2000 civic paint correction

[NCZ13]

did some correction on my friends car. the paint was pretty soft, and i got the majority of defects out (id say about 80-85 percent) with a single step. i last did this car (wash, clay wax) last year. also per request i removed some scratches as safely as i could w/o the risk of removing to much clear



process

wash TW ice and grout sponge.

clayed during the wash process.

the scratched areas got IP on 5.5 yellow CCS pad (UDM)

then followed with megs 83 on low pro orange (UDM)

washed again with TW ice and grout sponge

headlights got a single pass of XMT3 on orange followed by XMT1 on orange

sealed with megs 21 synthetic sealant

tires dressed with megs hot shine



http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310925.jpg

before

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310926.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310927.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310929.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310930.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310931.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310932.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310933.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310934.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310935.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P3310936.jpg

[NCZ13]

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010937.jpg

0 beading. the water kinda just sat there =(

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010939.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010940.jpg

scratch on pass rear quarter panel

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010941.jpg

dried

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010942.jpg

taped up

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010943.jpg

used the halogens to find more defects on the trunk lid





i polished teh headlights first

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010945.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010946.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010949.jpg

products i used

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010951.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010952.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010954.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010955.jpg



now i wanted to compare this to plastX. alot of people think plastX is the end all product for headlight restoration. and i kind of wanted to show that it isnt... (im not talking about people on here, but on other non detailing related forums im on)

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010956.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010957.jpg

after plastX on the left

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010958.jpg

comparison the middle part was the taped off area so its still hazy

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010959.jpg

i finished up with xmt3, and followed with XMT1

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010960.jpg

[accordmaniac]

Looks good.



Did you use Plastx by hand and the other stuff by machine?

[NCZ13]

i used plastx by hand. and the XMT polishes by machine. more pics in a minute

[NCZ13]

before polishing

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010963.jpg



after megs 83

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4010962.jpg



its not much, but silver is pretty hard to make reflective, and it was only a single pass.



in the upper picture there is 0 reflection, in the lower picture you can make out the camera

[NCZ13]

beading after just polishing

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4020964.jpg



and im now the strange guy on the street who washes cars in the dark

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4020966.jpg



http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P4020968.jpg

all done.



i have more afters but they are on my camera, and i dont have my camera with me... they are sunshots so ill post those up when i get home

[obey]

wow, NICE JOB on those headlights!

[accordmaniac]

I think the comparison between Plastx and the polish would have been fairer if you also used it with the machine.



Now you just have to teach your friend to keep it looking good.

[NCZ13]

well the thing is, is that i did the comparison because majority of people that use plastX use it by hand. i did the comparison for the people on the other forums im on because they all think plastX is the best solution. so to be true to how people use it, i did it by hand. im sure by machine i would have had good results. but not everyone has a UDM or a proper polisher for that matter to do that.

[accordmaniac]

See, getting those results is still spectacular by hand, especially when compared to buying a whole new lens. I use Plastx because it is readily available and cheap. Works great with a Powerball and a cordless drill. I`ll have to try it with my PC.

[NCZ13]

ive used plastX by white pad on my headlights on my car and wasnt really happy the results. i think it broke down to quickly, and pretty much got the same results as i did by hand which at the time i thought was really good, but i realized i got much better results by using actualy polish



there is no doubt in my mind youll get good results with it. i just feel i got much better results by using XMT which im sure could be substituted with other similar cut polishes...



thanks for the compliements btw. =)

[imported_shine]

Nice work. Those headlights were pretty bad.

[CleanGSR]

I`d like to see some before and after`s under halogen`s. I have a very, very hard time believing that #83 and an Orange LC pad didn`t leave any hazing. I get pretty bad hazing on my 2000 Acura when using #80 and an LC pad.

[MakitaNinja]

Nice nice job, xmt are a fine line of polishes, very easy to use, and great results.

[NCZ13]

i didnt see any hazing under full sun.. but the finish certainly wasnt defect free. im in class right now, but ill get those after pictures up later.