Paint correcting Polo Green '94 #444 + new beauty shots!

[VetteFantasy]

Sometimes life and other project cars get in the way of paint correction plans, but after nearly two years of ownership I'm finally satisfied with the state of my '94's paint. I ended up doing this project in steps every few months, between track events. Since I couldn't dedicate a full, uninterrupted week to this process, I decided to spread it out so I wouldn't have to rush through steps.

Backing up a bit, I bought the car knowing the paint needed some (a lot) of love, but what mattered more to me was that the previous owner spared no expense on the mechanicals. Plus, it was already perfectly set up for the track, so it was exactly what I wanted. I've been lucky enough to stumble upon (and buy) two incredibly well-built and sorted out Corvettes in the last few years, and instead of doing engine builds I'm perfectly happy doing some cosmetic work and other mods to dial them in and make them my own.

Soon after I bought the car, I asked my husband to tackle the hood, where the paint was in the poorest condition by far. I'm always nervous to take on heavily scratched/damaged areas where I have less confidence in the amount of clear coat left, and I was thrilled with the massive difference he made. I ended up using the same compound and pad combo on the rest of the car, but for the most part I didn't have to do multiple passes or use as much pressure as he did on the hood.

I posted more technique + product details in the Cleaning and Waxing subforum, but the products I used for paint protection included Jescar Power Lock Plus sealant, Collinite 845 wax, and P&S Bead Maker Paint Protectant.

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with the results and would choose the same products again tomorrow if I started over. The most consistently surprising product, to me, is Bead Maker. It seems to change the slickness and glossiness of coated or non-coated paint so dramatically.

[TX '90 ZR1]

Looks REALLY good!!

[Ccmano]

Beautiful! Color correction is on my list. In my case it might require some color sanding. I might just leave that to a professional.
H

[WARP TEN]

I did the same thing on my Polo '95 and was delighted with the results. Got rid of 20 years of swirls and dullness. However being an old guy, I hired an experienced detailer to do the work. Two guys spent about 6 hours in my garage doing mine and they did a fantastic job. Cost $450, which for me was a good deal. Here are a couple of pics. The detailer said the original Corvette paint from our era was quite hard but polishes up well with some elbow grease. Also, before they did the work, they suggested that I touch up any stone chips, etc. since their work does nothing to deal with those. I used Dr. Color Chip and it worked great. Doesn't actually fill the chips but colors them so they are hard to see. ---Bob

[VetteFantasy]

Sanding is the most aggressive method to get defects out, so trying a compound on a polisher would be my first suggestion. It's not too tricky if you have a lot of patience Check out Obsessed Garage and Ammo NYC on YouTube for lots of great polishing tutorials.

Originally Posted by Ccmano

Beautiful! Color correction is on my list. In my case it might require some color sanding. I might just leave that to a professional.
H

[VetteFantasy]

Beautiful results, Bob! It really does make an incredible difference.

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

I did the same thing on my Polo '95 and was delighted with the results. Got rid of 20 years of swirls and dullness. However being an old guy, I hired an experienced detailer to do the work. Two guys spent about 6 hours in my garage doing mine and they did a fantastic job. Cost $450, which for me was a good deal. Here are a couple of pics. The detailer said the original Corvette paint from our era was quite hard but polishes up well with some elbow grease. Also, before they did the work, they suggested that I touch up any stone chips, etc. since their work does nothing to deal with those. I used Dr. Color Chip and it worked great. Doesn't actually fill the chips but colors them so they are hard to see. ---Bob

[rush91]

Looking good!! The hood on my Polo green Z is a mess....looks like someone washed it with a brillo pad. At this point it's either buy a use hood or get the hood repainted. I haven't received a quote under $2500.

[VetteFantasy]

Oh, mine was absolutely the same way. Definitely try compounding with a polisher first (or find a qualified detailer to do it) - it can't hurt, right? I'm happy to help any way I can. Detailing is a passion of mine, especially if I get to make a Vette shine

Check out the before/after...

Originally Posted by rush91

Looking good!! The hood on my Polo green Z is a mess....looks like someone washed it with a brillo pad. At this point it's either buy a use hood or get the hood repainted. I haven't received a quote under $2500.

[BigJohn]

Looks great 👍🏿

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by VetteFantasy

Beautiful results, Bob! It really does make an incredible difference.

Thanks--I agree it really looked good when done. Wish I still had the darn thing. But I would argue that the paint correction helped enhance its overall good condition, and therefore helped me get a very good price for it a few years ago. --Bob