Can I improve the luster of my 2 year-old Honda??

[Mynewt]

Hi all.

I'm rather new at all this. But not totally inexperienced. I just bought a 2011 Honda Odyssey with only 12k miles on it.

Since buying it two weeks ago, I have taken the time to go over it with my PC 7424XP.

I first washed and clay-barred it, then did one thorough pass with BlackFire gloss enchaining polish and then another go-round with Meguiars Ultimate Liquid Wax.

This improved the shine, but the reflection in the paint didn't really get clearer.

Of course, I don't want to go at this with too strong an approach, so I thought I'd ask for the collective wisdom of the group about how(of if) I can get this paint to reflect more clearly.

I'm ready/needing to place an order here with AG and would love specific product advice. Maguires preferable, but not necessarily.

Current photo attached.

[cleanmycorolla]

Really hard to tell with the picture, the car and the issues are distant. Try a close up picture, give us a better idea of said issue.

[c8n]

Is that the polished metal metallic?

I have personally owned a 2011 Ody in the polished metal metallic at one pt and worked on a Honda Element of the same color not too long ago. This particular color hides scratches and swirls very well and the nature of that color will not reflect like a black color will. However, I know that you will be able to get a great shine out if it. I also did not find the Ody or the Element to have that notorious soft Honda paint. If anything, I would say that it was about a medium.

[Mynewt]

Really hard to tell with the picture, the car and the issues are distant. Try a close up picture, give us a better idea of said issue.

I wasn't really thinking along the lines of there being an "issue".

I have this shot of the hood to offer. I can take more close-up shots of the van tomorrow morning. (I won't be home 'til after dark tonight).

Seems I may be missing something in the way I'm formulating my question. I was thinking there may be some simple/known methods of improving factory paint. (or not)


http://www.pic4ever.com/images/297.gif



https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16387095/Honda/080%20done%20close%2002.jpg

[Mynewt]

Is that the polished metal metallic?

I have personally owned a 2011 Ody in the polished metal metallic at one pt and worked on a Honda Element of the same color not too long ago. This particular color hides scratches and swirls very well and the nature of that color will not reflect like a black color will. However, I know that you will be able to get a great shine out if it. I also did not find the Ody or the Element to have that notorious soft Honda paint. If anything, I would say that it was about a medium.

Yes, it is the "Polished Metal" metallic paint. I'll have a closer look as to why I'm not getting anything close to a mirror finish. It seems the pain just isn't laying that flat.

It's great to hear from someone who has experience with this very paint.

[c8n]

Yeah... unfortunately, you will not be able to get a mirror like reflection from that paint. But as said, you should still be able to get a great shine.

BTW congrats on the car, I loved that car while I had it. Only got rid of it because I no longer needed that big of a car and my garage is rather on the small side.

[Dr_Pain]

My wife has a 2012 Honday Odessey as her daily "mommy mobile" and I understand exactly what you are trying to do, since it is dealing with the same lack of luster. Here is what I did, which may or may not apply to yours (FWIW, gray colors don't offer the most reflective surface)

I washed and clayed and gave a light polish with Menzerna 4500 on a white pad. This was sealed with 2 coats of CG Blacklight (one machine applied on a white pad (using medium pressure x 4 slow passes on the GG6 Speed 4) and one hand applied). This was followed by 2 coats of Pete 53, hand applied.

This gave me the anticipated results and gave me amazing longevity.

Here is a pic:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/65531_483049915090721_396890819_n.jpg

I did take care of a 2010 Odessey (gray) and did not do the polishing or the Pete step and this was the end result

https://sphotos-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/45769_496678703727842_732359572_n.jpg

End result was a little less of the wet look but still improved the reflectiveness of this flat paint, and had appropriate long term protection.

[Mynewt]

Yeah... unfortunately, you will not be able to get a mirror like reflection from that paint. But as said, you should still be able to get a great shine.

BTW congrats on the car, I loved that car while I had it. Only got rid of it because I no longer needed that big of a car and my garage is rather on the small side.
Thanks for the kind words.

Maybe another way of coming at this is: how far down the abrasives chart can I safely go with this paint? Am I correct in assuming Meguiars Ultimate Compound is too aggressive? Could I safely use Meguiars Mirror Glaze #83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish or is that even too far to go?



I washed and clayed and gave a light polish with Menzerna 4500 on a white pad. This was sealed with 2 coats of CG Blacklight (one machine applied on a white pad (using medium pressure x 4 slow passes on the GG6 Speed 4) and one hand applied). This was followed by 2 coats of Pete 53, hand applied.
Thanks! I'm all over it!

[c8n]

My initial test spot with the Element, was with Meg's SwirlX on LC CCS orange pads. This brought the color back but didn't do much on swirls. I had to bumped it up to UC on LC CCS orange on speed 5 with medium pressure and 4 section passes which finished very well. If I remember correctly, I followed up with UP by hand as I didn't see any DA haze.

On the Ody, I really didn't have any paint defects that I wanted to deal with and only thing I have done was Meg's ColorX on orange pads.

[FUNX650]

This improved the shine, but the reflection in the paint didn't really get clearer.

Of course, I don't want to go at this with too strong an approach,
so I thought I'd ask for the collective wisdom of the group about
how(of if) I can get this paint to reflect more clearly.
IMO...Here's a good article regarding "metallics": http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/53021-making-metallic-flake-pop-popping-versus-muting.html

:)

Bob

[Mynewt]

Thanks everyone for the help. I went ahead and ordered a bottle Menzerna 4500 (or was it 4000?; i was looking at both) and some CG Blacklight. I also ordered a fresh round of LC pads.

I took a few close shots of the paint this morning. Seems maybe there are no surface problems to address; it's just the nature of this metallic gray paint. And the fact it isn't laid on the car as mirror-smooth as some other cars I'm familiar with.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=20200&stc=1&d=1375198133

You can see in this picture that Bruce's arm and guitar neck is kinda wavy in the reflection off the the far left of the frame.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=20202&stc=1&d=1375198133

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=20201&stc=1&d=1375198133

Pretty good reflection all-in-all. But a little orange peel (?) waviness can be seen in the left/foreground of this shot. (If I'm not mistaken; like I said I'm pretty new at developing these sensibilities).
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=20199&stc=1&d=1375198133