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Hey guys, I know I'm not on MOL nearly as much as I used to be, but figured I would post this up anyway. This was a project I did Monday evening. Enjoy!
This car belongs to my mom and dad, but it is being driven by my sister for the time being (she had a car, but wound up totaling it out due to hail damage). Unfortunately, our schedules are very different, so I am typically unable to give this car the TLC it needs. With infrequent care (or should I say, less frequent care than I would prefer to be the case), a tough barrier between the paint and the elements was a must. My weapon of choice was Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0. This is what I was facing: this car is 21 years old, a daily driver that sits outside 24/7, has 191k+ miles on the odometer, and has its share of deeper defects (water spots, RIDS, rock chips, small dings) that were unrealistic to attempt to correct. Also, I was limited on time. Keep in mind this car has been polished/corrected before, so it pretty much just needed some deeper defects removed and a light polish to remove toweling/wash marks and amp up the gloss. I started around 5:30 PM (did not have access to the car prior to this time) and finished up at around 2:30 AM, with a break for dinner. I also had to pull the car in after rinsing the Iron X off because it started to pour down rain. So I did a wash and rinse, water bladed what water I could off, Iron X, agitate, rinse, pulled in garage, water bladed again, clayed, and finished from there. Interior just got a light spruce-up. My process was as follows:
Wash
Tires, wheel covers, and wheel wells cleaned with Meguiar's Super Degreaser 4:1
2 ounces of Dawn with 2 ounces Chemical Guys Citrus Wash
pre-soak horizontal surfaces and front bumper with DP Cleanse-All
2BM, 2 wash mitts
Decontamination
Iron X
Lake Country blue grout sponge
Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay with Meguiar's Last Touch 1:1
Cobra Miracle Towel
Correction
G110v2
Meguiar's D300 with 5.5 inch microfiber cutting pad on horizontal surfaces
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with 4 inch LC orange cutting pad on top edge of rear bumper, smooth plastic by doors
M205 with 5.5 inch and 4 inch white LC polishing pads
IPA wipedown
Protection
Aquapel on all exterior glass (required 4 individual applications)
Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 on paint, chrome, headlights and tail lights, and smooth plastic around the middle of the car
Miscellaneous
Ardex Viper Wax on side mirrors and smooth plastic by doors
Ultima Tire and Trim Guard Plus on lower trim, tires, and wheel covers
Wash/Decontamination stage
Iron X working on hood
Iron X working on trunk lid
Iron X working on rear license plate area
Iron X working on bumper
Iron X working on rear of car
Iron X working on trunk lid
Correction stage
before - side panels were in pretty good shape
look just above the light, and you can see that the hood had some light swirls - looked like someone had possibly wiped it with a dirty rag at some point, perhaps while it was in the shop
after polishing, before sealing
Post sealing stage
UTTG on tires and wheel covers
reflection of overhead light in hood
rear passenger side quarter panel
reflection in trunk lid
reflection of light in trunk lid
roof reflection
another roof reflection
smooth plastic by doors
reflection in driver side door
reflection in driver side
over-all shots (held the camera over my head - sorry they didn't turn out very good)
Some outside pictures
roof reflection
The driver's side headlight looks cloudy because there is condensation in the lens. Not sure what it's from. Supposed to be getting a new headlight Friday.
All in all, I think it turned out pretty good, at least as good as a 21 year old Honda can turn out.
Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!
This car belongs to my mom and dad, but it is being driven by my sister for the time being (she had a car, but wound up totaling it out due to hail damage). Unfortunately, our schedules are very different, so I am typically unable to give this car the TLC it needs. With infrequent care (or should I say, less frequent care than I would prefer to be the case), a tough barrier between the paint and the elements was a must. My weapon of choice was Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0. This is what I was facing: this car is 21 years old, a daily driver that sits outside 24/7, has 191k+ miles on the odometer, and has its share of deeper defects (water spots, RIDS, rock chips, small dings) that were unrealistic to attempt to correct. Also, I was limited on time. Keep in mind this car has been polished/corrected before, so it pretty much just needed some deeper defects removed and a light polish to remove toweling/wash marks and amp up the gloss. I started around 5:30 PM (did not have access to the car prior to this time) and finished up at around 2:30 AM, with a break for dinner. I also had to pull the car in after rinsing the Iron X off because it started to pour down rain. So I did a wash and rinse, water bladed what water I could off, Iron X, agitate, rinse, pulled in garage, water bladed again, clayed, and finished from there. Interior just got a light spruce-up. My process was as follows:
Wash
Tires, wheel covers, and wheel wells cleaned with Meguiar's Super Degreaser 4:1
2 ounces of Dawn with 2 ounces Chemical Guys Citrus Wash
pre-soak horizontal surfaces and front bumper with DP Cleanse-All
2BM, 2 wash mitts
Decontamination
Iron X
Lake Country blue grout sponge
Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay with Meguiar's Last Touch 1:1
Cobra Miracle Towel
Correction
G110v2
Meguiar's D300 with 5.5 inch microfiber cutting pad on horizontal surfaces
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with 4 inch LC orange cutting pad on top edge of rear bumper, smooth plastic by doors
M205 with 5.5 inch and 4 inch white LC polishing pads
IPA wipedown
Protection
Aquapel on all exterior glass (required 4 individual applications)
Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0 on paint, chrome, headlights and tail lights, and smooth plastic around the middle of the car
Miscellaneous
Ardex Viper Wax on side mirrors and smooth plastic by doors
Ultima Tire and Trim Guard Plus on lower trim, tires, and wheel covers
Wash/Decontamination stage
Iron X working on hood
Iron X working on trunk lid
Iron X working on rear license plate area
Iron X working on bumper
Iron X working on rear of car
Iron X working on trunk lid
Correction stage
before - side panels were in pretty good shape
look just above the light, and you can see that the hood had some light swirls - looked like someone had possibly wiped it with a dirty rag at some point, perhaps while it was in the shop
after polishing, before sealing
Post sealing stage
UTTG on tires and wheel covers
reflection of overhead light in hood
rear passenger side quarter panel
reflection in trunk lid
reflection of light in trunk lid
roof reflection
another roof reflection
smooth plastic by doors
reflection in driver side door
reflection in driver side
over-all shots (held the camera over my head - sorry they didn't turn out very good)
Some outside pictures
roof reflection
The driver's side headlight looks cloudy because there is condensation in the lens. Not sure what it's from. Supposed to be getting a new headlight Friday.
All in all, I think it turned out pretty good, at least as good as a 21 year old Honda can turn out.
Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!
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