First Detail - Black Acura before and after pics

[lokman]

Finished helping my brother with his car nearly two months ago, but haven't had a chance to get the photos up yet until now. The car was a mess on the outside, the hand wash places that our mom had taken it to had really taken their toll on the paint. So here's what I did:



- Used Turtle Wax Zip Wash (?) to wash (because it was around)

- Clayed

- Rewashed

- Started with Meguair's purple pad on a PC with 3M SMR, did not seem to have much effect

- Switched from 3M SMR to DACP



Overall, the swirls were reduced significantly and a lot of depth was brought back to the paint (the color is Nighthawk Black Pearl, which has blue in it in the sun). The paint the paint became much smoother, but I couldn't get all the swirls out, probably because it was my first attempt. I went over some sections several times, but there's still some swirls left, and there's some scratches that I think will be a bit too deep to get out. In any case, my brother's ecstatic, and here are some pics.



Will just have to try and get those swirls out again another day!



BEFORE

AFTER

 

[Maxtorque02]

Looks excellent. Nice job.:up

 

[Spilchy]

Nice work! Big difference between SMR and DACP, huh?



Next time, jack up the PC a little after the DACP breaks down and keep working until it disapears. This will aid in the removal of swirls and sometimes prevents having to make multiple passes. It took me a couple times to truly understand and appreciate the effectiveness of DACP and how to properly use it. It's a great product.



What wax did you use?

 

[lokman]

Thanks Spilchy,



Actually, there's no wax on the car in those pictures yet. I eventually did go with Meguiar's Gold Class Liquid Wax as my brother wanted something easy to apply, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the completed car.



I'm still getting a feel for DACP. I'm not sure if I'm applying the right amounts yet, but I think I'm using too much. I increase the speed of the PC after it's worked in and keep going over it, but it doesn't really "disappear"? It starts getting dryer until it starts kicking up some powder, and I work in a little bit more before I stop, but there's a lot left over to wipe off. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

 

[GoodnClean]

Ah, the little baby Acura we dont have here in the US, the EL isn't it?



Great work

 

[FredBro]

lokman!



Back down on the amount of DACP! I too was using a lot and had to wipe off the excess.



Now I place drops about 1.5 times the diameter of a common eraser on a pencil at 12, 3, 6, and 9 O'clock.



Place the pad on the car and smear it around, then I start the PC at #1 and spread it evenly . If you start to use less you'll discover that the DACP actually disappears and you have a squeaky clean shine!!!



Oh, and once I have it spread, I crank it up to #6 and keep it moving. I was scared at first, but I got used to it.



If anyone thinks I'm doing it wrong, let me know. I'm still learning!!

 

[lokman]

FredBro, thanks for the pointers. Will definitely keep that in mind next time I get back to the car.



As to GoodnClean's question, it is indeed the baby Acura, a 1.7EL. Basically a Honda Civic sedan with some cosmetic and equipment upgrades and the larger VTEC engine that we can't get on the Civic sedan in Canada.