2015 honda civic polishing question

**chemguy626** · 05-13-2016, 05:08 PM

Hey guys..got a couple questions here. I was rear ended in my new civic and had the bumper replaced and repainted. This work was done 3 weeks ago.

I washed it today and noticed holograms in the bumper that had been replaced. I do have other swirls on the car, but it only has 6,000 miles on it so it's not bad. None the less it bugs the crap out of me and I'm planning on polishing them out and puting opticoat on the car.(obviously not for another couple weeks so the bumper can finish curing).

My question is
1: how much factory clear do I have to work with on my car?

2: would my bumper have more or less clear than the factory paint?

3: is it worth polishing now or should I wait until it really Gets swirls

(the paint isn't that bad but the holograms in the rear bumper are going to drive me crazy. The holograms aren't even that bad either. I'm just really anal about my first new car.)

I'll try to post pics in a bit as well

Thank you guys and I appreciate any advise you can give.

**wdmaccord** · 05-13-2016, 07:24 PM

1. Plenty if you use a fine polish like M205 or similar. Honda paints are typically easy to correct and you don't need to start real aggressive.
2. Typically a repaint will have more clear than the factory. No way to tell for sure without checking with paint thickness gauge though.
3. If you are going to coat it, find out how long you need to wait on the rear bumper from the painter. Then polish and coat the car as soon as possible after that. Why would you wait for it to get trashed before you polish and protect it???

**hollerstiltner** · 05-13-2016, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by chemguy626

3: is it worth polishing now or should I wait until it really Gets swirls

Why are you expecting it to get really swirled? With proper washing and drying, you should have minimal swirling.

**chemguy626** · 05-13-2016, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by wdmaccord

1. Plenty if you use a fine polish like M205 or similar. Honda paints are typically easy to correct and you don't need to start real aggressive.
2. Typically a repaint will have more clear than the factory. No way to tell for sure without checking with paint thickness gauge though.
3. If you are going to coat it, find out how long you need to wait on the rear bumper from the painter. Then polish and coat the car as soon as possible after that. Why would you wait for it to get trashed before you polish and protect it???

OK cool. You have a point...I should just polish and coat. I guess the thought of removing any of the clear worried me because the car is so new.
I do have to wait to coat the bumper, the body shop said 30 days till I can wax it which is about a week away. I'll probably give it another 2 weeks on top of that to be safe.

**chemguy626** · 05-14-2016, 12:11 AM

Originally Posted by hollerstiltner

Why are you expecting it to get really swirled? With proper washing and drying, you should have minimal swirling.

I have been using the 2 bucket method. I have to go to the local coin wash but I still use the method and bring my own soap and supplies. I don't believe that I have the best drying towel though (I need to get on that

).

My car does have minimum swirling, especially compared to most other 2015 civics and accords I see (I actually do look for some reason lol). I used to detail my own and friends cars but stopped because I had to sell everything(I moved and needed the extra money). I regret it but it was very necessary at the time.

The average person would look at my car and say I'm ocd about it. The problem is I love detailing and since I had to get rid of everything and got out of it for a few years, I am getting the itch again.

**UCDIE** · 05-14-2016, 12:51 AM

From my experience with Honda's they have little clear coat to play with from the factory. And like someone said before me typically repaints usually have more clear but not a guarantee without a Paint thickness gauge. Also Imy not sure but you gotta wait 2 or 3 months before you can touch the repainted area with a buffer.
Also it's very common for body shops to polish with a rotary and leave buffer trails.

**chemguy626** · 05-15-2016, 05:01 PM

Thanks guys for your input.

**usmcpab** · 05-15-2016, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by chemguy626

3: is it worth polishing now or should I wait until it really Gets swirls

(the paint isn't that bad but the holograms in the rear bumper are going to drive me crazy. The holograms aren't even that bad either. I'm just really anal about my first new car.)

I'll try to post pics in a bit as well

Thank you guys and I appreciate any advise you can give.

I would polish now and remove all your swirls now. Why? If you allow it to get any worse you'll have to take a more aggressive approach and remove more clear coat than you would if you did it now.

**chainlink18** · 05-15-2016, 09:55 PM

I have a 2015 civic as well
It came delivered from dealer with a huge swirl problem...
having had the car a year may 02 (and looking at all those swirls for a year) may 03 I did a test spot of megs#9 and a megs yellow pad..
it did not correct, so another test with m105 and megs burgundy pad, 1 pass and still noticeable but the edges were smoothed out...2nd pass GONE
did entire car and is now swirl free...looks so much better