Another Civic

[detaildoc]

I just did some paint correction on my friend's '01 Civic. This car has never seen a garage since she bought it 7 years ago and she lives in an area in So Cal known for very strong gusty winds. The paint was in really bad shape, but not so much of swirls scratches, but because of contamination. The paint was really dirty, stained, dry, and starting to oxidize. In fact, the paint was covered in such a thick layer of contaminants that after claying 2x and cleaning it with Sonus Paintwork Cleanser, it revealed the significant clearcoat failure on the hood, which was hard to see prior to the claying. Due to this, I had to proceed with caution and had to constantly check my work, which made the process very tedious and slow. Unfortunately, I did not take pics of what the car looked like prior to washing it, so the before pics are after I had already washed it. The car had not been washed in over 4 months, which is usually the case (so it only gets about 3 washes per year). I spent 10 hours just doing paint correction, so I did not even get a chance to do the interior, the glass, or work much on the wheels. The trim around all the windows is also stained, cracking and peeling, exposing the underlying metal. I am convinced that Civic paint is one of the lowest quality paint out there. I have come across several Civics, many only a couple of years old and already showing signs on the hood of clearcoat failure. Below is my process and the pics.



Washed 2x with Ultima Paint Guard Wash and HD GS

Washed tires and rims with HD GS, Ultima Wash and Sonus Tire and Sonus Rim Bright

Clayed 2x with Clay Magic

Cleaned Paint 2x with Sonus Paintwork Cleanser via UDM at speed 4 with DAS Green Polishing Pad (went through 3 pads)

Polished headlights 2x with Meguiars PlastX via UDM at speed 5 with 4'' LC Orange Pad, followed by Menzerna 106ff with 4'' LC White Pad.

Polished 2x with Sonus SFX 2 via Flex at speed 5 with LC Orange Pad (2 pads)

Menzerna Micro Polish via Flex at speed 4 and LC Gray Pad

DWG via UDM and Blue pad at speed 3

ClearKote Carnauba Moose Wax via UDM with LC Red Pad



Total time: 12 hours

Total MF towels used: 10



BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[imported_shine]

Great work! Those headlights were certainly foggy. Nice work on the paint too. I'd be a bit nervous working on failing clearcoat.

 

[detaildoc]

Great work! Those headlights were certainly foggy. Nice work on the paint too. I'd be a bit nervous working on failing clearcoat.

Thanks. I was nervous about it, which is why I tried the white pad first, but it was not enough to remove the deep swirls and scratches. The clearcoat failure was mostly on the hood, so the rest was not so bad, although there were a few other small areas that were starting to show the failure. I did stick to the white pad though on the hood.

 

[VTechFan02]

Very nice job detaildoc. As an '02 Civic owner I know the troubles of Civic paint. I have similar CC failure on my hood but not to that extent. I also have a few other isolated spots of failed CC which I suspect was caused by etching before I bought it. I was pretty happy with how mine came out the first time I polished it out overall though.



Full car shots outside would have been great to see but I can tell you made a dramatic improvement on it.



Great Job!!



-Frank

 

[detaildoc]

Very nice job detaildoc. As an '02 Civic owner I know the troubles of Civic paint. I have similar CC failure on my hood but not to that extent. I also have a few other isolated spots of failed CC which I suspect was caused by etching before I bought it. I was pretty happy with how mine came out the first time I polished it out overall though.



Full car shots outside would have been great to see but I can tell you made a dramatic improvement on it.



Great Job!!



-Frank

My previous car was a civic and I had the same problem with the cc. I wanted to take sun shots, but I started at 8:30AM and finished at 8:30PM. I asked my friend to take pics of the car today, but she left her camera at work. I will take some on Monday in the parking lot (we work together), though by then, I am sure the car will be dirty.

 

[VTechFan02]

Worth a try. By the way, how do you like the Moose Wax? How is the durability?



-Frank

 

[detaildoc]

Worth a try. By the way, how do you like the Moose Wax? How is the durability?



-Frank

I like it, leaves a nice glossy wet look; however, it does mute the flakes on metallics. I've found durability to be around 3-4 months.

 

[BigAl3]

great job!

 

[oneshare325]

Great turnaround on the headlights!! Impressive without wetsanding!!

 

[pampos]

great job...I have a bad experience on Honda cc because of my Accord.. :sadpace:

i think i am going to repaint the hood because of that between the lights.

 

[detaildoc]

great job...I have a bad experience on Honda cc because of my Accord.. :sadpace:

i think i am going to repaint the hood because of that between the lights.

Have you tried polishing that out or wet sanding it?

 

[pampos]

Have you tried polishing that out or wet sanding it?

i tried polishing it without results... but maybe is my fault because i used to try a lot of different products and methods to remove the swirls before learning about Autopia and the magic world of real detailing .I used to try everything in that area because it was the only one that the sun shows if the swirls are gone or not :LOLOL

Unfortunately there is a big and sad story behind that car from the moment i bought it

but i think is not the right place to discuss it : )

 

[detaildoc]

Great turnaround on the headlights!! Impressive without wetsanding!!

Thanks. I had thought about ordering either the Wolfgang or Diamondite headlight restoration kit from AG, but someone on their forum suggested that instead I tried the steps that I described above. I am glad I did not throw away about $70 (with shipping) on one of those kits.

 

[detaildoc]

Full car shots outside would have been great to see but I can tell you made a dramatic improvement on it.



Great Job!!



-Frank

Ok here they are. I took these ones today in the parking lot at work. The car was already covered in dust and had some water spots from a light rain we had in some areas of the county. In these pics you can really notice the difference in the color on the fenders and front bumper. She had a paint job done a few years ago, paid by someone who smashed into her car and they did a crappy job of matching.