Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

[eoneal]

Thanks for looking. I have a 1999 Civic Si, black. The paint is...AWFUL. I'll post some pictures. I would obviously like for this thing to look as good as new. I believe I have some clear coat damage on the hood though, and the pictures won't show it. Its not severe by any means, just extremely faded.

I'll take some more pics tomorrow while its in the sun.

[Tuck91]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

are you working by hand or machine?

[Murr1525]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

A lot of those things probably wont be completely fixable, but no reason the car cant shine.

Just going to have give it a good wash, and clay. Then break out the Ultimate Compound and go at it.

[Carfire]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

[Andrew C.]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Murr is right, lots of that cannot be fixed (most of the stuff you can feel with your fingernail cannot be fixed)

Pick up some Ultimate compound and go to work.

[eoneal]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

I'm using a machine.
All right; what about pads, etc.?
Thanks for the prompt replies!

[Nappers]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

What type of machine will depend on pads.....

I would also get some SwirlX and give that a try in your dialing up process but Ultimate Compound too. Some Honda's have some soft clear coats.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Or to rephrase that, what type of pads depend on the machine.... What do you have?

[Nappers]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Yeah, nights are killing me Murr! LOL

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Click the link below and see if you see a buffer or polisher that looks like the one you have,

Machine Photos - DA Polishers - Rotary Buffers - Traditional Orbital Buffers


If you have what we call a "Traditional Orbital Buffer", kind of looks like one of these,


Sealy Orbital Polisher



Then you can't change buffing pads but instead can use different bonnets.

Just to note, the above style polisher won't be powerful enough to tackle the condition of paint on the car in your pictures. What you want/need is something like this,


Meguiar's G110 The Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher




The good news is that if you don't have a Dual Action Polisher you can rub that paint out by hand using Ultimate Compound and get spectacular results.

How did the paint get so bad to start with? Regardless, let us know what kind of machine you have and we'll do our best to help you take your car's paint to its maximum potential.

[eoneal]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Thanks everyone! I have a dual action and an orbital buffer actually.
I'm not sure how it got that bad; wasn't great when I bought the car. Thanks again, you guys are very helpful.

[Bandwagon_Captain]

Re: Help me assess my Honda...PLEASE!

Bro, I feel your pain.

My hood has a big 'C' that someone keyed into it! Not super deep, but at least at night, it's not noticeable!

Post pictures after it's all done to show us all how you did...