It's easy to make a rough car look better...

[The Critic]

I promisd 281 that I would post something on this one.

The car was in pretty rough shape (the paint looked dull) and it needed a clean-up before being listed for sale. The goal was to make it a 5-footer.

I think the car spent a lot of time under trees since there were yellow dots of sap over the entire car -- and they had been on there for a LONG time.

This was the perfect candidate for an all-in-one type product (AIO) - restore the gloss, remove some light surface hazing/marring and add some protection.

In total, I spent about 4 hours - 2 hours cleaning the car up, and about 2 hours on the AIO and wipe-down.

I started after 4pm and ended around 8, so no sun shots, sorry. And I learned that working in 100F+ weather, outside, was just brutal.

Products/Processes:
Wash with Meguiars Gold Class Soap and MF Madness Wash Sponge
Wheels were cleaned using Meguiars D140 Wheel Bright diluted 1:1
Clay using Nanoskin Fine Grade Towel (using car wash solution)
Removed baked-on/well aged tree sap with Stoner's Tarminator
Meguiars M205/Meguiars DMF6 for heavier correction on the hood
HD Speed/Buff & Shine Orange pad for the entire vehicle
Rupes LHR21ES Polisher was used for all correction
Final wipedown with Optimum Car Wax
Tires were gooped up with Chemical Guys G6 Hypercoat after the pictures were taken

DSC_0281 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_0280 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_0288 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_0283 by thecritic89, on Flickr

DSC_0290 by thecritic89, on Flickr

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nice work Michael. Looks pretty good minus the body damage.

Didn't have access to a garage?

[BobbyG]

I was thinking the car was looking sharp until the damage photo....

Not that it doesn't look great mind you, I was thinking what an outstanding job and the damage took me by surprise. The car did indeed come out great and someone must have been pretty pleased with the outcome.....

Nice work!

[.brian.]

The headlights look a little hazy. I didn't see anything in your post about addressing that. Other than that (and the body damage as others have mentioned) it looks good!

[Mike Phillips]

A silver metallic 4-door Honda getting a show car makeover, now that's a treat!


Nice work and write-up...

[The Critic]

A silver metallic 4-door Honda getting a show car makeover, now that's a treat!


Nice work and write-up...

Thanks!

Nice work Michael. Looks pretty good minus the body damage.

Didn't have access to a garage?

There was not enough street parking to move the cars out of the garage.

The headlights look a little hazy. I didn't see anything in your post about addressing that. Other than that (and the body damage as others have mentioned) it looks good!

I did not have time to get to the headlights yesterday. I may go ahead and refinish them this week.

[281]

Looks great Michael, definitely will help with the sale! You're a beast working in that heat