Warning: Proud Mama w/Lots of “Baby� Pics

[imported_norahcrv]

As many of you already saw, http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=72354 my son bought his first NEW car on Wednesday & took delivery with the plastic intact. His plan was to have Mom detail it for him this weekend, MY plan was to teach him to detail it this weekend! ;)



Still on the dealer lot with EXPLICIT instructions . . .

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. . . which apparently were not quite EXPLICIT enough :(



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Home in the garage before the first wash



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Saturday was a busy day, doing the final cleaning of & turning the 1985 Honda Civic Wagon over to his new owner – here’s a shot of him just before he left home. http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h57/417534rch/DSC00283.jpg

That is all original paint, he has never seen the inside of a body shop & the only insurance claim was for a new windshield when the old one got hit by a ricocheting bullet in 2000. Needless to say, the new owner (who made a FULL price offer with no bargaining :D ) was really pleased with the condition of the car.





Sunday morning, when we started work, the garage was only 92 & we had fans blowing to keep the air moving & use our individual built-in “evaporative cooling systems�.



We had washed the car on Wednesday p.m. (actually @ 1 a.m. Thursday) using the foam gun & PB’s SS’nS. I did remove most of the plastic from the hood on Saturday, but there was still plenty to be done. We went to work removing the remainder of the plastic. Thanks for all your tips & suggestions. It peeled off quite easily (kind of like a very thin layer of Saran Wrap), & the remnants about the edges were removed with PB’s Bug Squash & a plush microfiber. Then I went about the car “feeling� the paint with my hand in a baggie. Even to my bare hand, I could feel no roughness or imbedded contaminants whatsoever, so decided to forego claying at this time.



Given that this car came off the line in Japan @ 04/18 & the horror stories I have heard about Honda’s now having a very soft paint, I wanted to be as gentle with the paint as possible, while still maximizing the results & giving it some protection.



It was also an opportunity to try out my new Edge Pads & adaptor. I’ll admit, that it took me a while to figure out how to remove the pad from the adaptor (ok, I had to ask Bryce to help me!), but fortunately it was a “dry� practice & once he showed me that the trick was to push down on the center of the adaptor through the hole in the pad, I was set to go with my white pads . . .

[imported_norahcrv]

I started by giving it a quick once over with Menzerna’s BlackFire polish (thanks Glen) with the PC on 2 with the Edge White Pad. Then I stood back & admired how that seemed to bring the flake out. I stuck to my guns, and had Bryce watch me do half the hood, then watched him do the other half, then set him loose on the rest of his car. By the time he was done with his first section, I could follow behind & remove my first section with a Prestige Polishing Cloth. We used this system for the remainder of the detail, except I had to try out some of my other multi-coloured microfibers.



After standing back & admiring it for a while it was time for the next step – ClearKote Red Machine Glaze. It was also applied with a White Edge Pad by PC on 2, and removed with an Ultra-Smooth MicroFiber from PakShak. Having seen what CK-VMHG does to the appearance of the paint on my CR-V, I was really looking forward to giving this a try and I was not disappointed. It turned the paint into a liquid blue mirror!! Thanks to BigLeegr & Chee for the sample!



Then it was time to top it with some protection, and based on Jngrbrdman’s recommendations (and the look of his Subie), I decided to give my sample of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant a try. Once again, it applied very easily with the PC/Edge White Pad combo, still running @ 2 and it just spread & spread.



While I was waiting the suggested hour for it to set up, I busied myself with the wheels & tires. I’m sure that Bryce will be removing & sealing the wheels in the near future, especially when he sees how much dust accumulates on the front wheels. But it cleaned off easily with an old Costco m/f lightly spritzed with Meg’s QuikDetailer Spray (it was one of my first purchases two years ago & I’m still trying to use it up – works great on wheels) The tires were dressed with PB’s B ‘n B, then it was time to remove the Wolfgang DGPS & get some pics.



Thanks for viewing & I hope you’ll enjoy them,





The hood after the ClearKote Red Machine Glaze – after my “boring beige� cars, this colour is really fun to photograph!!



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Final shot in the garage . . .



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And the garage temperature when we were done . . .



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And finally, out into the blazing sun . . . where the temp. was 113!



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[BigAl3]

congrats on the new purchase and nice detail to boot! :bigups

[the other pc]

Great job! :xyxthumbs



And congrats on the new "baby".





PC.

[LucentTeg]

Nice job, I like those fits. Sport Compact Car magazine ran a test with a Spoon tuned Honda Fit vs. a Nissan 350Z and I think the fit tied or was a couple seconds slower around the same track and the fit had stock power, only 97hp approx.

[chml17l]

Congrats to you and your son on a very shiny detailed new car.



I think you need to rescue Nigel from all that AZ heat. His moustache is really starting to droop. Those Brits aren`t used to 113 degree temps. :chuckle:

[Asonyexec]

Gotta love that AZ weather........great job. save the front bumper foam pads - good for spreading tire dressing.

[NeReTe]

Congratulations!!! Great paint isn´t it?



Here in Spain we don´t have such sporty Honda Fit.

[SpoiledMan]

Congrats Norah!



Not only am I a fan of the Fit but also of Nigel Mansell! I had opportunity to speak with him for a couple minutes at the Long Beach Grand Prix(sneaked in on media day) after his wild championship run in the red #5. He was great to talk to.

[s2skimon]

love the colour.. nice work and nice to see Wolfgang still being applied nowadays.

[Way2SSlow]

Do I see TWO BEER FRIDGES in the garage?!!! :D



Tell Bryce congrats on the new ride. He definitely chose the right color. I hear it takes a year or two for non Arizonians (is that a word) to get used to the dry heat....

[mdsmithers]

Out with the old, in with the new, looking good on both.

[Z K]

The Fit is an awesome car for the $$. Looks great and very practical to boot. Congrats on the purchase!

[VroomVroom]

I hope whoever bought the `85 knows how lucky she/he is. The new car looks great, and that`s a terrific job on the detail. I spent a number of years in Tucson (though only visited Phoenix) so I can appreciate the heat. (I still remember driving back to Phoenix a few years ago to visit friends, and the look on their faces when...first thing...I asked them if I could wash my truck in their driveway. It was only 113 that day!)



Good call with removing the film remnants. For what it`s worth, I went through a similar process with my wife`s new Acura back in April. I still haven`t clayed the finish.

[metal]

Looks great, love the garage as well!