MAJOR Paint Correction: Black 1982 Corvette

[Team Adam's]

I got my hands on this 1982 Corvette early this week.  It's been in storage for 15 years, and has just recently been pulled out to get it back on the road.  Being that it is 32 year old, original single stage paint, I knew there was going to be a nice turnaround, but I could tell there were some thin spots, so I wasn't shooting for 100% perfection on this one, just a basic clean up of the paint.  However, I was pleased with how it turned out!



Yes, those are original miles.  The interior was in excellent shape, but the paint....not so much.  To say the paint was in rough shape....would be a huge understatement.

Not bad from 10 feet:

 

But upon closer inspection:

 

 

Must have been stored with an angry raccoon or some other creature that wanted to get inside.

 

It was relatively clean and free of any heavy debris or crud when it arrived, so I gave it a quick Waterless Wash wipedown.

 

Even though this was really only slated as a paint correction, there was no way I was letting this car leave my place with the wheels and tires looking like this:

 

 

The wheels were heavily oxidized, and the tires were seriously dirty and thirsty for some treatment.  I threw on a tape line, and went to work with some All Purpose Cleaner and a Tire Brush to deep clean the tires.  Once they were clean, I dressed them with Tire Shine and a Block Sponge.

 

Once the tires were dialed in, I turned my attention to the wheels.  I used a drill, Drill Backing Plate, 4" Metal Polishing Pads, and Metal Polish #1.  Once the wheels were polished up, I put on a coat of Quick Sealant to protect them.

 

I ended up spending almost 3 hours just on the wheels and tires and absolutely destroyed 2 of the Metal Polish pads.  Just a word of warning...if you're ever polishing these wheels, the machined faces of the holes in the wheels are VERY sharp. 

 

 

 

Now that the wheels and tires are done, I moved on to Clay Barring it with Detail Spray as lubricant.  It wasn't too badly contaminated so the clay didn't pull up much.

Post clay inspection:

 

 

 

My test section was the upper driver's side corner of the hood.  This was the result after one pass of Paint Correcting Polish with an Orange Foam Cutting Pads on the Cyclo:

 

Single stage paint is certainly hard on your pads:

 

 

However, they can be saved with some All Purpose Cleaner and very hot water.

 

The 50/50 difference all around the car was pretty starling, even for single stage paint, which typically corrects easier than base/clear coat paint:



Top of the passenger side front fender:





Passenger door:



Hood and fender all polished:







Driver side front fender:





With the flash:



Same area with the flash test, before and after:





From the fenders forward are all polished here:





Fixing the wild animal damage:





Passenger door:



Moving to the rear:









Driver's side rear quarter:



All polished up, and after a coat of Brilliant Glaze and Patriot Wax, The Ultimate FaceMelter!

 

All done, ready for delivery just before the rain hit!  Here's a quick iPhone shot sitting next to my filthy truck.  Notice the two very different shades of black here, one freshly polished and the other covered in a weeks worth of rain and road construction dust. 

 

[BoomerSooner]

Those 50/50 shots are amazing!  This really speaks volumes about the cyclo paired with Adams polish.  Did you avoid using microfiber for any reason other than the foam was working?

[Team Adam's]

Those 50/50 shots are amazing!  This really speaks volumes about the cyclo paired with Adams polish.  Did you avoid using microfiber for any reason other than the foam was working?

 

Microfiber pads get clogged up so quickly with single stage that it ends up being more of a hassle than it's worth.  That, and I didn't want to be too aggressive with this old paint, so foam was working perfectly.

[Sizzle Chest]

Nice save!  Vette looks great man!  Any plans for it?

[Team Adam's]

I'm not sure what they have planned for it, hopefully driving the wheels off of it! I guarantee it could win some trophies now though.

[mc2hill]

Wow, great work Nick!  As I said the other day, those hoods take   f o r e v e r!

[chevytruckjsm]

That came out really good. Nice work! 

[SYMAWD]

Excellent work on it.  You saved that for sure. 

[Black Bowtie]

Great job Nick!

[Marylander]

Great job! But the creepy face in this picture is going to give me nightmares: 

 

[Gen9Rolla]

Excellent work! She looks way better now

[gapwedge]

^{Outstanding work!  Black is just hard to beat when detailed.}

Edited August 27, 2014 by gapwedge

[Thorsager]

Nice turnaround!

[egott_91]

Am I the only one that doesn't notice a difference......................?

 

 

Haha. Only kidding! Very nice turnaround! Single stage paint terrifies me, otherwise I would have a write-up of my dad's Nova.

[SSJ455]

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!  Is that your garage?  I like better than the 'vette.

[Chris@Adams]

Nice save......it's black again!

[Team Adam's]

Thanks guys!

 

Great job! But the creepy face in this picture is going to give me nightmares: 

 

 

That's my wife. I'm telling her you said that!

 

Am I the only one that doesn't notice a difference......................?

 

 

Haha. Only kidding! Very nice turnaround! Single stage paint terrifies me, otherwise I would have a write-up of my dad's Nova.

Nothing to be terrified about! Other than it making a mess of your pads and needing more pads than normal, the processes are exactly the same. Plus, they make KILLER 50/50 shots. DO IT!!!

 

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!  Is that your garage?  I like better than the 'vette.

It is indeed. I really need to post some pictures of the remodel I did. It's quite a bit different than when we bought the place 1.5 years ago.

[Fphillips]

AWESOME JOB Nick!!

[egott_91]

Nothing to be terrified about! Other than it making a mess of your pads and needing more pads than normal, the processes are exactly the same. Plus, they make KILLER 50/50 shots. DO IT!!!

Thing is, it was restored before he bought it, so it's not original paint and I have no clue how thick the paint is, and that's what scares me the most. I went to polish it one time with the cyclo and PFP and after one pass I stopped because it made me nervous.

[Ricky Bobby]

Nick, phenomenal job on that single stage.

 

I am in complete agreement with the MF cutting pads vs. foam on single stage.  The foam pads can probably be cleaned and reused again, although their lifespan is shortened, if you use MF cutting pads you're probably definitely going to toss them on a single stage job like that, literally so much paint gets removed and trapped in the fibers.  Also, a second pass with foam and the correcting polish will yield more cut if needed, and probably finish a little nicer as well on the single stage.

 

For those wheels, nice work!  Metal polish pads I would definitely assume to be disposed after those things! 

 

Anyone else notice the final shots when Nick is done, those tires look fairly dry again, and almost satin like VRT?  They soaked that Tire Shine right up!

[Z71_Denali]

very nice turnaround! i'm a huge fan of the early model C3's; back when the bumpers were chromed steel and a big block was optional

[Marylander]

That's my wife. I'm telling her you said that!

 

Well, either she doesn't photograph well or next time you need to have her stand on the corrected side of the paint! 

[Team Adam's]

Nick, phenomenal job on that single stage.

 

I am in complete agreement with the MF cutting pads vs. foam on single stage.  The foam pads can probably be cleaned and reused again, although their lifespan is shortened, if you use MF cutting pads you're probably definitely going to toss them on a single stage job like that, literally so much paint gets removed and trapped in the fibers.  Also, a second pass with foam and the correcting polish will yield more cut if needed, and probably finish a little nicer as well on the single stage.

 

For those wheels, nice work!  Metal polish pads I would definitely assume to be disposed after those things! 

 

Anyone else notice the final shots when Nick is done, those tires look fairly dry again, and almost satin like VRT?  They soaked that Tire Shine right up!

The Metal Polish pads got chewed up pretty badly, so they were tossed...as a sacrifice to the Detailing Gods.

 

The tires did soak up a LOT of Tire Shine. I threw on a very thin coat right before it was delivered, but didn't capture any pics at that time. I had the car for 3 days and did the tires the first day, so you can see how much was absorbed over the three days it was in my garage.

[Aaron@P2PQD]

That's awesome Nick, Cyclo is a good little polisher when you get used to it 

[TheWolf]

Phenomenal improvement!

 

The title to this thread should be "BLACK MAGIC".

 

I am going to start calling Nick the Paint Whisperer.

Edited August 30, 2014 by TheWolf