Black Magic Woman: 2016 Corvette

**richy** · 10-04-2015, 09:55 PM

She's hot, she's black and she's enticing. Yes, you guessed it, this beauty that I got to lay my hands on was a 2016 Corvette. It was booked for a wheels-off, CQuartz Finest job. Here it is as it arrived:

I loved the chrome wheels!

Typical barrel state:

The plan of attack was to do a one step on the paint that needed nothing and do a preceding compound stage for the light marks that were there. Basically I ended up doing a 2 stage correction from the doors rearward.

First up was to wash it. The wheels were done first with the barrels being cleaned by Tarminator followed by Zep Citrus. The faces were cleaned with a demoted wash mitt and Megs Hyper Wash. The tires were cleaned with Zep 505 and the plastic part of the wells were cleaned with LATA.

The car was then washed with Megs HW and then washed a 2nd time with Iron X paste to decontaminate. It was then brought inside to clay with my CarPro clay towel.

Now it was time to pull the wheels. The barrels were gone over again with Tarminator and a terry towel which was followed by DG Squeaky Clean. It was interesting: the centre of the barrels had this grooved surface to it while it was smooth on the inner and outer edges. The barrels and faces were double coated with CQF. The calipers were cleaned with DG SC and double coated too. The plastic in the wells was touched up with ONR, blown dry and were then coated with Pinnacle Black Diamond coating. That seemed like a good use for it, as I'm not using it otherwise. The owner's manual was consulted and the wheels were torqued to spec after. I lined up the emblems as usual too.

Here are some shots of the wheels and wells once finished:

In my opinion, the chrome wheels (especially on a black car) really added something to the car.

Next was time to smoke a cigar...I mean, polish paint! The one step for the front, and the second step following compounding, consisted of M205 + burgandy Megs foam pad + Flex 3401. The parts that needed the extra step got TB black wool + Flat Top (digging that more & more!) + Rupes 21. The windshield was coated with Fly-by-30 and any small amount of trim was coated with DLux. The paint, remaining glass, head and tail lights and even his licence plates were all double coated with CQF. The tires were shot with OB @ 100% from my air gun. Since the tires are so narrow, I actually shot the OB onto the applicator and applied it that way as I was getting overspray on to the wheel. That worked just fine and obviously no overspray. Here she is all done, first shots are late at night:

It was raining all day Saturday and into Sunday morning, so even though there were gray and heavy clouds, it beat delivering it in the rain!

Thanks for looking. Comments always welcomed. The customer was thrilled and brought me by his cousin an hour afterward.

**WaxMaster1** · 10-04-2015, 09:58 PM

Looks great!! Now take that back license plate dealer frame off.

**RottenII** · 10-04-2015, 10:12 PM

Gotta love black!

Nice work!

**haris300** · 10-04-2015, 10:15 PM

Nice work and documentation! I really love the C7's styling. Looks great in black.

**richy** · 10-04-2015, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by WaxMaster1

Looks great!! Now take that back license plate dealer frame off.

Thanks Wax Master! As far as removing the frame, no, not unless I was asked to. If he allowed it to stay on, then I won't be removing it. Not my place to.

Originally Posted by RottenII

Gotta love black!

Nice work!

Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by haris300

Nice work and documentation! I really love the C7's styling. Looks great in black.

Thank you! I TOTALLY agree. I fell in love with it at the Detroit Auto Show a few years ago. Nicest version yet...by a mile!!

**PFinishDetail** · 10-05-2015, 12:24 AM

Richy, AMAZING work as always and that is definitely one beautiful car!

**Pats300zx** · 10-05-2015, 04:07 AM

Just as black should look. Fantastic job Richy !!

**HUMP DIESEL** · 10-05-2015, 06:48 AM

Richy, I have said it before, but I love how you rarely deviate from your chosen protocol.

Great work as always.

HUMP

**richy** · 10-05-2015, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by PFinishDetail

Richy, AMAZING work as always and that is definitely one beautiful car!

Thanks very much! Yes, I agree, I'd love to have it in my garage!!

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

Just as black should look. Fantastic job Richy !!

Thanks Pat! It was lovely paint to work with.

Originally Posted by HUMP DIESEL

Richy, I have said it before, but I love how you rarely deviate from your chosen protocol.

Great work as always.

HUMP

Thanks Bruce! I am comfortable with my protocol and I think it's important to share what works. I have learned a lot over the years by reading informative posts where the people have bothered to add the info and hopefully I've helped some too.

**fly07sti** · 10-05-2015, 10:35 AM

Great work as usual my friend. The info in your threads does help people and I'm speaking from personal experience. I did a black 2014 Stingray in august. Because of your thread on the grey corvette you did, I ended up using M205 on an orange hybrid with my flex and it gave me great results. (You used yellow B&S) I still did a couple test spots with different products and pads, but on that car, your process worked best. You're the Man!