Patch up the Honda Element

I

imported_Sludge1

New member
My son and my daughter-in-law stopped by to visit this last weekend. They are both traveling nurses and are on their way from Albany, Georgia to a new assignment in New Haven, Conn. They will be working for 3 months at the Yale teaching hospital there and looking forward to their new assignment.



They took off for a wedding in Colorado Springs, CO. and left my son's Element parked in the driveway. So this morning I had a chance to work on it.



During his travels my son has hit a few bugs.

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A wood pole.

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And a concrete pole.

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This car needs bodywork, but my goal was to make it look as nice as I could without major repairs. This is a 2004 Element EX with about 45,000 miles.



Washed:

Z7 shampoo using a chenille microfiber mitt and the two bucket method.

Sprayed bugs and lower panels with Surf City's Road Trip Grime Destroyer (worked great on the bugs!)

Sprayed wheels and tires with Eagle One All Wheel & Tire Cleaner.

Sprayed wheel wells with S100 All Cycle Cleaner

Clayed with Zaino clay and ONR clay lubricant. Clay did not pick up a lot.



Removed paint transfer:

Used lacquer thinner with a terry cloth wash cloth. Easy and fast, thanks David Fermani for the tip.



Polished:

Damaged areas with Meguiar's M95 compound using PC with Cyclo/Edge 4 inch orange pad.

Whole car with 1Z High Gloss Polish using PC with Cyclo/Edge 4 inch green pad. Love the 1Z polish. There were very few swirls as the car has probably never been hand washed.



Trim:

Used Poorboy's Trim Restore on the acres of unpainted surfaces.

Tires were dressed with Optimum's Opti-Bond Tire Gel.

Wheel wells dressed with Armor All Spray.

Glass with Meguiar's NXT glass cleaner.



Paint:

Optimum Opti-seal

Optimum Spray Wax (OCW 2)



And I replaced the mirror, took less than 10 minutes :)



Befores:

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Wheels:

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Damaged paint repair:

Before (Driver's door- wood post)

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After Lacquer thinner:

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After M95

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Before (Passenger's rear door-concrete post)

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After M95 (no paint transfer from concrete post)

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Afters:

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Added a couple sun shots. The level of correction was not bad.

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The total detail took me 5 1/2 hours with no breaks. The engine was not cleaned and the door sills were just wiped with a towel, not thoroughly cleaned. No interior cleaning as everything they own is stuffed in the Element.



Thanks for looking. Have a good weekend.
 
Nice turn around!



I came close to picking one of those up but didn't find them all that kid friendly cause of the doors.
 
Thanks guys,



SpoiledMan- They move every 3 months and have no children. She drives a Subaru wagon and they both have all wheel drive. I don't think it is great for kids, and it only seats 4.



smprince1- I thought M95 was great. It worked quickly and cleared out nicely leaving a glossy finish. Meguiars does not recommend it for dual action machines, but several people on the boards have had good experiences. I'm glad I had it for this job.
 
Sludge said:
smprince1- I thought M95 was great. It worked quickly and cleared out nicely leaving a glossy finish. Meguiars does not recommend it for dual action machines, but several people on the boards have had good experiences. I'm glad I had it for this job.
Click to expand...



I'm thinking of picking some up for the really nasty jobs. Right now the heaviest cut products I have are HTHC and UCCL. If you've used those, how would the cut, working time, finickyness (yes, I sometimes do invent words :laugh:) and finish of M95 compare?
 
We only have two kids so the space wasn't the issue at all. The utility is *perfect*! What stinks is having to open the front door to open the back.:( Otherwise I love em!
 
smprince1,



I don't do tons of cars, but I do have experience with HTHC which I thought was easy to use with a dual action machine. I thought M95 was easy to use also, but I think it had a little shorter working time. I think the M95 has a lot more cut than HTHC. I also think the finish was pretty close to the HTHC finish.



This was my first experience with Honda paint, so I don't know how much the softness of the paint had to do with my experience.
 
SpoiledMan,



The Element is due for a redesign. Maybe the next one will have 4 doors. Hope they don't mess it up like Scion did with the XB. Just not the same car.



Sludge
 
That rust on the driver's door needs to be cleaned off and sealed up or the rest of the door will start to rust around those spots. If you're getting bodywork done any time soon, you can probably ignore it, but you're better safe than sorry.



Nice job on that Element, though. The plastic panels look great. How long does the PB Trim Restore last?
 
kenleekenlee,



I agree with you. It is not my car and if I repair the rust my son will never fix the panels. I don't know how long the Trim Restore will last, first time I've ever touched the Element.



Thanks,



Sludge
 
Nice job. Yale is a great place for them and they'll learn a ton of stuff. If they need some restaurants in the area, let me and i'll give you some.
 
Sludge said:
SpoiledMan,



The Element is due for a redesign. Maybe the next one will have 4 doors. Hope they don't mess it up like Scion did with the XB. Just not the same car.



Sludge
Click to expand...



I wonder if they just did this. I just saw a brand new Element the other day. Looked pretty descent - they rounded out many of the edges and corners, and I'm almost certain it was four-door.
 
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