The Civic That Nearly Killed Me

[TheFiveO]

When my friend and coworker begged me to detail out her red Civic I thought, "sure no problemo... I can fix the little thing". Of course she failed to remind me that the car sits outside most of the time, in the Southern California hot sun.
Well I quickly learned why people hate the 90's Honda paint. Hard as ROCK. Damned little thing nearly killed me.

For a daily driver, I think the finish didn't come out to shabby, but, I was saddened after claying. Her clear coat is failing BIG time. The hood looked like fiberglass once all the cracks filled in with polish..... that being said... I still think it came out okay.

Method:
Wash
Clay
Meg's 83 for some of the tough swirls (Rotary and PC)
Meg's 80 entire car (Rotary and PC)
Meg's 82 entire car (PC)
Meg's 20 Polymer Sealant x's 2 (PC)
FK1 Pink

All the polishes were applied with Meg's yellow pads (W8006?) and the sealant applied with Megs finishing pad

8 hours and 4 Motrin later....... hope ya like

After washing and claying


Swirlies!


Clear coat failure?


Several motrin later




Phew!!!


The right tools..... and they invited a cousin!

[nick1897]

Looks good Five-O! I'm sure she was happy...

[Magic]

Awsome work

I love the look of a nicely polished/waxed Red paint..

[Michael Stoops]

Nice work! That split image is pretty telling, isn't it?

[elite3847]

how did you get rid of the cracks in the clear coat? my hood has the exact same thing wrong w/ it!

help!

[WaspHunter]

I dubt he got rid of them, just reduced their visibility. The cracks have probably already extended their way down to the paint but are too thin to be seen/captured.

Anyway, good job. When cared for, red rules

[TheFiveO]

Yea, the sad thing is I was unable to get rid of the cracks. As someone else said, they are through to the paint. It leaves the hood with a lousy "fiberglass" appearance to it.

Perhaps if you use a "non-whitening" polish, if there is such a thing, you won't see the contrast. Short of that, all I can imagine is maybe wet sanding. I have not yet reached that level of expertise, so I am to afraid to try.

Anyhow, thank you for the nice complements

[elite3847]

man, i thought you got rid of them.

so you used the polymer sealent to cover them up? i just need something to cover them up.

[96greencivic]

Originally posted by elite3847
how did you get rid of the cracks in the clear coat? my hood has the exact same thing wrong w/ it!

help!

Damn, my 96 has the same exact cracks on the hood. I guess I'm glad I'm not the only one. Well I only have the PC. Do you think I can come out with similar results just using that? Also, what do you mean the paint is "hard"? Any tips for this kind of finish? Push harder? Do more applications of #83? My civic is green and I know that what ever I put down on the hood, it's gonna fill in the cracks. I'm just hoping it won't look too bad.

BTW, how do you get into the smaller places like the A pillar?

[elite3847]

^^^
i used scratch x and it REALLY helped. its still there but you can see it unless you are about 5 inches away from it. and if its in the sun you cant see it at all. i put about 5 coats on.