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Complete from the Studio: 50th Anniversary Corvette


THE Mook

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My last write-up for today is this 50th Anniversary Corvette.  This was brought to me in pretty rough shape.  Paint need a lot of polishing, and in general, everything else needed my touch.  I spent the better part of two days getting through this car.  Brought it outside, wasn't happy with how it looked, and started all the way over.  The paint proved difficult in spots because the person before me cut pretty deep with a rotary polisher, and it was left that way.

 

The Products and Process:

 

·         Wheel Wells and Tires cleaned with Adam's All Purpose Cleaner and the Adam's 20" Fender Brush.

·         Wheels cleaned with Adam's Deep Wheel Cleaner, Adam's Boulder Blonde Boar's Hair Wheel Brush, and Adam's Turbostick.

·         Engine Bay cleaned with Adam's All Purpose Cleaner, Adam's Wheel Woolies, and Adam's Boulder Blonde Boar's Hair Wheel Brush.

·         Exhaust Tip cleaned with Adam's All Purpose Cleaner, .0000 Steel Wool (inside tip), Adam's Metal Polish Combo, Adam's Blue Hex Grip Applicator, and an old Adam's Single Soft Towel. (Done in two parts...before wash, and after wash was complete)

·         Two Bucket Wash with Grit Guards and Two Wash Pads from the Adam's Complete Two Bucket Wash Kit.

·         Vehicle was dried using Adam's Air Force Master Blaster and Adam's Great White Drying Towel.

·         Engine Bay, Tires and Trim were dressed with either Adam's SVRT or Adam's In and Out Spray.

·         Wheel Wells were dressed with Adam's Invisible Undercarriage Spray.

·         Vehicle was masked with Adam's Professional Detailer's Masking Tape.

·         Door Jambs were cleaned with Adam's Waterless Wash and Adam's Waterless Wash Towels.

·         Interior was vacuumed with the Adam's Vac'N'Blo Compact Wall Mount.

·         Interior was cleaned with Adam's Leather and Interior Cleaner and Adam's Edgeless Microfiber Utility Towels.

·         Interior was dressed with Adam's Leather and Interior Conditioner and Adam's Premium Interior Dressing Applicators.

·         Interior Glass cleaned with Adam's Glass Cleaner and Adam's Glass Cleaning Microfiber Towels.

·         Decontamination of paint was done using Adam's Detailing Claybar and Adam's Detail Spray as a lubricant.

·         Paint was corrected (swirl marks and water spotting) with both the Flex Rotary Polisher and with the     Flex 3401VRG Polisher, Adam's 7" Orange Paint Correcting Pad, and Adam's Paint Correcting Polish.

·         The entirety of the paint was polished with the same polisher, Adam's 7" White Polishing Pad, and Adam's Paint Finishing Polish.

·         Paint, Glass, and Chrome pieces were treated to Adam's Brilliant Glaze via the Adam's 7" Red Glazing Pad or the Adam's Americana Premium Wax and Glaze Applicator.

·         Paint was treated to Adam's Americana Premium Carnauba Paste Wax.

·         All Polish, Glaze, and Wax residue removed with Adam's DoubleSoft Towels.

 

Let's commence, shall we?

 

 

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Before Pictures

 

The entire car was covered in swirl marks.  Nothing heavy, but on a Corvette C5...anything is heavy, right?

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The owner had removed the inlays for the Rear Corvette piece.  It was my job, and wow did it take forever, to remove the old adhesive residue.

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Wheels and Tires needed it.

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I really don't like to do light interiors, but I think I do them well.  This one wasn't too bad.

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Door Panels weren't terrible.

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ACTION shots actually happened this time!  (Cont.)

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Adam's Deep Wheel Cleaner at work.

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Run away you slime!

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I pre-treated the Bug Guts along the front of the Corvette, along with the Side MIrrors, with Adam's Waterless Wash set to "Stream".

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After the wash, I pulled the car in to dry it off.  At that time I always find it best to lay down some shop towels and start with Adam's Invisible Undercarriage Spray in the wheel wells.  It's important everyone put something down prior to using this product.  It turns into "Adam's Invisible Ice Hockey Arena for Kids Who Can't Walk on Ice Good", very rapidly.

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Next on the Agenda, Prior to Paint Correction, was to mask off the gaps with Adam's Professional Detailer's Tape.

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With the car taped off, time to clay!  (No worries out there...I clayed under where the tape was too.)

 

 

 

I was charged with some serious tasks here.

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This paint had some serious contamination.

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This is just the hood.

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I always make it a point pre-taping, to finish the thought, if you will, in regards to dressing the trim and tires.

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More to tackle.

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Getting the process dialed in.

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Paint was glossing up nicely, and the marks, left from the last person before me, were coming out...very slowly.

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I tried the Rupes Bigfoot and our at the time, yet to be released, Microfiber Cutting Pad...it was only okay for me.

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I went Grazey at some point.

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Soon, I could begin Wax.

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Continued...

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I was cleaning that stuff out of the Corvette embossment up until and through the customer pick up.  That adhesive was no joke.

APC and a Single Soft was my big help.

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The Engine Bay

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Outside check shot before it rained...some say the Gods of Polish and Wax were looking down on me. :lol:

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Wow.. that paint really popped after you got a hold of it.

 

Im not a fan of red paints but this one seemed to really stand out afterwards.

 

Great job man!

 

When removing the adhesive in the embossed Corvette location.. did you leave the APS to soak in? Just curious how you got rid of all that nasty glue. I have a similar problem that needs to be tackled for a friend of mine.

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Nice job man.  Thanks for taking the time for the thorough write-up, I know how daunting that can be in the heat of battle.  You opinion of the Rupes makes me hope I didn't make a huge mistake....if I got sucked into the hype I'll hate myself for it, haha.

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Thank you all for the kind words!  Dave, I don't hate the Rupes, but when I have as much time on the 3401 as I do, I know exactly my limits, etc.  and have to take that into account for my time on the car.  It is a very nice machine, and maybe I will use it only, on the Range  Rover I have coming up, or maybe on the Mustang today.

 

For the Inlay residue, it was spray APC onto the Single Soft, and scrub the gaps.

 

Mook

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Mook you amaze me every time! Looks fantastic I hope all the owners of these cars appreciate your work ethic and how you approach a detail. I bet they love the results but can't appreciate it like we can. Love the vette but those wheels gotta go!!!! I know I know it's a 5oth anniversary vette but chevy could have done a better job at the design. IMO . The gold accents look great!

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Hey Mook - did you ever try that 3M adhesive remover?  That stuff really takes off aggressive adhesive, and still leaves the paint in good shape.  I've had some good luck with that.  Maybe for next time...

 

By the way, the final shots were fantastic -that things looks so wet, it shows off every line and curve on that car, and the paint has great depth and clarity.  The owner must have thought he had a new car.  I am sure he will be back.

Edited by Doug123
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