My wife's '06 Element (No 56K)

I

imported_weekendwarrior

New member
When my wife picked this car out a couple years ago, I wasn't too fond of it - it has since grown on me. Been a good car. I washed with QEW (water restrictions), and clayed with Meguiar's white clay. I was going to use the Pinnalce twins, but after evaluating the paint, it wasn't bad enough for a 2-step polishing, so I just used Meguiar's 80, with the PC, the applied 2 coats of Pinnacle Souveran (liquid). Don't see many Elements on here, so I thought I'd post it.



Before (this is the only before shot) - Prepped for polishing - boy, there's a lot of plastic to tape off!!!

Dogs138.jpg


After

Dogs141.jpg


Dogs140.jpg


Dogs139.jpg


Halogen on the passenger door-

Dogs134.jpg


Flourescent, and Incandescent on the hood-

Dogs135.jpg


Dogs142.jpg


The products-

Dogs137.jpg


I bought this tire shine at Carquest. It's called Onyx Tire Shine, and is made by Hollander Corp. I had never heard of it before, and thought I'd try it. It sprays on, lays down smooth and flat with no wiping, and claims not to sling. We'll see whether or not it slings later-

Dogs136.jpg
 
Did you use a whole roll of tape? Looks great and super clean. Your right about the Element don't see that many on these forums and i don't see that many looking great like yours on the road, and on the Onyx Tire Shine did it sling or not?..........Angelo.........:usa
 
I used 3/4 of the roll of 3M tape. In terms of the slinging - I haven't had a chance to drive it. I finished it late this afternoon, and even took my "sun shots" right before the sun started to go down. You'll probably notice a little bit of polish dust on a couple of the plastic fenders. I took my pictures before I did the final wipe down of the plastic panels, because I wanted to make sure to get pictures while the sun was still out.



Regarding those Hollander products. I also bought their APC, and glass cleaner while I was at Carquest. The glass cleaner is nice, but I haven't used the APC.
 
You must be in NC, I see you use Onyx and have a carolina panthers flag.



I use the Onyx tire shine, it's really good if you like that WET look. Do wipe it off though, it will sling unless wiped dry.
 
zoomzoom mazda5 said:
And i see also a Steeler front plate also. Two team household?
Click to expand...



Works out well - We have an NFC, and an AFC team to pull for. Rarely do they play - when they do, we pull for the Steelers (I was a Steelers fan as a kid, and NC didn't have an NFL team back then).
 
Bucs, Steelers and Giants in my house. I grow up a few blocks from Yankee stadium and saw the Giants play when i was a kid and saw alot of teams play there in the early 60's (the old Titan's too) great football when they use to kill each other........:usa
 
Nice :cool: What did you use on the black textured surface? My buddy uses 303 on his Element but next detail we want to try something else with better durability.
 
thats a dream detail. haha 1/3 paint, the rest you can just dress up with plastic shine. great job though, she is happy im sure.
 
Nice looking "E".



At first, I didn't like them either, but like you, they seemed to grow on me. I was considering getting one a few years ago, but was concerned over people complaining about how easy the windshield cracked. Think it had to do with the angle of the glass because of its boxed shape. Quality was another possible reason. I haven't heard much about that lately though.



The newer ones have more paint than plastic. At least one model does, I think.
 
"The newer ones have more paint than plastic. At least one model does, I think."



Ours is an '06, and the painted panels were an option. We decided to get the plastic panels, because my wife has to occasionally park in parking decks for work, and we thought the non painted panels would hold up better if doors were tobe opened into it.
 
Ah, okay..gotcha.



Yeah, my Vibe has a rubber rear bumper and took a hit a few years ago. There's a little nick in it that isn't so bad, but I'd be more upset if it was paint...probably have more of a dent as well.



How is it cleaning up the interior? Isn't everything basically waterproof?
 
Dailyshine said:
Ah, okay..gotcha.



Yeah, my Vibe has a rubber rear bumper and took a hit a few years ago. There's a little nick in it that isn't so bad, but I'd be more upset if it was paint...probably have more of a dent as well.



How is it cleaning up the interior? Isn't everything basically waterproof?
Click to expand...



Well, the interior is "waterprrof", but to an extent. The floor is plastic, and the seats are waterproof, but there is wiring under the floor, so Honda doesn't recommend hosing out the interior. You can however take damp sponges and rags, and wipe down the interior/floor. I bought some grey carpeting, and made a template of the floor out of paper, and then cut 1 large mat that covers the entire floor. This is nice, because we now have the benefits of carpeting, but when it gets to looking worn out, I can just cut a new piece of carpeting. Many people that ride in it think the carpeting came from the factory, and make cooments like, "When did Honda add carpeting as an option?".
 
Very nice work!



I always wondered why there was so much plastic on this car. Should be a rolling ad for Poorboys Natural Look!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top