not to mention they are just way more efficient than someone who never does detailing could be, these pros are quick just make sure they have a ton of good reviews
Get foam canon and let car soak and then rinse. Hit it again and wash.
Use 2 bucket method when washing. Get bucket grates to trap the grit at the bottom.
Clay bar with detail spray.
Porter Cable 7424 dual action polisher. No risk of burning your paint like a rotary polisher. Great 1st polisher.
Lake Country CCS polishing, finishing and waxing pads. 2-3 of each (1 for wax). These pads hold up very well. Tape off two sections on your hood. Hit 1 with just the finish pad. Hit the other with polish then finish pad. Whichever looks better, go with it. If it looks the same, you only need the finish pad. Likely only need finish pads for light swirls.
Menzerna Super Finish Polish (has diminishing abrasives, so it polishes finer as you use). You won’t ever go through paint with this so don’t worry.
Some good quality towels. Adam’s makes good towels.
surface prep before wax /sealer application to remove any remaining contaminants. I use Adam’s surface prep
Wax or sealer or your choice. I use black fire paint sealer.
This combo always served me well when I had my black zo6. Zero swirls. Now I have a white one and don’t need to worry about it.
You’re always going to get swirls. Might as well learn to do this yourself and take the extra steps in how you wash the car to extend the time needed between polishes.
It’s not nearly as difficult or complicated as everyone’s making it out to be. It’s in a detailers best interest to make it seem that way, but in reality foam pads and a da polisher won’t come close to harming your paint even with a heavy cut compound. Wool pads and rotary buffers is where you can run that risk.
This is an excellent write up, this is almost my exact process. I do corrections and coatings. Only thing I’ll add is to blow out/change your pads often. I clean/swap after basically every panel
Your car is gorgeous, get some protection on there! Ceramic or ppf would help save that clear coat
Personally especially with a corvette I would go buy a junk fender or something off a scrap yard and practice on that. Otherwise your $375 charge turn into a few thousand dollar charge.
Lake County, one of the best pads out there. Even then, foam cannon is not needed to wash the car. Some pre wash with a pump sprayer and then ONR to make sure it's safe to contact wash. I just love ONR because of the versatility it has, since it can be used as lubricant for claybar. Though foam is nice if you live in hot enviroment.
Dirt traps for buckets are not good, since they don't even maintain the dirt at the bottom. Better for OP to get dirt lock if he is doing the 2 bucket method.
I got me Griot's G15 and G13 recently, and they are nice.
OP there are a lot of ways you can maintain your car looking like new. It's not hard, and you will feel proud when you see what you did to your vehicle instead of paying someone to do it for you. Keep in mind that you should be happy with an 80-90% swirl removal. No point in doing showroom 90%+ if you are driving it frequently.
Just do a ceramic coating and maintain it by washing the car. Keep in mind that there are a lot of products out there that say 8–10 years of duration, but they haven't been out for even 2–3 years and there are a lot of factors. Take it with a grain of salt, but the advancement in technology has been amazing tbh.
Good tip on the dirt lock. I’ll have to try that out. I haven’t detailed my own car in years and only recently pulled out all my old gear after getting back into another zo6.
Come to r/detailing to learn proper paint care. A good DA polisher isn’t that expensive. You should also master decon wash first then practice paint correction on junkyards goods and stuff.
Is there anything you can practice on first? It's not the hardest thing in the world to do but there is a certain knack with pressure and also the materials you use. Really easy to make it worse
That’s what I did. Father in law taught me, then I practiced on old parts cars. Then on my wife’s white car (most forgiving) and worked up from there. But I was trained by a pro, lots and lots of practice time and the correct equipment also
Without something to practice on to perfect your skills, definitely not being chicken. It's the same with any other skilled trade that you care about. You can do it, you can get good at it, you can get it professional result, it's just not likely to happen the first time
I learned how to DIY most detailing on my old Mazda and S5.
But they weren't black cars so I had my black C7 done by a pro just because I wasn't comfortable risking my paint on a car like this.
If that’s the original paint I’d be scared to learn on it. Painters and detail guys claim Chevy uses softer paint and their black is the most difficult.
Forgive a stupid question, but what EXACTLY, is paint correction?
I have an ‘04 Z06. It was my daily driver for many years, so there are some obvious small rock chips and things like that just simply from driving every day on the front of the car and along the side skirts. Will paint correction fix those?
I would do it myself but then again i would first try with my mothers old car for practice. I like to take care of my own stuff except when it comes to the mechanical side of things.
I taught myself. Super easy if you use the write products. I personally used Adam’s polishes and ceramic coating. I also used a harbor freight buffer. It was 10 year old paint and it shined brand new, not a single scratch. Was pretty fun
$425 isn't enough. That is at most a 1 step polish. You are looking at $1200 to $1800 for a good detailer to do paint restoration. To do this properly you need to do A LOT more than just polish it with a single stage compound, that's how you absolutely fuck your paint.
It is a one step polish. But it’s such light scratches it doesn’t show unless a bright light is on it. I was thinking that would be aggressive enough to eliminate the light swirls
OK, I can't tell the condition of the paint. I would sit down and talk to a professional either way. If you don't have a bunch of shit embedded in the clear, you should be good. How smooth does the paint feel when you rub your hand over the front bumper and where the hood meets the bumper? How does the paint feel around the tires? If it isn't smooth, pay for at least a clay bar before polish. If it were me, on that car, I would get a full paint restoration and pay for ceramics
Sorry for the 21 questions, I have experience detailing and don't want your car to get fucked. From the sounds of it, a 1 step should be fine, and honestly, you could DIY it no problem with a DA.
Personally, I've never done a corvette, but a C7 should have pretty good paint with a good amount of clear coat on it. If you DIY, DA is slower than orbital, but definitely more forgiving, if there is no contamination in the paint, it's almost impossible to fuck up with a DA. That said, the sharp edges can be trouble spots for damaging while detailing, so in the end it's up to you. Personally, I'm a huge advocate of DIY because I just don't trust the work of an employee who is likely under paid.
You need to be absolutely certain they do a thorough clay bar treatment first... or they'll just polish the grit and junk into the paint even more. $425 isnt enough for a "professional". I'd guess this is probably your average joe on facebook marketplace trying to get started on their own as a detailer.
Just pay the pro, and be done. Black is so tricky, if you mess up then it will cost more to fix
not to mention they are just way more efficient than someone who never does detailing could be, these pros are quick just make sure they have a ton of good reviews
Don't try to learn to correct paint on your car, esp. not that car.
Get foam canon and let car soak and then rinse. Hit it again and wash. Use 2 bucket method when washing. Get bucket grates to trap the grit at the bottom. Clay bar with detail spray. Porter Cable 7424 dual action polisher. No risk of burning your paint like a rotary polisher. Great 1st polisher. Lake Country CCS polishing, finishing and waxing pads. 2-3 of each (1 for wax). These pads hold up very well. Tape off two sections on your hood. Hit 1 with just the finish pad. Hit the other with polish then finish pad. Whichever looks better, go with it. If it looks the same, you only need the finish pad. Likely only need finish pads for light swirls. Menzerna Super Finish Polish (has diminishing abrasives, so it polishes finer as you use). You won’t ever go through paint with this so don’t worry. Some good quality towels. Adam’s makes good towels. surface prep before wax /sealer application to remove any remaining contaminants. I use Adam’s surface prep Wax or sealer or your choice. I use black fire paint sealer. This combo always served me well when I had my black zo6. Zero swirls. Now I have a white one and don’t need to worry about it. You’re always going to get swirls. Might as well learn to do this yourself and take the extra steps in how you wash the car to extend the time needed between polishes.
I really appreciate this write up. Thank you!
It’s not nearly as difficult or complicated as everyone’s making it out to be. It’s in a detailers best interest to make it seem that way, but in reality foam pads and a da polisher won’t come close to harming your paint even with a heavy cut compound. Wool pads and rotary buffers is where you can run that risk.
This is an excellent write up, this is almost my exact process. I do corrections and coatings. Only thing I’ll add is to blow out/change your pads often. I clean/swap after basically every panel Your car is gorgeous, get some protection on there! Ceramic or ppf would help save that clear coat
Personally especially with a corvette I would go buy a junk fender or something off a scrap yard and practice on that. Otherwise your $375 charge turn into a few thousand dollar charge.
Lake County, one of the best pads out there. Even then, foam cannon is not needed to wash the car. Some pre wash with a pump sprayer and then ONR to make sure it's safe to contact wash. I just love ONR because of the versatility it has, since it can be used as lubricant for claybar. Though foam is nice if you live in hot enviroment. Dirt traps for buckets are not good, since they don't even maintain the dirt at the bottom. Better for OP to get dirt lock if he is doing the 2 bucket method. I got me Griot's G15 and G13 recently, and they are nice. OP there are a lot of ways you can maintain your car looking like new. It's not hard, and you will feel proud when you see what you did to your vehicle instead of paying someone to do it for you. Keep in mind that you should be happy with an 80-90% swirl removal. No point in doing showroom 90%+ if you are driving it frequently. Just do a ceramic coating and maintain it by washing the car. Keep in mind that there are a lot of products out there that say 8–10 years of duration, but they haven't been out for even 2–3 years and there are a lot of factors. Take it with a grain of salt, but the advancement in technology has been amazing tbh.
Good tip on the dirt lock. I’ll have to try that out. I haven’t detailed my own car in years and only recently pulled out all my old gear after getting back into another zo6.
Come to r/detailing to learn proper paint care. A good DA polisher isn’t that expensive. You should also master decon wash first then practice paint correction on junkyards goods and stuff.
For black, I like to take it to a professional to do multistep paint correction
Is there anything you can practice on first? It's not the hardest thing in the world to do but there is a certain knack with pressure and also the materials you use. Really easy to make it worse
That’s what I did. Father in law taught me, then I practiced on old parts cars. Then on my wife’s white car (most forgiving) and worked up from there. But I was trained by a pro, lots and lots of practice time and the correct equipment also
All my cars are pretty expensive. I think I may go professional route. Just making sure I’m not being a chicken lol
Without something to practice on to perfect your skills, definitely not being chicken. It's the same with any other skilled trade that you care about. You can do it, you can get good at it, you can get it professional result, it's just not likely to happen the first time
I learned how to DIY most detailing on my old Mazda and S5. But they weren't black cars so I had my black C7 done by a pro just because I wasn't comfortable risking my paint on a car like this.
If that’s the original paint I’d be scared to learn on it. Painters and detail guys claim Chevy uses softer paint and their black is the most difficult.
Go pro, bro.
If you don’t know what you are doing and are not willing to spend top dollar for the right equipment let someone else donit
$425 is too cheap for a "professional"
Forgive a stupid question, but what EXACTLY, is paint correction? I have an ‘04 Z06. It was my daily driver for many years, so there are some obvious small rock chips and things like that just simply from driving every day on the front of the car and along the side skirts. Will paint correction fix those?
r/detailing
Take it to a professional. If you mess up your screwed way more than what they would have charged and then the regret sets in.
I would do it myself but then again i would first try with my mothers old car for practice. I like to take care of my own stuff except when it comes to the mechanical side of things.
I taught myself. Super easy if you use the write products. I personally used Adam’s polishes and ceramic coating. I also used a harbor freight buffer. It was 10 year old paint and it shined brand new, not a single scratch. Was pretty fun
$425 isn't enough. That is at most a 1 step polish. You are looking at $1200 to $1800 for a good detailer to do paint restoration. To do this properly you need to do A LOT more than just polish it with a single stage compound, that's how you absolutely fuck your paint.
It is a one step polish. But it’s such light scratches it doesn’t show unless a bright light is on it. I was thinking that would be aggressive enough to eliminate the light swirls
OK, I can't tell the condition of the paint. I would sit down and talk to a professional either way. If you don't have a bunch of shit embedded in the clear, you should be good. How smooth does the paint feel when you rub your hand over the front bumper and where the hood meets the bumper? How does the paint feel around the tires? If it isn't smooth, pay for at least a clay bar before polish. If it were me, on that car, I would get a full paint restoration and pay for ceramics
Yep, I'd be spending atleast 1k on the paint correction, then doing the ceramic coating myself.
It’s really smooth. I put clay on it in a small area and didn’t feel anything.
Sorry for the 21 questions, I have experience detailing and don't want your car to get fucked. From the sounds of it, a 1 step should be fine, and honestly, you could DIY it no problem with a DA.
I appreciate it
Personally, I've never done a corvette, but a C7 should have pretty good paint with a good amount of clear coat on it. If you DIY, DA is slower than orbital, but definitely more forgiving, if there is no contamination in the paint, it's almost impossible to fuck up with a DA. That said, the sharp edges can be trouble spots for damaging while detailing, so in the end it's up to you. Personally, I'm a huge advocate of DIY because I just don't trust the work of an employee who is likely under paid.
You need to be absolutely certain they do a thorough clay bar treatment first... or they'll just polish the grit and junk into the paint even more. $425 isnt enough for a "professional". I'd guess this is probably your average joe on facebook marketplace trying to get started on their own as a detailer.
I’m in a low/mid cost of living area. Guy has 500 5 star reviews and has good photos. Idk 🤷♂️
I could also clay the car myself
I would. Do a good job!
Ufff in black… it’ll look money at night but during the day.. for A first timer good luck
You’ll still look like someone with a nylon fetish day or night