1984 black corvette

[dc2_]

ok so i might have this car to do in a few days...he says he wants to restore the paint back to a shine...which leads me to believe its oxidated.

which i believe its a single stage paint.

my worry is that i only have a DA polisher.

i been reading thru the thread before n after makeovers here on MOL...and all of the singlestage cars have been done with a rotary.

can the DA handle that? or is DA intended to be used more with clearcoats?

should i bak away from this job or give it a shot?

all i got in hand is UC,swirlX, and 205 and of course NXT wax

[cjcruz]

Re: 1984 black corvette

you can do it!!!

[fredcandetail]

Re: 1984 black corvette

you are about to commit a rookie mistake and that is to take a car without seeing it first ... drive over to him, tell him you were in the neighborhood and check it out.
if it is in fact oxidized your DA will have a hard time cutting through the SS or clear

[Mister B]

Re: 1984 black corvette

1981 was the first year that clear coats started to be used on Corvettes. So if it is a 1984 with original factory paint, it is more than likely clear coat.

The best way to find out for sure would be to go look at the car in person before you start in order to see what you are getting into. Take some paint cleaner (UC, SwirlX, or M205 that you already have) and a terry cloth towel with you and rub a small spot to see if the paint color transfers to your towel. If no color transfers to the towel it would be a safe bet that it is clear coat paint.

I recently did a white clear coat 85 vette .

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1984 black corvette

You absolutely want to inspect this car in person before taking the job, not only to judge the condition of the car itself but also the expectations of the client. The paint may be seriously degraded and he thinks it can be made to look like new again. Maybe it can, maybe it can't, but better you make that call than him. Also, see if you can find out anything about the history of the paint on this car - how has it been maintained, has it ever been wet sanded and rotary buffed, or has it been rotary buffed several times in the past. With the fiberglass composite body panels you won't be able to take paint thickness readings with a typical paint thickness gauge (those that can read on this substrate are especially pricey) so to some extent you'll be working blind.

But there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to correct the car with a D/A; just choose your pads and liquids carefully. Remember that you'll turn a lot pads black when working on this car, so have several on hand to work with. Single stage paints love products like M80 and M80 and you may find that it needs M83 first with an M80 follow up. If the paint is badly dried out and oxidized then M105 may prove to be very difficult to work with as the dried out paint will quickly pull all the oils out of M105 and may well gum up on you. That product was simply not designed to use on old, dried out paint.

[dc2_]

Re: 1984 black corvette

thanks thats lots of help

ill ask him if he knows its original paint..ss or cc

i told him to send me pics to see wat ima be working with before i go to him but he didnt want to

[dc2_]

Re: 1984 black corvette

ok this guy is tripping...so hes all excited about me doing his car..well at least it seems like he is in the txt messages.

he gives me the address and im about ready to go,he gives me a call and he starts asking me what ima be doing?what does the term buffing mean? and i tell him..he asks if ima use compound to remove the scratches and i told him if its needed yes,i told him ima do some test spots first.he then starts telling me if he should take it to a pro shop to ask whats needed on his paint..i told him if he wants to feel better about it he can but that i know what ill be doing.he then says na u know what i dont think ur cut out for this job ,its a high end vehicle...thanks anyway ima take it to a shop...i said alright he said thanks bye...i then leave him a msg saying its fine with me but he was just wasting my time from the start..i told him i dont use a direct drive machine so his paint will not be damaged...few min later he txt me lets do it..n starts calling me...but i dont pick up.is this guy playing games?

wat would u do?

[RDVT4ME]

Re: 1984 black corvette

I'd say you have a couple of options.

You could run like the wind, cause this guy sounds like a flake.
or

You could go to him, look at the car, explain your plan to fix the paint, you may even do the test spot right there. Then decide on whether you want to take on this customer. Bottom line is this could be an opportunity to educate your customer which could generate more customers.

[Ivan Rajic]

Re: 1984 black corvette

I have also had amazing results from M83 and M80 on oxidized ss paints.

As for the client, there's no need to play games on your end. Give him a call, explain to him what you do, how you're qualified and that you'd like to correct his vehicle. I would also explain up front that you require a 25-50% deposit to do the work in order to be paid for your time. If he's on board, he'll pay ahead and after the work is done. If not, you lost a customer but it's not the worst thing in the world. He might be the type of customer you don't want in the first place.

Oh and as already stated, definitely check out the paint condition before doing any work.

[prbrianpr]

Re: 1984 black corvette

Dont worry, I sell (acuatic plants and aquarium stuff) and this happend to me too. One thing I learn is to convince the customer because maybe he is newbie and dont know. And tell you that you are a pro, be confidence and proud of your work.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: 1984 black corvette

You have to decide if this is the type of person you want as a client. He sounds like he has high expectations that may veer to unrealistic demands. If you still want to polish his Vette, I would suggest meeting with him and let him pick a spot on his hood, roof, or other body panel that he considers to be either typical of the condition of the rest of the paint, or perhaps a spot he considers to be the worst. Polish out a 16"X16" area and let him judge for himself if he will be satisfied with the overall results.

Better than polishing out the entire car and then the owner decides that his expectations were not met

[dc2_]

Re: 1984 black corvette

thanks for all the replies i just walked away from it...i didnt want to deal with this type of client

[cnfowler]

Re: 1984 black corvette

thanks for all the replies i just walked away from it...i didnt want to deal with this type of client

Glad to hear. This guy sounds like the kind of client I would never do work for. I'd rather turn down the work than do it and have a client go around bad mouthing me because he's the type that is never satisfied. Good business decision on your end.


Colin

[dc2_]

Re: 1984 black corvette

thanks bro