black Honda, needs full correction... advice?

[RTexasF]

Quote:
You know, this isn't bad advice. I agree my wife 'doesn't care' about the effort put into keeping a car clean. However, my interest in doing it myself are 3-fold:

1.) There's some pride on the line, my father-n-law doesn't think I can really get this thing looking decent.

2.) I WANT to learn something/ more about paint correction, doing it is the only way to acquire that knowledge

3.) This will probably be the most 'finicky' of paints I will deal with on my personal cars. It'll be a challenge that's going to present me with a bit of scenarios, of which I should learn quite a bit. My motto is- Aim high, miss low.


She may not care enough to do it herself but you can bet your arse she'll be proud to drive it once you are done....and grateful too

 

[Vikas]

Given that you have the chemicals already purchased (tell me if that assumption is wrong!), grab few applicator foam pads from local auto parts store or Walmart and try it on a small 6x6 inch spot. The paint on the car does not know if it is attacked by machine or by hand

Don't go by the pictures posted Rick. He is the Michael Angelo of detailing. He is a genius and has years of experience at getting those results.

 

[genynnc]

Rick, excellent info on the pad combos... that's what I was going to do. David (can't remember his last name) from HD prodcuts recommended doing HD Cut and orange pad to start. We'll see though, I'll probably start with HD UNO and an orange pad on the test spot and change it up from there. As they say: least aggressive prodcut, least aggressive pad.

Vikas- the HD products are on the way. However, I've got some other one's on hand. Some 3M Extra Cut and 3M glaze, some Meguiars 105, etc...

And yes, I see Rick's 'work' is excellent. Something to strive for!

 

[RTexasF]

Quote:
Rick, excellent info on the pad combos... that's what I was going to do. David (can't remember his last name) from HD prodcuts recommended doing HD Cut and orange pad to start. We'll see though, I'll probably start with HD UNO and an orange pad on the test spot and change it up from there. As they say: least aggressive prodcut, least aggressive pad.


A white pad is the least aggressive of those that have any cut at all, orange is the "medium cut" workhorse and yellow is quite aggressive. There are many other colors now by various makers which have various aggressiveness. I'm talking about the old school Lake Country pads.

Anyone can have the same results I did with practice and some common sense.

 

[RTexasF]

There are easily a dozen other folks on here, or more, that can do as well or better than I did in those photos. You'll be one of them soon because you've got the desire, equipment, and products to accomplish it. If your heart is in it you'll figure it out. My heart is no longer in it which is why I retired from detailing....did my last car this year, a black Caddie CTS that was a real mess. Not to mention legs, back and arms aren't in it anymore either..

 

[SatinSilver]

Listen to RtexasF aka Rick aka The Ricker, he's the expert on here.

Here's a great black Accord thread you may enjoy:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=48729&highlight=wetsanding

 

[genynnc]

satinsilver- that's pretty crazy (the link and pictures) I don't know if I'm gonna take it that far, lol. Enjoyed, nonetheless.

 

[RTexasF]

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Listen to RtexasF aka Rick aka The Ricker, he's the expert on here.

Here's a great black Accord thread you may enjoy:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=48729&highlight=wetsanding


Thank you for the flowers but I'm far from an expert. The wet sanding in that link is well beyond my expertise. I'm not afraid of it but never tried it and don't intend to start at this time in my life. You reach a point where the easy chair takes priority

and conking out for the night comes by 9PM.......I'm there my friend.

 

[Wheelzntoys]

1st try Blue pad and HD Polish, then move on to Green pad if you need more bite.

I have al your productos except for HD Cut.

 

[Ayrton]

Meguiar's Microfiber Pad system for DA makes defect removal very easy (of course I suppose anyone could mess it up).

There should be some forums that talk about that system.

 

[VicVinegar]

I was going to look into a similar project this year on my even older Civic with black paint. Basically I am planning on buying a DA for maintaining the Subaru, so I might as well take a shot at making the Civic look better. I was going to put a line out on AutoGeek when the time comes to identify some products. Still interesting to see what pans out here. Bookmarking it.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
I was going to look into a similar project this year on my even older Civic with black paint. Basically I am planning on buying a DA for maintaining the Subaru, so I might as well take a shot at making the Civic look better. I was going to put a line out on AutoGeek when the time comes to identify some products. Still interesting to see what pans out here. Bookmarking it.


This guy normally does high end cars but here is a 2000 Black Civic that he worked on. No wet sanding except the headlights. Recently the owner of this shop mentioned he tries to avoid wetsanding at all costs. Here's the link:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=72380

 

[VicVinegar]

Thanks. If I could pull that off, it's be real pleased with myself.

 

[kbmag1]

+1 on the Meg's DA system. It was designed for the DA. Very easy to use. The D300 with the mf cutting pad will get you nearly there. The mf polishing pad with 205 or the HD polish and the pads you have will work also to finish nice. Autopia.org will have much data for HD products, autogeek, DB, Live2Detail will cover the balance of any product to the smallest of detail.

 

[Idlewild294]

I'll throw my two cents in. I use Zaino on my black truck, and I can't say enough about how awesome their products are. I get complimented on the Zaino black mirror finish all the time. Yes, there is a detailed systematic way to use Zaino, but it works. I called their phone number one time to ask a general question, and the owner and founder of Zaino answered my call and was very helpful. My dad uses Zaino on his Corvette, and it has grown to be a popular product amoung other car fanatics. Now back to your car, using a DA or even a buffer for that matter on a car can go south in a hurry. Go with the least invasive procedures first before you burn through the clear coat. Check out their website and the testimonials for some user submitted photos of the great work that Zaino does at restoring abused paint.

 

[RTexasF]

Burn through the clear coat with a dual action polisher? You would have to make a dedicated effort to do that as it's almost impossible. A rotary is a different animal. Even though Zaino is chock full of fillers to cover up poorly taken care of paint it still benefits from a clean mar free surface prior to the initial application as would any sealant.

 

[Idlewild294]

Originally Posted By: RTexasF
Burn through the clear coat with a dual action polisher? You would have to make a dedicated effort to do that as it's almost impossible. A rotary is a different animal. Even though Zaino is chock full of fillers to cover up poorly taken care of paint it still benefits from a clean mar free surface prior to the initial application as would any sealant.


Zaino has a product that removes swirl marks, light clear coat scratches, existing polish, etc. The initial Zaino process requires washing in dawn soap, clay bar, swirl remover (if necessary). Of course, the swirl remover will take care of normal swirl marks from improper washing and drying, a more aggressive scratch remover might be necessary for extreme abuse. I may not have all the answers, but as a perfectionist obsessed with keeping black paint perfect, I feel confident with Zaino.

 

[RTexasF]

Quote:
I may not have all the answers, but as a perfectionist obsessed with keeping black paint perfect, I feel confident with Zaino.


As you should, their products all work together flawlessly. I am familiar with Zaino Fusion and consider it a light duty polish. Sometimes that's all you need.

 

[qwertydude]

My heavy hitting combo is clay, then Meguiars M105 and then finish with D151. It's an easy 2 step approach that works amazingly well. When the protection of D151 wears out then I just simply apply my regular favorite wax.

 

[genynnc]

Weather still hasn't been great (i.e.- 2 or 3 clear days and warm weather to use compound or polishing liquids)

I did get one day before my new job started to play with the D/A and some cleaner wax on my truck.

I won't go into too much detail because this vehicle is not the one I had originally posted about but I used my truck as the lab rat and used a Meg's cleaner wax to get a feel for the D/A (arm speed, varying pressure, section passes, different tool speeds, etc...) Pad was a black 5.5" Buff and Shine. Speed setting 3. Didn't notice too much correction nor did I expect it with this very mild product. It did remove some water spotting and knocked down a few RDS to render them less apparent.

I also realized that I'm not only 'green' at detailing but also at photo taking! 50/50 shots weren't taken because A.) lighting was poor B.) I was short on time, rain was on it's way C.) I don't know if I could even find a way to use my wife's $500 camera to capture a true 50/50, lol.

I promise to capture a LOT more photos of my results on the Honda. Still probably a month out for weather and temp to cooperate.

EDIT: shot story on my process... wash/clay/wash/cleaner wax

Cheers.