Sold my GSR - Detailed my "new" 91 civic hatch

[CleanGSR]

Well first of all, I sold my GSR last fall. I miss it more than I thought was possible to miss a vehicle. Part of me wishes I`d kept it.....the other part loves the no car payment deal we now have.



Here`s my old teg for those that might not remember me (I haven`t been on for awhile)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/Integra/2008-03-01_19.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/Integra/IMG_1318.jpg



So, since selling the teg, I picked up a 91 civic hatchback. I detailed it a couple days after getting it home. The paint is in rough shape (even after the detail).



Maybe somebody can answer for me whether a 91 red civic would be single stage or clearcoated. There were some areas that seemed to leave red on my pad and other areas that didn`t....



Anyway, the paint was/is stupid thin. I actually burned through and edge for the first time and it took about 10 seconds, with pretty light pressure a White LC pad and Meguiars #80 (PC7336). Luckily it`s not noticeable unless under the halogen lights. Some areas of paint were ridiculously thin.



I don`t know how else to explain the car. Unfortunately the roof of these cars is super flimsy so I wasn`t able to apply any (none at all) pressure when buffing....the result is that the roof of the car is subpar at best.



Well enough talk......on to the pictures



Before`s



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/Before1.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/Before2.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/Before3.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/Before4.jpg



Here`s a picture of some of the "clearcoat" beginning to fail.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6123.jpg





There are quite a few various deep scratches like these. I improved on them a lot, but they are still noticeable. (Both of these pictures are before buffing....sorry, no direct afters)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-03DSC_6052.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-03DSC_6073.jpg





A couple shots of the fender (Before). All the paint was this bad or worse.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6089.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6092.jpg





Here`s a couple of 50/50 shots. Before obviously on left with After on the right.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6093.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6095.jpg



And here`s the entire fender after

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6101.jpg





The hood was beat up pretty bad. I removed a lot of swirls and junk from the paint. There were a lot of etchings from bird droppings and hard water spots that couldn`t be removed. The hood was really thin on clear or paint and it looked like I borderline removed too much clear. I`m going to have to be careful to not re-swirl the paint because another buffing session is probably not an option for this paint.



Before on bottom, After on top

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6102.jpg



After

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6103.jpg



Passenger Fender After

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6121.jpg\\



Here`s a 50/50 of the spoiler

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6146.jpg





And here`s the afters.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6147.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6154.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6156.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6158.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6166.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6168.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/2008-12-06DSC_6177.jpg





Overall, it came back decent for an 18 year old car, but I was dissapointed to say the least. I see all these awesome "red revival" details on here and was excited to do one on this car.....only to find out that the paint is too thin to do hardly anything with. The saddest part is that I"m going to have to use filler waxes to hide defects since I won`t be able to buff again.....probably repaint it in the future.









After having the car for 3 weeks I put some new wheels on it and new suspension....suspension is too stiff though so I plan to get something more daily driveable.....ride height should stay about the same though.



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0282.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0289.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0290.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0294.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0296.jpg



http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c298/B16Vtec/cars/91%20Civic%20Hatch/December0299.jpg





Let me know what you guys think.....

[Preachers Sheets]

It is what it is, one of the best looking 18 year old cars that you`ll ever see on the road. Just be happy that you dont have a car payment and you wont have to spend too much time on the car since you cant polish it. Dont compare the finish on that car to what you see online, apples and oranges. Before you started detailing if you saw your Civic on the road you would of thought it was mint, now after detailing and see this forum your obviously going to be far more critical.



If the detailing bug hits you hard, search online for a voc tech high school. If they have a body shop all they`ll charge you is for materials, nothing for labor. My high school used to do it and the teacher would supervise the kids so the cars came out well. Worst case is the clearcoat goes on a little heavy but thats kind of fun in it`s own because you get a chance to safely wet sand and you get exposure to a different level of detailing. If they end up doing the job they usally do you`ll have a freshly painted car for little cash and you can perfect/tweak it as you go.

[MrRumble]

Wow, it looks great with the stock look, dropped and new shoes. Good job, nothing like seeing an older car on the road that at least "looks" like it`s been well preserved :D Cool detail

[CleanGSR]

Thanks for your comments guys. I`ve been told that I`m being too critical and that`s probably true. I`m coming from my integra which was seriously....100% perfect paintwise 99% of the time. I spent a lot of time and had the paint in incredible condition and it stayed there. Going from that to this is probably the biggest shock and the condition is better than nearly all 91 civic`s with original paint that you`ll come across. I`m definitely happy that it has no rust....that was the biggest thing.





Oh, I probably forgot to mention.....car had 45,000 miles on it when I got it. I drive a lot for work and I still at around 49,700 original miles. Can`t hardly beat that.....oh and I picked it up for $2250....sorry I just like to brag about that part since I feel like I got a steal.

[sirhubbs]

I would say that the parts of your car that didn`t leave any red paint on your pad have been repainted without single stage paint or visa-versa. The car looks good though!

[Setec Astronomy]

Holy crap...burn through with a PC with a white pad and #80?? That IS thin.

[CleanGSR]

Holy crap...burn through with a PC with a white pad and #80?? That IS thin.



Lol....you aint kiddin`. Know how many times I buffed my integra with that combo without ever getting close to through the paint??? Probably 8-10 times in my quest for how to not swirl the paint with washing.



The most dissapointing thing is that I`ll never be able to buff it again. I really enjoy buffing the paint....even if it`s something really minor like poliseal. Now I`m stuck to a blue pad with wax or sealant and no pressure.....that`s no fun.

[Setec Astronomy]

That was 6" or so pad that you burned thru with, as opposed to a 4"?

[CleanGSR]

That was 6" or so pad that you burned thru with, as opposed to a 4"?



It was a 5.5" pad.

[imported_weekendwarrior]

WOW - you did get a steal on that car. I`d a bought that in a heartbeat...whether I needed a car or not.



Car does look GREAT though...don`t be too hard on yourself - GREAT JOB!!!

[Optimum Auto]

I have never seen an EF style hatchie in my area in that nice of shape.I would love to have one that nice.

[CleanGSR]

WOW - you did get a steal on that car. I`d a bought that in a heartbeat...whether I needed a car or not.



Car does look GREAT though...don`t be too hard on yourself - GREAT JOB!!!



Thanks man. Hard to believe I got something with that low of mileage and gets 35-36mpg for so cheap. I know I`m being overly hard on myself.....but that`s what makes me an autopian....always striving for perfection, even with it`s not attainable.




I have never seen an EF style hatchie in my area in that nice of shape.I would love to have one that nice.



Thanks....I definitely lucked out. Most of the ones around here have bad rust on the rear quarters.

[tett]

What kind of wheels are those? They look real good... remind me in some ways of minilites... got a nostalgic flavor to them...



Nice car...

[ryotto]

Nice Civic. I too have an Integra GSR. I have also owned an 89 Honda Civic STD Hatchback. I bought my Civic last year as a winter beater. Yours is in much better shape then mine. Mine had alot of rust on it and burned a quart of oil every 50-150 miles. Does your Civic have the original D15B1 with the four speed? If it does and you think its slow, try driving one with a burnt exhaust valve. When I bought my Civic it would go 0-60 in 20 seconds. Then I replaced the burnt exhaust valve and that dropped to 13 seconds. I still kind of miss the hatch, it`s fun driving a car that only weighs 2,000 lbs.



I`m pretty sure that the factory red paint is not clear coated. If there are panels that are clear coated, then it was likely repainted. My civic was blue metallic and it was clear coated, but the factory milano red paint on my 94 Integra is not.

[CleanGSR]

What kind of wheels are those? They look real good... remind me in some ways of minilites... got a nostalgic flavor to them...



Nice car...



Thanks. The wheels are Drag DR-16`s with modded to fit Honda Center caps.




Nice Civic. I too have an Integra GSR. I have also owned an 89 Honda Civic STD Hatchback. I bought my Civic last year as a winter beater. Yours is in much better shape then mine. Mine had alot of rust on it and burned a quart of oil every 50-150 miles. Does your Civic have the original D15B1 with the four speed? If it does and you think its slow, try driving one with a burnt exhaust valve. When I bought my Civic it would go 0-60 in 20 seconds. Then I replaced the burnt exhaust valve and that dropped to 13 seconds. I still kind of miss the hatch, it`s fun driving a car that only weighs 2,000 lbs.



I`m pretty sure that the factory red paint is not clear coated. If there are panels that are clear coated, then it was likely repainted. My civic was blue metallic and it was clear coated, but the factory milano red paint on my 94 Integra is not.



Yeah, mine has the original D15b1 and 4 speed. I plan to swap in a D16a6 and SI tranny sometime in the next year and probably go with a 14b turbo setup. I`ll probably be shooting for the 190whp range which should be good for low 13`s in the 1/4 and will only cost about $1500-2000 counting engine, tranny, and turbo setup. For now though it`s just my good gas mileage daily driver.