I've gotta admit.  The clean lines of a well maintained C4 still brings a smile to my face whenever I see one.

Even though it's been over a decade since the last C4's rolled off the assembly line, they still look every bit as good as when they were first introduced (IMO) 

Through a friend of a friend, I found a guy who does detailing work with a buddy of his and got an amazing price for an exterior/interior detailing job.  They started working on my '92 around 9am this morning and finished at around 3pm this afternoon, stopping only for lunch break sometime in between.  They did an awesome job on the car.  The black paint looks so much "deeper" in color than it did before and it literally "pops" right off the car when you look at it.  When it hits the sunlight, it's as if the car is made of glass.

It's amazing what a good cut/polish/buff will do for a paint job if the work is being done by someone who knows what they're doing. 

On the way back home, I drove by about a half dozen Mustangs on the freeway (must have been a club or something) and the look on their faces as I drove up along side them was priceless.  Probably the same look I had on my face when I was a kid and saw a Corvette for the first time.  They had smiles and grins from ear to ear.  ALL of them, gave me the thumbs up.  Two of them even had passengers with them that snapped off a bunch of photo's of my car as I was driving along side them.  I got off at my exit and they all waved, smiled and gave me thumbs up again as they continued on.  It really made my day.  See?  Everybody loves these cars.  Even the Mustang guys.

Just though I'd share.


Now I've just gotta find a place with some nice background scenery to get some really nice shots of the car.  Only reason why the top is on in these photo's is because it started clouding over real quick and I was worried it was gonna start to rain, so after the job was done, I drove straight home.  Hopefully this week I'll have time to take some better shot's with the top off.



 

.
.
LT1*C42009-08-16 19:25:29

That's what we'd call a spit-shine!!! Looking really slick, and SHINY!!!

______________

Joel Adams  
My Link

    
(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Is that the original paint?

Looks very deep.

good job!



Jim

[QUOTE=Strats-N-Vettes]Is that the original paint?

Looks very deep.

good job!



Jim
[/QUOTE]
The original owner made no mention of ever painting the car but did say that the side vent panels had been repainted a time or two over the years due to stone chips etc. off the front tires.

Never would have guessed it though, cause the panels looked great.  No orange peel in the paint or streaks or anything.  Whoever did the work,  did a pretty darn good job

Don't get me wrong though, a 17 year old car pushing 200k on the odometer (km) will obviously have some stone chips and a scuff mark or two on the paint.  That's to be expected.  But for a car of this age, even the detailers were impressed at how good the paint had held up.  They even made the comment that the 2006 VW they did the day before had paint in much worse shape than mine and it was only a 3 year old car.

Personally, I don't mind a scratch or two.  Just proves that the car's actually being driven and enjoyed by the owner as apposed to some pampered trailer queen that spends all its life in heated garage and  paraded around at local car shows

They snapped off a bunch of photo's and I'm pretty sure they're going to post them on their website.  I'm going to have to check it out and see if they're up there.


LT1*C42009-08-18 10:29:03

That is one fine looking ride   They did a great job, go buy them a case of Molson.

I'm confused, you said HAD it detailed......... Why would anyone that owns a corvette not want to detail it them self.........

If we could make our cars look THAT good, we would all do it ourselves.   I'm not a waxer by any means, but I continue to try to do that good a job.  That car looks pretty awesome on a cloudy day, imagine what it will look like on a nice one. 

[QUOTE=88Blackvette]I'm confused, you said HAD it detailed......... Why would anyone that owns a corvette not want to detail it them self......... [/QUOTE]


I am sure you was just kidding....but I have to tell all, a good job at detailing entails more than cleaning and waxing (most people know this, some dont)

Just about anybody can look online and get directions for correct detailing, they can comprehend the instructions, but....having all the necessary tools and supplies is another story.

Then there is water sanding for a mirror look, take that info and do it without sanding off all the clear coat, then getting to the polishing and not polishing off all the clear coat (or burning paint/CC)....after that its just a matter of waxing no matter how simple or what tools are-on hand.


Some paint requires no water sanding to revive the finish, some do or will.


When it comes to getting a good detail job, I would pay somebody; then, keep it up myself...and...I have done when I was in my 20's , I still have all the tools and knowledge...there is actually certain  tool(s) I dont have and that is a selection of foam pads..
(I need to get a couple)

Even at that; I would still let/pay a professional to do the first detail on a finish that is rough.

Some people dont have:
> time
>tools
>supplies
>knowledge
>all the above
But they may have the $$$


As stated; I took it as 88blackvette as joking....I just wanted to shed light to others reading.














Jim

Wow, I've been detailing car's on the side for year's (No not just washing and waxing) but full blow detailing , and NEVER heard of anyone needing the car wet sanded for a detail job, If that be the case and the car was that neglected I think a detail job is the least of your worries. And as any car lover will tell you NEVER NEVER NEVER let anyone do a MEXICAN HAT DANCE on your vette with any type of BUFFER,    HAND WASH, CLAY BAR BY HAND, POLISH BY HAND, WAX BY HAND .

tom (88BLACKVETTE) did my 90 for me and i can tell you he does a great job. it was in good hands and it showed. have to agree in part with what was said in a previous post though that there are different reasons to let someone else do it. mine is time mostly. i try to keep up with washing, waxing etc. but sometimes it gets away from me. the most important thing is knowing and trusting the people you leave your car (any car not just a vette) with. i can say for certain that when i left my vette with him i knew it was in good hands.. the car was hit by an idiot and i am surprised he didn't use the excuse that it shined so much that it blinded him.

no matter who does the detailing, the most important thing is that it is done right and you trust the person or shop you bring it to. just  my opinion.

BTW...your car does look great.


eddie208902009-08-22 05:42:18

______________


















the dynamic duo

c3vr life member #97

It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A clean detailed Corvette is a joy to cruise in.

______________

1986 "Bright Red" COUPE - Aluminum Heads,
Sport Seats, Bose, Ultra-Flo Exhaust,
Automatic, Bilsteins - "Mostly Original" otherwise.

It looks amazing! Love it!

Thats a real beauty!!! Shines like a black mirror!!!!!!!

Looks great!  I really like those exhaust tips.  What system do you have?

Thanks for the compliments guys. 

Wish she still looked that good, but I took her out last week (since there was still no snow on the ground) and within minutes the car was covered in a white powdery residue from bumper to bumper.  By the time I got to my destination, the car looked gray in color.

 I'm going to have to wash her again as soon as temperatures goe back above 0 degrees again.

On the bright side, I'd wager that freezing cold December air is worth at least another 20 hp.  It's amazing how much difference the colder air makes compared the hot and humid air during the summer month's...


[quote]Looks great!  I really like those exhaust tips.  What system do you have?[/quote]

It's a Corsa exhaust.  A bit pricey, but well worth it in my opinion.
LT1*C42010-01-01 08:56:40

"I'm going to have to wash her again as soon as temperatures go back above 0 degrees again". jimmymack2010-01-01 09:53:31

[QUOTE=jimmymack]"I'm going to have to wash her again as soon as temperatures go back above 0 degrees again". [/QUOTE]

What a nice Vette !  It just has a certain "presence" about it, looks menacing and really cool.

Okay, I'm lazy & didn"t read everything here, but do you know what product they use? It looks better than mine, and mine looks new. I'm jealous and must know!

______________

[QUOTE=874noah]Okay, I'm lazy & didn"t read everything here, but do you know what product they use? It looks better than mine, and mine looks new. I'm jealous and must know![/QUOTE]

Believe me, I was curious to find out what these guy's were using as well, but as hard as I tried, I wasn't able to get it out of them!   

I've noticed that a lot though with detailers over the years - they usually think of their cleaning products and the companies that supply them, as "Top Secret" information and don't want their customers (or competition) to know what products they are or where to get them.

I suppose they're worried they might lose business if everybody started buying the same stuff they do and doing the work on their own rather than paying a detailer.  Can't really blame them.  If I was in their position, I'd probably keep things secret too.

Since they wouldn't tell me what they use, I asked them what "off the shelf" brand he'd recommend for me and he recommended I use Meguiars.  Specifically, their "Tech Wax" series of products.  It was his opinion (for what it's worth) that Tech Wax gave the longest lasting and deepest shine of all the "main stream" waxes/cleaning products on the market.

Having never used that line of wax before (It's hard to keep up with all the new brands of cleaners coming out every other week), I decided to try the Tech Wax out.  The darn thing cost me $28CAD but I was truly impressed with the stuff, after finally using it.   It shines just as well as the Mother's Carnuba wax I've normally used in the past, but the biggest difference is, the shine and that "smooth to the touch" feeling as you slide your fingers over the paint, lasts a lot longer that the Mother's products I used and it doesn't attract nearly as much dust as the Carnuba.

I've been using the Tech wax ever since and would recommend it to anyone.  So for what it's worth, Meguiars Tech Wax is what I've been using since the car got detailed and it still looks just as good now as it did then. 

P.s.

While the paint on my car is definitely solid, and may look like a million bucks in photo's, it is, at the end of the day, a daily diver.  My only means of transportation.  So the paint (while still in very good condition) does have the usual stone chips in the usual areas.  Front bumper, side mirrors, etc.  Even has a scuff mark or two here and there so don't think for a second this car is a trailer queen with a pristine paint job.  It only looks that way in photograph's

Personally, I like to see a few stone chips on a car.  I think of them as "battle scars" .  It proves the owners actually out driving the thing and getting his/her money's worth out of it.

 I don't care much for "perfect" cars that spend 3/4 of their lives sitting in climate controlled garages and getting waxed more often then they get driven.

What's the point of owning a car if you're too afraid to drive it ?



LT1*C42010-01-08 15:22:48

I agree. While mine only has 47K I drive it as much as I can. And when it's show time, I WILL NOT trailer, no matter how far. In my opinion the drives are the best part, especially when there's several old Corvettes going together. And my hot bride next to me (passenger seat, she chooses not to drive it). Last spring it was judged by a VERY thorough judge and she loved it. She thought I trailered until I pointed out the little "pimples" on the front end. I guess I shouldn't be pointing out flaws to judges.....I then got points deductions for lint inside console and on the carpet. Oh well.

______________

Wow!

Nice car!

i agree ......drive it love it and then wash and wax it.   what kind of wax did you say teck wax 

______________