New Black Z06 Paint Correcting woes...

[LSX Maestro]

Finally got my Z06 and ZL1 home and into my garage, ZL1 was never touched so it's just about perfect.  But the Z06 sat in a showroom for a year or more, countless wipe-downs with scratching rags and poor sprays, dusters, and who knows how many hands/jacket zippers/purses etc. dragged over it.  It's in bad shape, I was really stunned how much swirling/halos and scratches it has in the paint. In a testing spot Correcting Polish + Orange pads barely even touched the big stuff, though it did bring the clarity up and dramatically reduced the halos/factory sanding marks etc.  I ordered Heavy Correcting/Microfiber/Blue pads that night, hoping that will give me the cut I need.  The clear coats on these GM cars are quite hard.  My dad who has been buffing cars in shops for years, used some of his magic and we coaxed all of the deeper scratches/swirls out with the rotary/cutting compound but of course this needs to be followed by a 3 step polish because the rotary leaves all kinds of swirling even when used properly.  We'll get it done, but going to need some serious elbow grease and lots careful time.  Anybody have some suggestions?  The plan is right now to go over the car and use the rotary to remove any more scratches when/if we find them, then Adam's Heavy/MF pad/Blue foam, then to Correcting, and then Finishing.  Followed by Sealant/Glaze/Wax.  

[Rich]

Sounds like you're on the right track and just keep doing what  you're doing.  When I had my black Z06, I didn't have a machine and Revive was my best friend.  So having your dad, with his knowledge, is a big asset.  Post up some pics when you get it done. Nothing looks better than a black Vette when the paint is perfect.

[07stanggt]

Why are you using the rotary ? You should be able to eliminate the scratches without that step, really no need for it. Not sure what your using for a machine to remove scratches but here is some pics using a Flex 3401 without the use of any rotary buffer, using Adams compounds.

 

[SlammedRT]

Not sure on what you will need to take scratches out but rotary with cutting compound to microfiber and heavy is a wasted step IMO. Once they are out they are out. No need to continue to dig in and I would test the waters to go straight from rotary cutting to finishing polish. Maybe you need the correcting polish in between but less steps the better to save clear. I only use rotary and tend to only do 2 steps on my Dodge. Either cutting compound to finishing polish or correcting polish to finishing polish. Either way works great for me.

[LSX Maestro]

We are not using the Rotary on the whole car, only 2 scratches that were in the fender and rear deck lid, the PC/GG and Correcting polish wasn't going to remove those.  Also where we used the Rotary, we will not use Heavy, no need as mentioned. 

 

I tried Correcting Polish/Orange pads with a few passes on the other areas and it gets it done but the Heavy/MF is going to get there a little quicker and there are some damaging that's not going to be removed by Correcting.  We're done using the rotary as of now, the rest of the car doesn't need it.  And not sure how many GM cars you've done but these things have a very hard clear coat.  Correcting polish works more like Finishing polish on them, and I'm assuming Heavy Correcting is going to fill the role of what Correcting Polish does on most other cars.  Most detailers that I've spoken with say they have to go a step more aggressive when they have flaws to remove on Vettes/Camaros.

 

Great work there Jimmy with the Flex.  Next time there's a sale I'm going to move up and buy a Flex or Rupes machine.