nice work !!!
                  Mike Pennington
                  Director of Global Training, Events and Consumer Relations
                  Meguiar's, Inc.
                  800-854-8073
                  mpennington@meguiars.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                    Mike Pennington gets a lot of credit, as I watch his videos regularly to see what pieces of technique I can improve on.

                    If only I didn't live in MN- I would love to make a trip to Meguiars' headquarters to learn from the masters in person!
                    "Do the job right, or don't do it!" - Dad

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                      Great work on a wonderfull car!

                      TOP

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                        Great job on a Classic Corvette ! RESPECT !
                        I love the the color !

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                          I screwed up the photo link in my first message for my favorite picture from this job:







                          Still looking for a utility to blank out the license plate on some other cool pics (on my Mac)

                          Thanks for all the great compliments! I owe it all to MOL; I wouldn't have been able to pull this job off even at the beginning of the summer. getting the hang of wet sanding, then spending quality time with M105/M205 made a big difference.

                          I thoroughly enjoy working with the new SMATs, especially being able to get the results I get using a DA after rotary.
                          "Do the job right, or don't do it!" - Dad

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                            Here are some reflection pics I forgot to include. These are all after wetsanding, compounding and rotary polishing, but before DA polishing and waxing:









                            "Do the job right, or don't do it!" - Dad

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 1980 Corvette - wetsand, compound, buff...shine!

                              Nice job!
                              My dad had a '79 that I learned how to detail on.
                              Brings back memories.

                              Comment

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