Dodge Viper....!!!!???????

[arisking]

I have a Dodge Viper coming in from a referral this Thursday, and I am wondering about clear coat hardness.

It only has 6000km on it and I figure it only needs a one step correction. Car is orange in color with grey stripes.

I use a Rupes 15 and usually Buff N Shine pads. Yellow, orange and white for 99% of my jobs.

Sonax PF, HD Polish, Menz PF and Menz 4000, Wolfgang FG and HD Adapt are available to me with others I'm forgetting about, ha. Too low on M205 to suggest that, although it may be best...

Which would be best? The usual Sonax PF and a white pad? Or if it harder can I get away with an orange pad and some Sonax PF???

Yes I will do test spots anyway, but I'm just asking for a little advice before Thursday to "prep" myself.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Evan J. has down a few of the Vipers lately. Hopefully he see's this as he has a good bit of experience on them and can provide top notch info on a plan of attack.

[cardaddy]

Can't say about the Sonax, don't use it. But the Viper paint is reasonably hard. Not as hard as GM paint but say 7.5~8.5 out of 10.

Don't have HD either, but from what I've seen it'll work it really well.

Menz 2000 might do it. I know that 1500 will (cut it) but it doesn't finish as nice as 2000.

Did a 'quickie' on this one last week.

[Evan.J]

Nice job Tony!

What color and year is the viper?

I have done one Stryker green, two Stryker reds, and one black. Both of the Stryker paint jobs were medium IMO as far as hard/soft paint.

The black one I just did was one of the softest paints I have ever worked on. I spend about an hour trying to get a system down. Additional I was getting towel scratches when I was removing the polish and I was using the absolute softest towels I had in my arsenal

My finding are that the newer vipers are having water based paint jobs. This system of painting leaves to soft paints and a PITA to finish down.

If it's a Stryker then nothing new there.

Do test spots. If you are seeing that it's soft use either a flex or a DA. The soft paints do not like the throw of the Rupes unless you have a duetto.

I ended up using a polishing pad with cut max from sonax on speed three to remove the defects and then a DA with a finishing pad and Sonax EX

I was letting the panel cool down and spraying it a detail spray to remove the polish to add lubricity to reduce towel marks.

On the Stryker vipers I was able to use the Rupes with a yellow pad and Hd Polish to one step them

Just do your test spot and take your time. Look at the paint in every light possible




My

[arisking]

Nice job Tony!

What color and year is the viper?

I have done one Stryker green, two Stryker reds, and one black. Both of the Stryker paint jobs were medium IMO as far as hard/soft paint.

The black one I just did was one of the softest paints I have ever worked on. I spend about an hour trying to get a system down. Additional I was getting towel scratches when I was removing the polish and I was using the absolute softest towels I had in my arsenal

My finding are that the newer vipers are having water based paint jobs. This system of painting leaves to soft paints and a PITA to finish down.

If it's a Stryker then nothing new there.

Do test spots. If you are seeing that it's soft use either a flex or a DA. The soft paints do not like the throw of the Rupes unless you have a duetto.

I ended up using a polishing pad with cut max from sonax on speed three to remove the defects and then a DA with a finishing pad and Sonax EX

I was letting the panel cool down and spraying it a detail spray to remove the polish to add lubricity to reduce towel marks.

On the Stryker vipers I was able to use the Rupes with a yellow pad and Hd Polish to one step them

Just do your test spot and take your time. Look at the paint in every light possible




My

Thanks for all the comments.

It is orange in color and I don't know the year. Haha. I assume new with such low kilometres.

[Evan.J]

Here are some photos:

Stryker red car 2



Black Viper




Stryker green




Stryker red car 1

[Sicoupe]

You did a fantastic job on those vipers EVAN

[KMG]

Man I love that green color. That is one bad a$$ car.

[cardaddy]

Nice job Tony!

What color and year is the viper?


The black one I just did was one of the softest paints I have ever worked on. I spend about an hour trying to get a system down. Additional I was getting towel scratches when I was removing the polish and I was using the absolute softest towels I had in my arsenal

Thanks Evan!

It's a 2014, Venom Black GTS with the maple color Sabelt seats.
Where it is special, is the gold stripes. I can't even find where you could order it with those stripes! Can't even find any photos of one with gold stripes!!! I know there is a small bubble in the right side stripe just at the inner edge of the hood scoop. For MY $4500 they'd be pulling them off and putting new ones on!!!!!!!

This is directly off of the SRT ordering page:
Offered at an extra cost:

• Dodge Viper SRT Racing Stripes – Dodge Viper SRT, N/A Dodge Viper SRT GTS
  
  • $4,500 Adrenaline Red
  • $4,500 Billet Silver
  • $4,500 Venom Black
  • $4,500 Viper White
  • $4,500 Gunmetal

It is a beautiful car for sure. You'd love to see his other rides. Behind that one is a 72 Duster 340 wedge, and in the end garage on that side is a 71 Road Runner 440 with 725HP that runs on 112 octane race fuel. He has another 71 road runner he built in memory of his wife, then a 71 Chevelle, 68 Camaro, 2010 or 11 Z06, 2012 GT500, on his second C7 this year. And that's just a few that I've seen.


I didn't find this paint to be any softer than his 2009 which was in Venom Red.

But yeah, black is hard when it comes to hiding towel marring for sure.

Of course I have no shortage of towels around here.
(Half a case of two colors come to mind that somebody never paid for.)


The Stryker colors are a tri-tint pearl and I'd think would be decently hard. They are CRAZY expensive though! I know that GM tri-tint's are pretty darned hard.

The owner said about this black one: "This paint looks a lot better than the red one doesn't it?"

And I said: "Weeeeeeellllll.... uhhhhhhhh......"
Then I said: "As long as it's in really bright sunlight, or indirect light it looks pretty good, but under the halogens it starts to show lots of things that I'd prefer to fix."
He got pretty quite after that.

This is from the SRT ordering page as well:
Offered at an extra cost:

• GTS-R Blue Pearl
  
  • $1,000 Dodge Viper SRT/Dodge Viper SRT GTS
  
  
• Gunmetal Pearl
  
  • $1,000 Dodge Viper SRT/Dodge Viper SRT GTS
  
  
• Race Yellow
  
  • $1,000 Dodge Viper SRT/Dodge Viper SRT GTS
  
  
• Stryker Green
  
  • $5,700 Dodge Viper SRT (available only with additional purchase of Grand Touring Package)
  • $5,700 Dodge Viper SRT GTS

Note that they didn't say that "Stryker Red" was a 2014 color. (It was a 2013 color though.) Then in 2014 there was Stryker Green. Then for 2015 there is a Stryker Purple AND a Stryker Orange, (but no Stryker Green). They've renamed Venom Red to Adrenaline Red.

Thanks for all the comments.

It is orange in color and I don't know the year. Haha. I assume new with such low kilometres.

If it's "normal" orange it could be TA Orange which is only available in the SRT TA Special Edition. But if it's pearlescent looking it'll be Stryker Orange (not Stryker Red). That'll come across as a fairly orange hue with a bit of red to it. Originally that was rumored to be a $14,700 option! (Not but $5700 on the SRT page now though.)

I can tell ya', working that color (any Stryker colors) you better well not screw it up. Touch-up painting a panel will be very hard to impossible. Heck, just getting a panel to match the one next to it will require a VERY GOOD painter and shop! Most shops would have to just paint the entire car to get panels to match. Boy would that eat up an insurance premium.

[Evan.J]

Tony I left you a VM about those towels never heard back from you.