This post is my new (to me) daily driver--a 2000 Civic DX sedan. Car is in decent shape, but the paint had seen a few too many New England winters and a few too many automatic car washes. Welcome to the life of a paintjob in New England.
The hood has had a fairly crappy respray, but that wasn't a dealbreaker for me.
So--on with the detail
Here is the best/worst view of the damage--swirls, RIDS, buffer trails--the works:
The headlights were a mess (they were opaque)--
...and after some 1500 grit wetsanding followed by my old Ryobi 6" buffer (this one is more manageable on headlights than my Griot's polisher) with a wool bonnet and some Megs Ultimate Compound:
Hood 50-50 (my first good 50-50)
Door before:
and after: (I was really happy with this)
...and a couple of "done" shots (I couldn't get a good shot no matter how hard I tried)
Process:
Wash w/ Megs Deep Crystal wash
Clay w/ Clay Magic bar w/ soapy water as lube
Mask moldings
2 passes of SIP on a Griot's polisher w/ LC CCS yellow
1 pass Megs #9 w/ Griot's orange pad
Nu Finish (the car isn't garaged) applied w/ LC CCS green (I now love this method)
Eagle One QD
Turtle Wax Hot Shine tire dressing
~7 hours of labor
thanks for looking
The hood has had a fairly crappy respray, but that wasn't a dealbreaker for me.
So--on with the detail
Here is the best/worst view of the damage--swirls, RIDS, buffer trails--the works:
The headlights were a mess (they were opaque)--
...and after some 1500 grit wetsanding followed by my old Ryobi 6" buffer (this one is more manageable on headlights than my Griot's polisher) with a wool bonnet and some Megs Ultimate Compound:
Hood 50-50 (my first good 50-50)
Door before:
and after: (I was really happy with this)
...and a couple of "done" shots (I couldn't get a good shot no matter how hard I tried)
Process:
Wash w/ Megs Deep Crystal wash
Clay w/ Clay Magic bar w/ soapy water as lube
Mask moldings
2 passes of SIP on a Griot's polisher w/ LC CCS yellow
1 pass Megs #9 w/ Griot's orange pad
Nu Finish (the car isn't garaged) applied w/ LC CCS green (I now love this method)
Eagle One QD
Turtle Wax Hot Shine tire dressing
~7 hours of labor
thanks for looking