What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

[Mike2001-Z06]

Long story short I have 2001 Z06 Corvette thats black on black. Everytime I try to do the 5 step proceedure I run into problems. I would like to know why. First I wash my car with meguairs ultimate car wash, next I use a clay bar with quick detailer for lubrication, next I attempt to remove and surface scratches and swirl marks with ultimate compound, but all this does is leave alot of compound behind all over the body once I wipe off most of the compound. This typically takes me an additional 4-5 hours of scrubbing with alot of pressure while using a bottle of water and a microfiber towel. Surely their has to be a quickrt way to do this while not messing up my new finish I just applied. All I am trying to do is remove the excess wax left behind from ultimate compound.

Two days later after I finally manage to get all of the remaining ultimate compound off of my corvette I apply ultimate polish, and then I apply ultimate wax. These come off the car a whole lot easier, but I still have to scrub the body alot with a microfiber towel (1-2) hours extra using a spray bottle full of water to get the remaining wax and residue off of my car. Is this normal?

Now what I want to know is what can I use after applying ultimate compound to my body to get rid off the 4-5 hours its takes to remove the excess wax left over thats all over the body. While still leaving that nice clean color it just restored.

Anytime I apply a wax or ultimate compound to the body of my c5 I swear it adheres to it and it doesn't matter if I let it sit for 20 seconds or 2-4 minutes its just a difficult to remove either way. My goal is to restore the cars paint finish and to give it that high gloss shine it had from the factory. Please tell me what I can do to make my whole detailing job work better.

[The Guz]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

Welcome to MOL. Has the car been repainted? Are you working by hand or machine? Compounds and polishes are not to be left to dry on the paint after working them onto the surface to remove defects.

[ct18]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

Listen to the Guz he will set you free. If doing by hand I would skip the compound and just polish and then whatever LSP.

[twisty roads]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

when using a compound and/or polish use continuous circling maneuvers with approx. 50% overlap. Follow the up/down and side to side procedure while working in a 2ft x 2ft space. Work in a covered area that is relatively cool. As Guz mentioned, compound or polish should not be left to dry on the surface like wax. Compound is designed to remove defects. So it is only needed with hazy looking/oxidized paint or with moderate/deep scratches (exception would be a hard paint). Polish refines and brings the gloss back. Some polish (like M205) has some abrasives in it which can do minor scratch removal and might be better if you are doing a hand approach for correction as you might be able to get away with a single stage correction (not sure what the paint looks like or what level of perfection you are looking for). Ultimate polish has almost no correction or abrasives in it and is more used as a jeweling polish with a lot of carrier oils. Good luck!

[Mike2001-Z06]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

This is what my car looks like after I use meguairs ultimate car wash soap, meguiars NXT tire shine, meguairs ultimate wheel cleaner, meguiars clay bar kit with quik way, and meguairs ultimate compound. I haven't been able to get to a polish or wax yet as I am still trying to get the excess of ultimate compound off of my car.

I first did by hand rubbing in circles for about 1 minute on each panel, then I immediately wiped it off within 2-3 minutes. After that I did it again with a 1 speed 3000 RPM single stage buffer with just using a white bonnet over it. This is the result of ultimate compound that was left behind + additional 4-5 hours over the course of two days time trying to remove the excess after getting home from work each day. As you can see its still there eventhough I have been trying to remove it for the past two days.

When I did it by hand I did 1 full panel at a time using continuous circles for about 1 minute each. I let it sit for about 2-3 minutes then I wiped it off. Then I moved onto the next panel. Unhappy with the results I went to harbor freight and I bought a $21.99 10" orbital buffer to try it again.

This time when I used the buffer I buffed it using a 10" single stage buffer/polisher drillmaster 61898 3000 RPM with a white bonnet on it. I did this for about 20 seconds per each panel - first making 1 smooth pass accross the panel left to right, then i moved down and made 1 pass back to the left, then I moved down again and made 1 pass right to ensure the whole panel got 1 pass. After that I let it sit for about 20-30 seconds, then I wiped it off. This is the result of that.

These pictures are the leftover results of ultimate compound still on the body after hours of scrubbing with a microfiber towel and a spray bottle of full of water while trying to get this stuff off. I know they might look like scratches, but I can assure you thats the excess compound that basically adhered to the body thats been swiped over for hours on end. Like I said it usually takes me 2-3 days to get this stuff back off my car anytime I use ultimate compound. Its very hard to do a full five step process on this car in one day when I have to spend an additional 2-3 days extra just trying to get the excess of ultimate compound back off the car.

I'm not sure why, but for some reason the hood, the trunk lid, and top of the car require way more effort to remove any leftover wax than they do on the doors, quarterpanels, or the front and rear bumpers. Look at the doors in the first pic, then look at the hood. Now look at the left fender, then look at the hood or the top, now look at the front bumper, then look at the hood. Same method. Same technique. Much more cleaner. Way easier to remove.

I love the way ultimate compound makes my car look, but I can't stand the additional time it takes to get it back off of my c5's body. Everytime I have used ultimate compound on this car I have had this issue. It basically adheres to my c5's body. There has got to be a way to remove this faster than days and days of heavy scrubbing with water in a spray bottle.

As you can see the original C5 paintjob still looks great eventhough its 19 years old. Ultimate compound really brings it back. It definately does what it says it does! The only issue I am having is the excess of ultimate compound being stuck to my c5's body.






Please tell me the typical timeframe you generally let ultimate compound, ultimate polish, or ultimate wax sit before you wipe it off. I gave it about 20 seconds and here was the result. Before that when I did it by hand I let it sit for about 2-3 minutes before I wiped it off.

Also if you don't mind please advise me on the best pad type to use when applying the different types of compound, wax, and polish to the car. Lets say I want one thats good at removing defects by hand, 1 thats good for polishing, and 1 thats good for waxing. I know dual action polishers have different pad colors they so I'm guessing the same applies hand pads for compounds, polishes, and waxes.

[The Guz]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

This should keep you busy.

[The Guz]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

[Mike2001-Z06]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

Thank you guys.
Since I last posted I went over the car with waterless wash and wax, then I clay barred it again. This is the result of that.


Again this is how it was...


Here is some more pics of the car free on all that excess junk, the paint job is very dull looking right now.






Its turns out all I needed to do was claybar the car again with quik detailer as a libricator and use waterless wash and wax first. Thank you for all of your advice and those videos!

Now I just need to know what type of wax I should apply to really make this car shine again. I want a wax that won't adhere to the body like ultimate compound did. Something that does the job, but is easy to remove the excess of it off the car. So far all I have done is used meguiars waterless wash and wax and meguiars smooth claybar kit with quik detailer as the lubricator. Right now, because of the claybar its basically stripped of all previous contaminates.

[Mike2001-Z06]

Re: What product do you recommend for c5 corvette thats black on black?

Added meguiars cleaner wax and what a difference it made to the car. Here it is since I last posted at 8:57pm

This was the primary issue I was having. The ultimate compound had basically adhered to my vehicle eventhough I only let it sit on the body for 20 seconds after buffing the section.




This was after wash n wax + a claybar treatment.
The shine has been stripped from the car. Its very dull looking and needs wax ASAP.


Now this is after 1 single application by hand using meguiars cleaner wax on the car which cleans, polishes, and applies wax in 1 application by using 7 passes with 50% overlaps in 2x2 square sections.








Cleaner wax did amazing at restoring a 19 year old original paint job on my c5 z06 corvette. It gave the car a nice polish and wax without having to apply ultimate compound all over again.
Here is ultimate compound applied first to restore color and then next is cleaner wax after I re-stripped the vehicle again with a claybar.



Pay attention to the right front fender which has no wax or coating applied at all from the popup headlights back to the door. Now look at the hood with the cleaner wax on it. Not too shabby for a 19 year old paint job being restored. Before you ask, yes that is the original paint job 19 years later!

I will definately be recommending meguiars cleaner wax to all of my friends. Its absolutely amazing. Not only does it look amazing it cleans, it polishes, and it waxes the car all in one application. Thats a very nice option for people who don't have alot of time on their hands to do a full 5 step application every 3 months.

The next time I am ready to get the really deep surface defects out I will just take it to a professional detailer and let him goto work on it with his da polisher. I'm done trying to use ultimate compound on this c5 body. For some strange reason ultimate compound adheres to my c5 body and its almost impossible to get it off even if I only let it sit for 20 seconds after buffing it. Meguiars cleaner wax works perfect for someone who's always on the go or someone who needs their car to look great while not having to spend too much time on it. I personally think it turned out great especially with the primary issue that started it with from ultimate compound. Cleaner wax came right off with no issues at all.

Thank you for all of your help guys. Your advice and videos helped me restore my z06 to where it looks great again.