Acura TL in Nighthawk Black Pearl Revived!

RickRack said:
pampos- Thanks!



CleanGSR- Thanks, I agree. It is new to the owner, so it will be taken care of from now on



Josh- Most Acuras I have worked on in the past have had really soft paint, but for some reason this wasn't the case on this one. I'd say it was somewhere in the middle.



It took me about 18 hours total to detail the exterior. I ran out of time to get to the interior.



Most of the panels did not show any loss in paint thickness, besides a small area on one of the panels that required a wool pad to remove some more serious defects. This particular area was reading 5.2 mils before any polishing and read 5.1 mils after, so a total of .1 mil was removed. The paint meter does vary slightly, so it is impossible to measure exactly how much was removed. I use it more as a guide than anything, so I always use extreme caution when doing heavy correction work.
Click to expand...



Thanks, that kind of confirms what I've been thinking about compounding and polishing and such. I always figured typically not any more then .01-.1 mils are ever removed. Thanks.



Again, great job on that TL.
 
Greg- Thanks! I guess it looks a little better, haha...



Josh- That sounds about right.



Thomas- Thanks!



shine- Thanks!
 
Macruz19- Do you happen to have a paint thickness gauge? I was wondering what kind of readings your car gets since it's the same car. I did a little searching and it looks like Acuras are famous for having thin paint. This explains why it was loaded with rock chips everywhere.
 
RickRack said:
Macruz19- Do you happen to have a paint thickness gauge? I was wondering what kind of readings your car gets since it's the same car. I did a little searching and it looks like Acuras are famous for having thin paint. This explains why it was loaded with rock chips everywhere.
Click to expand...







Actually, no I don't have one. I usually just a mild polish and a cutting pad and it seems to clean up fast.



I'm very sure that the Honda/Acura paints are soft. I'm no expert.
 
mattgg11 said:
I've got one question I can't seem to figure out. You state...



"The paint thickness was measured on every body panel using a paint thickness gauge to ensure that a significant amount of clear was present before any aggressive polishing was performed."



I assume that a paint thickness gauge measures the total amount of "paint" on a body panel, which would include primer, color, and clear coats.



So if you get a reading of 5.1 mills, how do you know how much of that is clear coat? The primer and color coats could be 5 mills thick and the clear coat only 0.1 mills thick.



Explain how you "ensure a significant amount of CLEAR is present" with a PTG.
Click to expand...



I don't mean to speak for Rick here, but I'm sure he can make an educated guess on clearcoat thickness based on his readings combined with average coating thickness for this type of vehicle through experience and knowledge



The quantity of clear coat is also visible, especially once levelled and cleared up a bit, offering again not an absolute answer, but an additional guide.



Any Acura that hasn't been repainted will have a "significant amount of clear" left to work with on a panel reading 5.1, where as 3.9, as Rick pointed out, is getting a little low, and should be treated with more restraint.



Rick, that car was RASHED, and you did an amazing detail! I know how finicky and obnoxious Acura paint / nighthawk black can be. Great work and thanks for sharing!
 
Holy CRAP!! You did a fantastic job on that car given the circumstances. It looked like someone dumped a bucket of mud and sand on that thing and tried to clean it off with a scotch-brite pad and dawn!!
 
Fantastic write-up, picture documentation, and outcome!



This is one of the better comebacks I've seen in a while. Kudos.
 
CleanGSR said:
Amazing turnaround. I can't believe someone would let such a nice car get into such horrible shape.
Click to expand...



Before my name starts to get sullied around these parts, I thought I'd chime in. I bought this car back in December of last year. The outdoor conditions when I looked at the car were cloudy, and it was freshly washed, but I could tell it needed a good detail. To be honest, your average person would say that it looked good (which mean horrible amongst Autopians!). If I had been able to see all of the flaws, whether under full sun or fluorescents, I still got a great deal on it, and probably would have made the same decision.



Rick did an AWESOME job on the car (you all know that he always does). Unfortunately, the paint contamination he had mentioned actually masked a good part of the rock chips. Now that the paint has been restored, the chips are much more apparent. Go on the Acura forums and there are constant complaints about how easily the TL paint chips. Not surprisingly, this coincides with the reading Rick obtained with his paint meter.



This post, on Acurazine, basically does a great job summarizing the problems with the Acura TL factory paint:



Acura TL Community - Paint Issues?



Unfortunately, a significant amount of dust (or pollen) settled on the car, which I picked up from Rick at night. As good as it looked the next day, I am dying to wash it and see how it really looks!



PS - Again, I am not the owner that mistreated this beautiful car. For a better perspective, check out this thread with pictures of the detail on my last automobile:



http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/57051-1998-4runner-first-detail-pc-sorry-about-lack-sun.html?highlight=4runner
 
Jeff_M said:
Before my name starts to get sullied around these parts, I thought I'd chime in. I bought this car back in December of last year. The outdoor conditions when I looked at the car were cloudy, and it was freshly washed, but I could tell it needed a good detail. To be honest, your average person would say that it looked good (which mean horrible amongst Autopians!). If I had been able to see all of the flaws, whether under full sun or fluorescents, I still got a great deal on it, and probably would have made the same decision.



Rick did an AWESOME job on the car (you all know that he always does). Unfortunately, the paint contamination he had mentioned actually masked a good part of the rock chips. Now that the paint has been restored, the chips are much more apparent. Go on the Acura forums and there are constant complaints about how easily the TL paint chips. Not surprisingly, this coincides with the reading Rick obtained with his paint meter.



This post, on Acurazine, basically does a great job summarizing the problems with the Acura TL factory paint:



Acura TL Community - Paint Issues?



Unfortunately, a significant amount of dust (or pollen) settled on the car, which I picked up from Rick at night. As good as it looked the next day, I am dying to wash it and see how it really looks!



PS - Again, I am not the owner that mistreated this beautiful car. For a better perspective, check out this thread with pictures of the detail on my last automobile:



http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/57051-1998-4runner-first-detail-pc-sorry-about-lack-sun.html?highlight=4runner
Click to expand...



I know that the current owner (apparently you) is not the one that instilled the damage. I never said you were. I merely said that it is a really nice car and I can't believe someone would let it get into that shape......anybody.
 
Macruz19- I know that Hona / Acura paint has always been soft, but I was really surprised how thin it was. Read post #10 by Dave1 on this thread:



http://autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/102885-thinning-clearcoat.html?highlight=acura+paint



Looks like Acuras just have a very thin coating thickness





Reflections- You are correct in what you said. Thanks for the compliment!



mrfjsw294- No kidding, thanks!



G35stilez- Thanks Sean!



DieselMDX Nope, you definitely can't fake black in the sun! I worked in the M105/UF at about 1600rpm



SuperBee364- I was pretty pleased with the results. Thanks!
 
Jeff- I'm glad that you are happy with the car! I will write you up a washing regimen, etc. and send it by e-mail as promised. Thanks again!



Patrick- Thank you for the kind words. How is the Corvette doing? The nice weather is just around the corner and you will be able to take it out for a nice long ride! I just signed a lease on a shop, so if you ever need to use it for anything you are always welcome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top