TRASHED Acura 1.6EL (LONG writeup, LOTSSS of pics)

[kaval]

Hello everyone! It`s been a while since I posted a click & brag but I`ve found the time to put together this post of a car I did a few weeks ago. This car was brought to me by the owner who expressed his desire to bring the car back to its best condition possible given the circumstances and its history without going for a repaint or wetsanding.



The car had been parked outside for 4 years straight with no cover on it, so it was exposed to all the elements of a Canadian climate. Furthermore, the car is black, so it attracted much more light, and thus reached higher temperatures, causing more damage to the already non-protected paint. A suitcase with metal wheels was dragged on the trunk.



I started this car in the evening and had a great chat with the owner. After he left, I clayed the car and then went to bed.



When the car came to me, it was very oxidized. I took a bit of #26 and applied it to the roof of the car to see what would happen. It was amazing to see because the area no longer looked white, but rather a strong black. I had a picture of it, but I`m not sure where it went at the moment.



Additionally, I noticed something that would make my work seem quite tricky, and that was the fact that clear coat was chipping off from the top portions of the doors, which made me uncertain of how aggressive I could be on the car.



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic218.jpg



Wash & Clay:

Wash with Meg`s GC, double bucket method + sheepskin wool mitt + Meg`s versa angle brush for wheels + toothbrush for hard to reach spots.



Eagle One All Wheel Tire and Rim cleaner doing its job, very well might I add!



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190194.jpg



Clay:

Clayed with Meg`s white clay. Since the car was parked for so long, I was expecting it to be severely contaminated...and that was the case. Here is a pic after going back and forth 3 times on a 5"x5" patch of the roof.



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic152.jpg



In the morning I gave it another wash, and it immediately was looking 100X better than when I washed it the first time, let alone when I saw the car for the first time the previous day.



Paint Correction:

One thing to make note of is that the hood on this car has been repainted. It was a HUGE pain to work with because the paint on the hood was EXTREMELY soft. So soft to the point that my softest MF was leaving fine marring in the paint. It took me about 4 hours before I set on a process that worked well, only for the hood.



- OHC, yellow CCS heavy cut pad via PC @ 6

- OC, orange flat medium cut pad via PC @ 6

- PO106ff, white flat polishing pad via PC @ 6



Before:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190196.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190198.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190199.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190202.jpg



After Compounding with OHC (as you can see, some fine scratches are there as a result of the softness of this paint)

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190203.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190205.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190206.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190211.jpg

Left side = After, Right side = Before



Split shots of OC and orange pad

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190214.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190215.jpg



-----------------



On to the rest of the car which was relatively simple compared to the hood. As you can guess, the rest of the car took me insanely long. I did however speed it up a bit as I tried out the rotary and was astounded at how fast I could get results. I almost didn`t believe it :p My first try yielded some buffer trails, but my second try was fine.



For the rest of the car, I made 1 pass with OC on an orange pad, and then another light pass again.



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190218.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190219.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190220.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190221.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190223.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190227.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190228.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190231.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P81902301.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190235.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190236.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190237.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190239.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190240.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190242.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190246.jpg

[kaval]

Pics continued:



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190251.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190252.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20%20Chan/P8190253.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190255.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190259.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190262.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190266.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190267.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190268.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190270.jpg



Then I came to the trunk. As I mentioned above, the trunk had suitcases with metal wheels put on it, and then dragged off. I knew it would be bad, but not this bad. As a result I was not able to achieve the correction I wanted, but I did not want to get TOO aggressive for obvious reasons.



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190272.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190273.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190274.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190277.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190278.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190280.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190281.jpg





I made 3 attempts with the rotary using an Orange pad and OHC, and this is what I got:



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8190284.jpg



I went over it again with a PC after but didn’t make much of a dent (as expected). These scratches were already too deep to begin with, so making it look better was the safest route.





After that was done, I followed up with PO106ff on the entire car. I tried OP first but it did nothing for me. I absolutely love this product, Here’s some pics:



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200305.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200306.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200307.jpg



Before going inside, I gave the trims some Trim Restorer:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic214.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic216.jpg



The next day, I topped with Opti-Seal, and then two coats of #26.

Some pics:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic176.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic178.jpg



Finally I said “doneâ€�…

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/Pic194.jpg

…..�time to take some real pictures!�

[kaval]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200311.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200328.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200329.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200330.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200331.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200332.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200333.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200340.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200342.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200352.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200354.jpg



http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j31/kvilkhu/Detailing/Exterior/1998%20Acura%20EL%20-%20Chan/P8200359.jpg



Thank you so very much for looking at this long post. As always, any comments, questions, criticisms or suggestions are welcome!



Kaval

[dubbedup]

Some daylight shots would have been good.



Looks like a good turnaround tho, that paint was hammered.

[kaval]

I`ll be getting daylight shots in 2 weeks or so.

[stiffdogg06]

Gezz that car was horrible!:wow:



Is that a HID retrofit or did they come like that?



I have a s2000 retro fit in my civic.:woohoo:

[kaval]

It`s a TSX retrofit. The other EL in the background has E55 AMG projectors (dual beam) with JDM ITR clear lenses.



PM me some pics of your S2K setup!



Thanks for the comments!

[imported_Moutee]

What on earth was that owner thinking dragging a suitcase along! Great turnaround never the less.

[sixty7mustang22]

Nice work man.:waxing:

[coupe]

All with a PC, thats must have taken forever. Well, you did say it took forever and a day :lol



I would have busted out the wool and the rotary on that for sure.

[kaval]

Yeah I`m going to invest in some wool after I get better with the rotary. It`s true what they say about a rotary in that its not that scary. Just have to get over the "pulling" and then it seems to go well. When using wool, does it give you that pulling too?

[CHAOS]

GOOD GOD THAT THING WAS RUINED!





amazing turn around!