Water Spots in Brand New C8 Corvette - DOCUMENT PRE-EXISTING DAMAGE

[Mike Phillips]

Here’s the other C8 I detailed when I did a review for BLACKFIRE Black Edition when it was launched.

This is after a day on the Sebring Race Track.









What a mess!




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[Mike Phillips]

This is the water beading picture from the first C8 I detailed






I’ll be installing the BLACK EDITION on the new C8 tomorrow night.

We also de-badged the newer C8



Stay tuned...




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[muaddba]

So, was the spot on the hood where you suspected burn-through actually burned through? Were you able to get out the scrape/smudge from the roof?

More importantly, I assume you've now removed some of the super-thin clearcoat (which gets thinner and thinner as cars have gotten newer) from pretty much the entirety of this new car. When you've done that, do you recommend multiple coats of a tough coating of some kind? In other words, how do you add maximum protection to this paint so that any future damage that may occur does as little damage to the actual paint as possible? Would you, for example, tell the customer to demand the dealer pay for a partial or full PPF coating due to the delivered damage (assuming he didn't get a discount on the car due to the damage).

[zvez]

I'm with you, the c8 is the best looking vette ever.

[57Rambler]

I'm with you, the c8 is the best looking vette ever.

'63 Split-window coupes beg to differ ...

[Mike Phillips]

So, was the spot on the hood where you suspected burn-through actually burned through?

Thank the Paint Gods - no.

Whatever the two circular dull areas were - they paint buffed back crystal clear.

Were you able to get out the scrape/smudge from the roof?

Yes. That ended up being something smudged over the paint but under the smudge were scuffing of the paint. It's all been removed.

More importantly, I assume you've now removed some of the super-thin clearcoat (which gets thinner and thinner as cars have gotten newer) from pretty much the entirety of this new car.

When you've done that, do you recommend multiple coats of a tough coating of some kind? In other words, how do you add maximum protection to this paint so that any future damage that may occur does as little damage to the actual paint as possible?

I don't know that clearcoats have been getting thinner. My article on this topic states that the basecoat and primer coat need at least 2 mils of clear over them for the ENTIRE PAINT MATRIX to hold up over time. I don't think car manufactures need the headache of tens of thousands of customers bringing their cars back to dealerships for only putting 1 mill of clear over the basecoat.


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips



As for what's left of the clear?

First - I used a FINE cut polish, Dr. Beasley's NSP 45 and a soft foam finishing pad so the amount of clear removed will be un-mearsurable.


Next - Instead of trying to apply something to be an the answer to thin paint - the real answer is for anyone that actually is educated about this topic and cares, (that's 2 things), they need to simply need to learn how to wash and dry the paint carefully.

When it comes to the paint and anything we apply to the paint how long either lasts always comes down to how WE TOUCH the paint. And yes, for the most part it is that simple.


Great questions, thanks for asking.

[Mike Phillips]

***Update***

We used the C8 for TV commercials today. The car is two freaking cool to not have used it.

As of right now, (almost 5:00pm on Monday, December 21st), the car is in the garage. The paint has been polished with NSP 45 and then wiped clean.

Due to the volume of TV commercials we still have to shoot, I plan on finishing the coating on either Tuesday night after work, or Wednesday afternoon after Autogeek shuts down for Christmas.

[TMQ]

You ARE busy...!

Things been bit slow over the Holidays. Hope things pick up a bit more.

Tom

[kgs365]

watching !...great job Mike...

[2black1s]

Question...

When polishing an entire car, as done with this Corvette, then going back to wipe-down the whole car, how do you insure that you've removed all of the defects to your satisfaction before moving on around the car?

I'm a panel-by-panel guy. I do each step one panel at a time so that I can inspect my work in real time. If not to my satisfaction I'll repeat the step, either to areas of or to the entire panel as necessary, until it is to my satisfaction before moving on to the next panel. Then, once the first step is completed I'll proceed panel-by-panel with the next step, or steps, if any, in the same manner.

It just seems to me that if you polish the entire car before going back to wipe-down, there's a fair chance that you're going to find areas that need more work during that wipe-down and inspection. At least that is my experience.

I understand that a test spot to determine the process and effort needed was most likely performed, but a test spot is just that - a test spot, not the entire car.

This is more of a process question, not necessarily specific to the subject Corvette or directed exclusively to Mike, so please chime in with any thoughts you may have.