[Mac7504]

Sooo making a longer story shorter. I flew in to take delivery (last month) from a dealership which was over 300 miles away from me...The drive back was no cakewalk having to drive a brand spanking new unit through a heavily sanded city, briefly, through agricultural areas, and out of cow towns before I made it the freeway. Everything was great until I hit rain sleet and snow over the grapevine in sub 40* weather.

Anyway, when I finally got the car home, it looked like shit so I called a mobile detailer to put in work...My guy did a fantastic job, 2 foam baths, clayed, handwaxed and sealed; never touched it with a towel as it was air dried to avoid micro-marring...One thing I advised him NOT to do was wax my exposed carbon extractor. I did so simply on the strength of the manual stating not to do so on any ZL1 extractors...(more to this later after replies)....

So my question is, how many actually wax your extractor? Or clay it?

My detailer mentioned his personal friend has the same exposed carbon weave extractor but on an ZLE and his looks like shit because there are so many scratches and swirl marks. This make me curious on how many actually follow this guideline...

Thoughts?

[Jofu]

Hello there! I actually just covered my ZL1 1LE's whole painted areas + carbon fiber areas with Expel (ok I'm sure someone will chime in to say this product is utter shit haha).

You got me nervous with your comment above about not waxing the extractor, so I checked the user manual, and here is what it actually says:

Hood Extractor

For the Camaro High Performance vehicle, see the Camaro High performance supplement.

It is not recommended that the air extractor on the SS Performance Package be waxed, as it will change the gloss level of the surface. In addition, care must be used when waxing around the air extractor. If a small amount of wax is applied to the extractor it can create an irregular appearance in the surface of the panel.

The air extractor may have vent screens in the openings. Keep leaves or other debris out of the vent screens.

A picture of the SS 1LE air extractor is also provided. Given this, I believe the warning is purely for the plastic trim that comes on SS 1LEs, and not the carbon fiber extractor on ZL1s.


Geoff

[Mac7504]

Originally Posted by Jofu

Hello there! I actually just covered my ZL1 1LE's whole painted areas + carbon fiber areas with Expel (ok I'm sure someone will chime in to say this product is utter shit haha).

You got me nervous with your comment above about not waxing the extractor, so I checked the user manual, and here is what it actually says:

Hood Extractor

For the Camaro High Performance vehicle, see the Camaro High performance supplement.

It is not recommended that the air extractor on the SS Performance Package be waxed, as it will change the gloss level of the surface. In addition, care must be used when waxing around the air extractor. If a small amount of wax is applied to the extractor it can create an irregular appearance in the surface of the panel.

The air extractor may have vent screens in the openings. Keep leaves or other debris out of the vent screens.

A picture of the SS 1LE air extractor is also provided. Given this, I believe the warning is purely for the plastic trim that comes on SS 1LEs, and not the carbon fiber extractor on ZL1s.


Geoff

No....I'm looking right at my 2022 high performance owners supplement, and I'm speaking of the ZL1 only not the SS.

What am I missing here????

[Mac7504]

Forgive my sideways pic. Never happened to me before but my comment still stand......am I not in the ZL1 section? Wtf is going on???

[swisstyphoon]

I don't see why you can't polish and wax the hood extractor just like any other painted surface. The exposed carbon version has clearcoat over it. Been doing it for years, never had a problem.

[Mac7504]

Originally Posted by swisstyphoon

You can polish and wax the extractor just like any other painted surface. The exposed carbon version has clearcoat over it.
Been doing it for years, never had a problem.

Interesting...why would the manual call for it not to be waxed?

Also what's your definition between polished vs waxed?

I understand how carbon is covered.....

[swisstyphoon]

Originally Posted by Mac7504

Interesting...why would the manual call for it not to be waxed?

Also what's your definition between polished vs waxed?

I understand how carbon is covered.....

No idea why they mention that in the manual.
In short, polishing is for removing light swirls and scratches while waxing is for protecting your paintwork and giving your car that glossy look.

[d15b7]

Mine is ceramic coated plus I use a topper (turtle wax ceramic spray coating). I’d worry about UV light damaging it if you left it with absolutely no protection (same goes for rear wing)

[Xelor]

Wax It

[Jaxcam02]

I read that in the manual too when I first got the car, and I still had no hesitations in buffing the scratches out and ceramic coating it.

[Jofu]

Originally Posted by Mac7504

No....I'm looking right at my 2022 high performance owners supplement, and I'm speaking of the ZL1 only not the SS.

What am I missing here????

D’OH! I missed that other manual…. Thanks for the correction.


Geoff

[Corbs09]

It seems like they are talking about the satin black wrap. I have polished and applied a coating on top of mine and it looks great.

[WhiteMale]

I concur it's the vinyl wrap not the carbon fibre that the manual refers to, same as the hood wrap on the 1LE

[Gunkk]

Correct. The 1LE satin wrap has its own special care requirements.

As to the OP's question: A top shelf self-healing Paint Protection Film is the best way to go. A top shop will remove the emblems, wrap and tuck the film, and replace emblems so there are no visible seams. Then some hydrophobic coating (if needed) and you can pretty much do anything after that and it will look fantastic ... which for me is 4-1/2 years of bliss