Chevy SS Paint Correction Detail - Black

Understated

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Over the weekend I performed a paint correction on this 2014 Chevy SS in Phantom Black Metallic. With only 14,000 miles the car was pretty swirled. This is mostly due to the fact that this car has extremely soft paint.It really tested my abilities as a detailer. It was so soft that even polishing compound on a polishing pad would haze the paint. I ended up polishing it with a 50/50 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and Water! It was a big challenge and I gained a ton of knowledge and experience from it. The end result was very satisfying for both myself and the client.


Products/Tools Used:
Two Bucket Wash
Foam Pre Wash
Nanoskin Wash MittFlex 3401
Chemical Guys Polishing Pad
AMMO Leveling Fluid (Cut)
RUPES Polishing Pad
Tuga Devil Wheel Cleaner
Griots Garage Polisher and Red Wax Pads
Zaino Z5 Show Car Polish
Griots Garage Rubber and Vinyl Dressing


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Mario.
Understated Detailing.
 
Great job bringing that beauty back to the way it should be! I'm surprised a GM car had soft paint, they usually have rock hard clear coats.
 
Nice transformation Mario. The after pictures really document the transformation.

It was so soft that even polishing compound on a polishing pad would haze the paint. I ended up polishing it with a 50/50 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and Water!

Could you elaborate more on this method and tools used? Thanks.
 
Great color for that car. If that's the same as what they put on the CTS-V's the metallic is over the top. Like 3x the flake of most cars. Very nice job.
 
Nice transformation Mario. The after pictures really document the transformation.

Could you elaborate more on this method and tools used? Thanks.


I remebred watching this video of Larry from AMMO NYC running into a very similar issue like this. He used straight water but that wasn't working for me as it wasn't giving me enough lubrication..

Great color for that car. If that's the same as what they put on the CTS-V's the metallic is over the top. Like 3x the flake of most cars. Very nice job.

You're thinking of Black Diamond Tri Coat. A friend of mine is painting his 240sx that color.
 
Did you polish the wheels? I can't tell from the pictures whether they were simply dirty or marred up from washing.

The car looks great. The SS is an unsung hero in the automotive world.
 
I ended up polishing it with a 50/50 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and Water!


IPA and water?

Which strength IPA did you start with? It comes in 91%, 70% and 50% varieties...


All3IPAOptions.jpg



IPA actually makes a horrible lubricant for scratch-sensitive clearcoat paints. I shared this in an article about finishing out hologram free using only a rotary buffer. So I'm not sure how diluting it with water would make it a good lubricant or a good polishing aid for the foam as the abrasive.

Any quality brand fine cut polish will finish out on soft paint,

SONAX Nano
RUPES Diamond Ultra Fine
Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish
Menzerna makes probably 3 or 4 fine and ultra fine cut polishes that will finish out on soft paint.

Consider adding any one of the above to your arsenal for future projects.


Have to say though, impressed with your results and your tenacity to stick with IPA/water polishing.


:dunno:


Hologram Free with a Rotary Buffer
 
Damn that paint was hammered, I assume it was pretty soft?

That last pic really brings it home, great save!!
 
I love the color. Your correction work really gave a sense of depth to the color and flake in the paint.
 
I also have a 2014 SS in PBM. I didn't find the paint super soft. I tried multiple test spots with Wolfgang Finishing glaze, Optimum Finish polish with a white pad before moving up in aggressiveness and settling on Wolfgang TSR. 3 heavy passes and 2 light passes worked great. No marring whatsoever even in direct sunlight. Can't argue with your results though.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Great job! I also have a 2015 SS, Silver and my paint is quite hard.

Wig
 
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