How to detail a 2014 Corvette Stingray

[Mike Phillips]

That's sweet documentation on How to prep a nice brand new vette!!!!!!
or favorite car of choice!!!

Thanks,

I was thinking about making it an article?


What do you think?

[juliom2]

I believe is perfect for new car owners interested on keeping their car with a very deep wet look. Simple and comprehensive!!

[bwatereagleman]

I always evaluate my customers first and make sure they understand that clearcoats are scratch sensitive and have REAL WORLD expectations for the work I do. If anyone wants to know what I mean by this just ask.

Ok, I'm going to bite. I am completely interested in knowing what you mean. I think I have an idea, but I would like a little more insight, please. Can you elaborate? PM me if you wish, or include it in the thread for others, as there may be several more interested in picking your brain.

[Znig22]

Mike is this your new toy?

[Mike Phillips]

I always evaluate my customers first and make sure they understand that clearcoats are scratch sensitive and have REAL WORLD expectations for the work I do.

If anyone wants to know what I mean by this just ask.

Ok, I'm going to bite. I am completely interested in knowing what you mean.

I think I have an idea, but I would like a little more insight, please. Can you elaborate? PM me if you wish, or include it in the thread for others, as there may be several more interested in picking your brain.

I'm completely happy to share in public, not actually a big fan of using PM's for disseminating information.


What I mean is that most people, that is the masses don't know anything about their car's paint. They don''t know that it's thin, they don't know that it scratches easily and they don't know it takes hours to methodically work out the scratches.

So what I mean when I say I evaluate my customers first and I teach the people that attend my detailing classes to do the same it's because the masses don't know anything about their car's paint I need to find out where their thinking is at when it comes to their car's paint and spend some time educating them on it.


Here's a real life example....

I had a gentleman bring me his brand new black Corvette to show me the swirls in the paint.

He then told me that right after he bought the Corvette he hired a detailer with a very good reputation to buff it out to make the paint perfect.

Then he pointed to the car and explained to me that after only a few weeks have passed the car is all swirled out.

The reason he brought me his car was to show me the swirls and then ask me if I thought he would be within his rights to ask the detailer he hired to give him back the money he paid him?


I looked at the car and then looked at him and said,


How do you wash the car?


He said, I take it to the car wash.


I told him the reason his black Corvette is covered with swirls is from taking the car to the car wash.

This guy did not understand that the paint on his Corvette, while it might be hard, it still scratches very easily. He thought because he paid a lot of money and hired a really good detailer to buff out his car, that it shouldn't get swirls in the paint.

As if somehow, paying a lot of money changed the characteristics of the paint.


He had unrealistic expectations.


I then told him the only way to keep a black clearcoated car swirl free would be to take ownership of the car washing process or hire a professional detailer that knows and understands how to "touch" paint to wash it for him and expect to pay the detailer well in order to make it worth his time to come to his house just to wash and dry his car.

He didn't like either of the above two options. He told me he had retired and the Corvette was his retirement gift to himself and now that he's retired he didn't want to work any more and by this he mean he didn't want to take up car detailing as his new hobby and learn how to carefully wash his Corvette.

So then I told him to sell the black Corvette and buy a silver metallic Corvette because it's hard to see swirls in silver metallic paint.

The above is a true story and represents the masses in that most people really don't know that much about their car's paint and that's normal and okay. But I'm not going to detail their car and put a really nice finish on it if they don't understand that afterwards they're going to have to be careful in every way they now "touch" the paint moving into the future.

If they're not okay with that then that's when you either turn down the detail job or you simply use a one-step cleaner/wax and educate them that the cleaner/wax is not going to remove all the swirls but is going to clean the paint, (remove road film), and make it shiny and for most people that own and drive "daily drivers", this is the right thing to do and I explain that in this article.


A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer





I interviewed the owner of the 2014 Corvette Stingray in this write-up and I could tell right away he understands car paint. He's read my articles, has purchased quality product for washing and drying his cars. He knows that if he's not careful with the finish it can be easily scratched and become filled with swirls. That's why I buffed out his car. He passed my test.



Believe it or not, the guy that owns the 1959 Impala we buffed out recently, sincerely thinks that the paint on that car was in pretty good shape. When he picked it up he said it looked great but it wasn't in bad shape to start with.

This is why I document with pictures and sometimes videos, what the true condition is of the paint before any work is done. I even pulled-up the thread for the write-up for his car on the big screen to show him and remind him of how the paint looked before we buffed it out.

Pictures: 1959 Impala - Mothers Extreme Makeover!






I took this picture of the car leaving and look what's on the TV screen in the background?






Big picture is this, before working on someone's car you need to evaluate them, kind of interview them to see how much they know about detailing in general and their car's paint in specific and in most cases you'll find that most people don't know much.

Expect that.

Then if you're going to detail their car, find out what they want, what their expectations are for the finish quality and determine for yourself if the person has real world expectations or if their expectations are un-realistic.

At this point you can either educate them and bring them up to speed or as I say....


Let someone else have the blessing...

By this I mean, let someone else detail their car. It's not worth risking your reputation to work for people with unrealistic expectations.


Make sense?

[Mike Phillips]

Mike is this your new toy?

Oh my gosh no.


I like "cars" and I love how the Stingray looks but I'm a truck guy. I fit in a truck better than a car and I like to be able to haul stuff and tow stuff. Plus I like sitting higher on the road than what a car offers.

Nah... I like trucks... and I like them simple, that is with a carburetor. The most complex thing I want on anything I own is a HEI distributor. That way if it ever needs work or rebuilding I can do everything myself.




I've always been a car guy, I can thank my dad for that. I actually like wrenching on cars, that is the nuts and bolts side, like going from this...




To this....




To this....





Or this....


Removed the 350 small block on Sunday and cleaned the engine compartment.
































To this....

[juliom2]

[Znig22]

Awesome turn around on that engine bay, Did you buy a crate 454 or have a local guy build one? Im guessing since your keeping it single you went with a th400 or 350?

[custmsprty]

My Stingray is almost to CA after months of waiting. I an terrified of putting that paint coating on and messing up the car, despite the fact the product sounds awesome and I would love to use it!

I had planned on using:
Pinnacle Souveran Paintwork Cleansing Lotion
CG or Griots Sealant
Pinnacle Souveran Paste Wax
Pinnacle Souveran Crystal mist

Thoughts? Much appreciate, car master!!

Pinnacle Black Label Diamond Paint Sealant, I put this on my GC a couple weeks ago, it's the best sealant I've used so far(and I don't say that often about many products). I had WG 3.o topped with Blackfire Black Ice before and used the PBL Paint Cleanser then applied the PBL sealant. That's one coat!
I enjoy detailing my vehicles so I probably would never use a coating so I like sealants and waxes.

[custmsprty]

I saw this Vettes twin today on the way into the grocery up here in Tampa and it sure didn't look like this Vette detailed by Mike!