2010 Honda Insight.. "It's Black Again"

[Becciasm]

I worked on a 2010 Honda Insight over the weekend.

The original plan was to do a medium polish to knock down the swirls and reduce the appearance of several scratches, then to come back with a finer polish prior to LSP.

Due to scheduling, traffic, weather, etc, we started later than we wanted, and didn't make the progress I wanted to make in the time we had available. Humid weather makes for slow progress.

I was able to get the roof, hood, doors on both sides, mirrors, rear quarter panels and door pillars polished, but was not able to get to the front bumper, quarter panels, or rear bumper. The glass needs polished as well as it is pretty grimey.

Prior to applying 845 as the intermediate LSP until I can get to the car again, the owner said "It's black again!".. my favorite quote of the night, and made the work worth it.. The majority of the final shots were taken the next day as we finished in a deluge of rain and lightning.. :nomore:

Anyhow, on to the pron... :)

I apologize that time constraints did not allow for proper before/afters, and good 50/50 shots. When I get the vehicle again, I'll set it up so that I have the majority of the day instead of only 5 working hours, including the wash.. :/

Up first. Wheels.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8sGiZ9GfTaw/Ue6FsPh2dSI/AAAAAAAAFro/aUZ6uaJB4O0/w600-h450-no/DSCN0940.JPG

Pretty grimey, but nothing that GG Wheel cleaner, ZEP citrus, IX, and... Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover (yes, i said it) couldn't handle... Mothers wheel and arch brushes, daytona jr, dedicated microfiber mitt and wheel whoolies boars hair brushes.

After shot of the wheel (cropped from full photo):

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H5r57ESnq3c/Ue6MQAIqmkI/AAAAAAAAFvY/q7QhwYunJ3U/w248-h199-no/02.jpg

I'll try to convince the owner to let me remove the wheels for a deep-cleaning and coating in the near future. That'll go a long way for this car.

To the paint. A few shots of the car prior to the wash.

Simple 2bm with CGCWC and TW B&T for the bugs. Rinse then clayed with meg's white and soap solution. Rinsed then moved in for polish.

Bugs:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j5zJYtepjBc/Ue6FsM6lVfI/AAAAAAAAFrk/RWJArJIs9bk/w600-h450-no/DSCN0941.JPG

Bugs:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wvvEbrrSvR4/Ue6FtLAupsI/AAAAAAAAFsE/d2A6YmbhHV8/w600-h450-no/DSCN0947.JPG

par for the course, as this vehicle is used for long trips.

Debugged and 845'd.. :) Turtle wax B&T again combined with boars hair brushes made quick work of the grilles and plastics on the front end.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j_nenF5lQnY/Ue6FwGqjlvI/AAAAAAAAFtg/zd2ySReYzn4/w440-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134811.jpg

Clay didn't reveal much, and plastics were not too bad - this car is garaged, and the owner works primarily from home, so it doesn't see much environmental exposure.

Cowl:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pUB3E6VreBc/Ue6Fs3H3_KI/AAAAAAAAFr8/as1pY_s_vWY/w600-h450-no/DSCN0945.JPG

Some shots of the condition prior to correction:

Cloudy reflection on the roof, both in paint quality and subject matter. Not too bad, but we can sharpen it up.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2DArtbNAjjY/Ue6Fs83LNgI/AAAAAAAAFsM/2tGDwUFZVUA/w600-h450-no/DSCN0943.JPG

Roof again - this is pretty much typical of every panel on this vehicle.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ggcqqbKs3lY/Ue6FtihmBXI/AAAAAAAAFsY/wwSiSHkgjFE/w600-h450-no/DSCN0950.JPG

Door:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-aRtE5CsWUCs/Ue6FuFZuy0I/AAAAAAAAFsk/b8oa1D4UoBs/w600-h450-no/DSCN0953.JPG

Hood before:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAQKXXeQ19I/Ue6Fvb8j4MI/AAAAAAAAFtE/3fK20p7jS4c/w600-h450-no/DSCN09631.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PSYTA2jj1hw/Ue6FuKDp3uI/AAAAAAAAFsg/P_C7YuS1J2c/w600-h450-no/DSCN0954.JPG

Door before - a bit cloudy from water spots:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FSPtApK4gfk/Ue6FuakkgiI/AAAAAAAAFss/GGcrrHgXpT4/w600-h450-no/DSCN0960.JPG

Better (portrait of a detailer). All correction this time was done with GG 6" and LC 6.5 flat white and 4" CCS white pads with Fixer - Next time I'll break out the heavier compounds and pads and tackle the noticeable scratches (that coincidentally were revealed when swirls were removed). Humidity, plus too much polish in some areas made it a slow go and made the polish hard to remove as well:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WcvWqu_DRTc/Ue6FujY7LBI/AAAAAAAAFs0/ot7T6eVcLlI/w600-h450-no/DSCN0962.JPG

Reflections, post 845:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L9-6OVXSKtc/Ue6FvQZFFeI/AAAAAAAAFtY/rPrYTaPHsmg/w600-h450-no/DSCN0973.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g9EyCJWnikg/Ue6FuzYxbUI/AAAAAAAAFs8/hJb3TFCTKU0/w600-h450-no/DSCN09701.JPG[/img[

Next day shots, 845 LSP and PERL to dress the exterior plastics:

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CJfmyf4M0Gw/Ue6FvasAKEI/AAAAAAAAFtM/Jg1XKG00tng/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134731.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oE9xXQqBueA/Ue6Fv4gWJ4I/AAAAAAAAFtk/wrU_XxUVpc0/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134746.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9ULRhz0E1UI/Ue6Fwq-JX2I/AAAAAAAAFts/vOXaPYtfSmU/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134758.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZBuBJy3bXxI/Ue6Fwg6ceoI/AAAAAAAAFt4/HPpekicwHM8/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134821.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8zjByatnSTk/Ue6Fwpw8TwI/AAAAAAAAFuI/yFoMFM1ozCM/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134830.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-snU1ydsOdhU/Ue6Fx7JGkGI/AAAAAAAAFuU/EHzQm3m1siw/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134905.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hiBHlufvaM4/Ue6FyULJnII/AAAAAAAAFuo/knVCfbFL2As/w783-h587-no/IMG_20130722_134950.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HCOCLg_G13k/Ue6Fy65N7cI/AAAAAAAAFuw/L8BHxF8fijY/w440-h587-no/IMG_20130722_135004.jpg

Thanks for looking and any comments or constructive criticism is welcome.

Oh. and fun tip - the LSP is actually 845 that was removed with V7! Remember the humidity effected the Fixer - well that combined with too thick of a coat of 845 in places (machine applied) made the 845 a bear to remove as well. I grabbed V7, removed the 845, and by their powers combined the shine was pretty good.

[ihaveacamaro]

wow, that looks amazing! Love the cloud shots!

[Christopher.Brown]

Nice work there man!!!!



Oh. and fun tip - the LSP is actually 845 that was removed with V7!

Good to know....

Ive had this theory of V7 being a pretty powerful cleaner... thanks for confirmation.. because if its takin off 845 its got some powaaaahh!

[Christopher.Brown]

Nice work there man!!!! Now pray it doesnt rain IMMEDIATELY! ah ha many ppl are so bitchy in so Cal that no matter what, whenever it rains they blame washing the car... They love Murphy out here! Gets me WEAK!



Oh. and fun tip - the LSP is actually 845 that was removed with V7!

Good to know....

Ive had this theory of V7 being a pretty powerful cleaner... thanks for confirmation.. because if its takin off 845 its got some powaaaahh!

[Becciasm]

Nice work there man!!!! Now pray it doesnt rain IMMEDIATELY! ah ha many ppl are so bitchy in so Cal that no matter what, whenever it rains they blame washing the car... They love Murphy out here! Gets me WEAK!



Good to know....

Ive had this theory of V7 being a pretty powerful cleaner... thanks for confirmation.. because if its takin off 845 its got some powaaaahh!

Not sure of the 'cleaning' - i can't speak to that, just the theory that 'like removes like' was what drove to that decision. I would have used another spray wax/sealant, but v7 was at hand so i grabbed it and it worked! dumb luck? maybe. Achieve what I wanted? absolutely :props:

[Setec Astronomy]

Better (portrait of a detailer).

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WcvWqu_DRTc/Ue6FujY7LBI/AAAAAAAAFs0/ot7T6eVcLlI/w600-h450-no/DSCN0962.JPG



This doesn't look anything like your avatar. Weird.

[Becciasm]

This doesn't look anything like your avatar. Weird.

haha.. yeah, the avatar shot was taken after a brief stint in the film industry 'driving' some fast cars and taking out some hostile alien species..

I've since left the 'acting' up to my stunt double. He's doing pretty well i gather. :)

[theblob640]

Nice work there man!!!! Now pray it doesnt rain IMMEDIATELY! ah ha many ppl are so bitchy in so Cal that no matter what, whenever it rains they blame washing the car... They love Murphy out here! Gets me WEAK!



Good to know....

Ive had this theory of V7 being a pretty powerful cleaner... thanks for confirmation.. because if its takin off 845 its got some powaaaahh!

Very nice, gotta love black and the reflections it gives. I would never dare to own black myself though.

As far as rain in SoCal, what's up with the rain on Saturday and just this past Monday?!?!?!

[Christopher.Brown]

Very nice, gotta love black and the reflections it gives. I would never dare to own black myself though.

i LOVE BLACk.. its a bit<h, but in the end its worh it.. this is the first non black car ive had... and let me tell ya...

PERFECT light silver doent compare to 75% paint corrected metallic black IMO...



As far as rain in SoCal, what's up with the rain on Saturday and just this past Monday?!?!?!

I wouldnt dare call that rain, because our midwest, east coast, durrty south, and HI, brethren may draw and quarter us.

To translate for all of you. It drizzled for maybe a collective total of 2 min, then there was 'dew' on surfaces.. but esentially it was as if the fog was thick and the cloud was wetting vehicles

ROFL

[Becciasm]

I love black vehicles as well.

Let me tell you, hearing the owner be so thrilled at the turn around - remember, portions have yet to be touched, and no final polishing or heavy compounding had been performed - really was the best part. It'll be a good test vehicle for some LSP's when all finished.

His wife has a white 10th gen corolla, so that'll be fun to sort out as well.

[theblob640]

I wouldnt dare call that rain, because our midwest, east coast, durrty south, and HI, brethren may draw and quarter us.

To translate for all of you. It drizzled for maybe a collective total of 2 min, then there was 'dew' on surfaces.. but esentially it was as if the fog was thick and the cloud was wetting vehicles

ROFL
Yea, that is true, I kind of over exaggerated a bit but it was enough to get your car all dirty especially with all the dust I've had in my area and top it off with some light drizzle, the cherry on top.

[Christopher.Brown]

Yea, that is true, I kind of over exaggerated a bit but it was enough to get your car all dirty especially with all the dust I've had in my area and top it off with some light drizzle, the cherry on top.

same here man, same here

[JSou]

Sweet Job Steve. Nice garage too. I need to organize mine.

[noslef]

Great job on that Honda. How was the paint hardness?

[Becciasm]

Sweet Job Steve. Nice garage too. I need to organize mine.

HA! it is a nice garage.. too bad it's not mine!! haha.. :)

Jake, the owner (coincidence), is going to come by and help me organize mine..