Looking for Advice on Neglected Paint

I

imported_hooked

New member
I'm going to be polishing my sister's White Honda CRV in a couple of days and I'm looking for some advice. The car is at least 10 years old. It hasn't been waxed for quite a few years. The paint is rough when you rub your hand your over it, but I don't see any signs of the paint oxidizing like you do on darker colored cars. Also, since it's white and with no shine, you can't tell if there are any scratches.



I am going to attack it with the products that I have on hand:



- PC

- Optimum Compound with Blue Edge 2K pad

- JW Prime:Strong with Green Edge 2K pad

- JW Jett:Trigger



I did a really quick test spot a month or so ago, hitting it with the P:S and Jett but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Is there any hope of getting any shine back to the paint? When I say the paint looks flat, I mean like pancake flat! There is no gleam left in it.



Sorry, no pics to post. I'll try to get some when I go over to her house.
 
Another question....The left headlight has a haze on the glass. It looks like it's on the outside, not moisture trapped on the inside. The car doesn't get hit by sprinklers, so it's not that.



Any ideas? Any ideas how to get rid of it? Will hitting it with Prime:Strong help?
 
If the paint is rough when you rub your hand over it, you definitely need to do a good claying before your polishing.



For the haze, you can look into Meguiars PlastX.
 
Oh yes, I forgot. I will Clay the car after washing. I suspect, however, that the paint is rough becase there is no protectant left on it!!! :eek:
 
I would definitely clay it or minimally use a cleaner wax to test to see if a caulky substance comes off. If so, I would use the cleaner wax by hand before even breaking out the PC to avoid gumming the pad.



I know you indicated you wanted to use what you had on hand but Accumulator could probably tell you if this might not be a situation where 1Z Extra might work well.
 
I'm pretty sure the roughness is attributed to the bonded contaminants on the car. After you clay, even though you don't have protectant, I guarantee you will feel a humongous difference.
 
yes, it should be smooth as glass BEFORE you protect it...otherwise you're protecting the junk that's on the paint. Claying/cleaner polishes (megs #4, #1, etc work well for this)
 
Cool. Claying is definitely in the plan. I'm not familiar with the Megs products. I'm using OC as my "Aggressive" polish and then Prime:Strong as my Cleaning/Final polish. Is this a decent plan? If not, I'm going to have to go OTC because I'm doing this on Thursday morning.
 
i posted a white camry not to long ago in the click and brag, it is a must see. i came across the same problem with the chalky, rough paint, looked like there was no hope. at the time, all i had around was some 3m scratch remover. i used it with an orange pad on 6 w/ pc. it cut through the chalky no problem. i came across some menzerna intense and it did the same thing. you really have to have a medium polish to follow up with, such as sonus sfx2, thats what i used. it really started looking sharp when i final polished it and put on some zaino z5 pro. it finished up nice, i was very pleased
 
So I detailed my sister's CRV yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but that paint was ROUGH! The paint is in pretty good shape for a 7 year old car. It received semi-regular washes, just no protection. I was able to restore the shine using the products I mentioned. All I have to say is "Thank God that it was WHITE!!!" A darker color would have required more effort. All in all, it took me about 7 hours for:

- ONR Wash

- Clay

- Optimum Compound

- JW Prime:Strong

- JW Acrylic Jett Trigger

- Megs Trim Detailer for Bumpers and Trim

- Armor All Tire Foam

- Vacuum inside

- Clean plastics with Woolite

- Protect with Megs Natural Shine

- Stoner's IG for glass inside and out



Before picture after a wash with ONR. Doesn't look too bad in the pic, but as I was drying, you could hear the WW towel scratch across the surface because it was so rough. As I was washing with ONR, white residue was coming off the paint. My rinse bucket water was more white than grey! I'm assuming it's from the oxidized paint.



DSC04233_copy.jpg




This is the result of claying the first section of the hood! I probably could have clayed the car 3 times because the paint was still not very smooth, but I was under time constraints. Still, it was a big improvement after one time!



DSC04242.JPG




This is a shot of the sun through clouds reflected off the unpolished paint.



DSC04245.JPG




And here is an after shot. Big improvement.



DSC04244.JPG




Here's the finished product:



DSC04255_copy.jpg


DSC04257.JPG


DSC04259_copy.jpg


DSC04256_copy.jpg
 
hooked- That came out really nice, bet your sister is thrilled. I somehow get the impression that it must've been a pretty satisfying makeover...it just looks like something that'd give you a nice sense of accomplishment.
 
Thanks, Accumulator. Yes, I'm feeling pretty good that I was able to "rescue" the paint. My family, on the other hand, just think I'm nuts. LOL. She appreciated what I did. Especailly since I spent the whole fricking day on it! But, her reaction was a tame "Oh, that looks nice." I didn't bother to explain all the steps I took because her eyes would have glazed over. The biggest compliment that I got was from her husband, who's an "expert" on everything, when he said "Looks like a new car."



I knew that my sis wasn't going to get overly excited about the results, but I wanted to spruce up her car for her since she's going to have to go back to work next week after 3 months out on disability due to illness. She's not thrilled about going back to work, but at least she can drive back in a clean car.
 
hooked- Heh heh, I like the way you viewed the whole thing :xyxthumbs And, having known some people like him, I can't help but chuckle about your brother-in-law complimenting your work :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top