Patch up the Honda Element

[imported_Sludge]

My son and my daughter-in-law stopped by to visit this last weekend. They are both traveling nurses and are on their way from Albany, Georgia to a new assignment in New Haven, Conn. They will be working for 3 months at the Yale teaching hospital there and looking forward to their new assignment.



They took off for a wedding in Colorado Springs, CO. and left my son`s Element parked in the driveway. So this morning I had a chance to work on it.



During his travels my son has hit a few bugs.







A wood pole.





And a concrete pole.





This car needs bodywork, but my goal was to make it look as nice as I could without major repairs. This is a 2004 Element EX with about 45,000 miles.



Washed:

Z7 shampoo using a chenille microfiber mitt and the two bucket method.

Sprayed bugs and lower panels with Surf City`s Road Trip Grime Destroyer (worked great on the bugs!)

Sprayed wheels and tires with Eagle One All Wheel & Tire Cleaner.

Sprayed wheel wells with S100 All Cycle Cleaner

Clayed with Zaino clay and ONR clay lubricant. Clay did not pick up a lot.



Removed paint transfer:

Used lacquer thinner with a terry cloth wash cloth. Easy and fast, thanks David Fermani for the tip.



Polished:

Damaged areas with Meguiar`s M95 compound using PC with Cyclo/Edge 4 inch orange pad.

Whole car with 1Z High Gloss Polish using PC with Cyclo/Edge 4 inch green pad. Love the 1Z polish. There were very few swirls as the car has probably never been hand washed.



Trim:

Used Poorboy`s Trim Restore on the acres of unpainted surfaces.

Tires were dressed with Optimum`s Opti-Bond Tire Gel.

Wheel wells dressed with Armor All Spray.

Glass with Meguiar`s NXT glass cleaner.



Paint:

Optimum Opti-seal

Optimum Spray Wax (OCW 2)



And I replaced the mirror, took less than 10 minutes



Befores:









Wheels:









Damaged paint repair:

Before (Driver`s door- wood post)



After Lacquer thinner:



After M95





Before (Passenger`s rear door-concrete post)



After M95 (no paint transfer from concrete post)





Afters:

















Added a couple sun shots. The level of correction was not bad.







The total detail took me 5 1/2 hours with no breaks. The engine was not cleaned and the door sills were just wiped with a towel, not thoroughly cleaned. No interior cleaning as everything they own is stuffed in the Element.



Thanks for looking. Have a good weekend.

[SpoiledMan]

Nice turn around!



I came close to picking one of those up but didn`t find them all that kid friendly cause of the doors.

[imported_smprince1]

Heck of an improvement:goodjob



What were your impressions of the M95?

[imported_Sludge]

Thanks guys,



SpoiledMan- They move every 3 months and have no children. She drives a Subaru wagon and they both have all wheel drive. I don`t think it is great for kids, and it only seats 4.



smprince1- I thought M95 was great. It worked quickly and cleared out nicely leaving a glossy finish. Meguiars does not recommend it for dual action machines, but several people on the boards have had good experiences. I`m glad I had it for this job.

[imported_smprince1]

smprince1- I thought M95 was great. It worked quickly and cleared out nicely leaving a glossy finish. Meguiars does not recommend it for dual action machines, but several people on the boards have had good experiences. I`m glad I had it for this job.

I`m thinking of picking some up for the really nasty jobs. Right now the heaviest cut products I have are HTHC and UCCL. If you`ve used those, how would the cut, working time, finickyness (yes, I sometimes do invent words :laugh and finish of M95 compare?

[SpoiledMan]

We only have two kids so the space wasn`t the issue at all. The utility is *perfect*! What stinks is having to open the front door to open the back. Otherwise I love em!

[imported_Sludge]

smprince1,



I don`t do tons of cars, but I do have experience with HTHC which I thought was easy to use with a dual action machine. I thought M95 was easy to use also, but I think it had a little shorter working time. I think the M95 has a lot more cut than HTHC. I also think the finish was pretty close to the HTHC finish.



This was my first experience with Honda paint, so I don`t know how much the softness of the paint had to do with my experience.

[imported_Sludge]

SpoiledMan,



The Element is due for a redesign. Maybe the next one will have 4 doors. Hope they don`t mess it up like Scion did with the XB. Just not the same car.



Sludge

[kenleekenlee]

That rust on the driver`s door needs to be cleaned off and sealed up or the rest of the door will start to rust around those spots. If you`re getting bodywork done any time soon, you can probably ignore it, but you`re better safe than sorry.



Nice job on that Element, though. The plastic panels look great. How long does the PB Trim Restore last?

[imported_Sludge]

kenleekenlee,



I agree with you. It is not my car and if I repair the rust my son will never fix the panels. I don`t know how long the Trim Restore will last, first time I`ve ever touched the Element.



Thanks,



Sludge

[jswift2000]

Nice job. Yale is a great place for them and they`ll learn a ton of stuff. If they need some restaurants in the area, let me and i`ll give you some.

[niero]

Awesome job! Looks great, love the before and after pics!

[imported_Sludge]

Thanks niero,



My son was very happy with the improvement. He said he was a little ashamed to drive it.

[niero]

SpoiledMan,



The Element is due for a redesign. Maybe the next one will have 4 doors. Hope they don`t mess it up like Scion did with the XB. Just not the same car.



Sludge

I wonder if they just did this. I just saw a brand new Element the other day. Looked pretty descent - they rounded out many of the edges and corners, and I`m almost certain it was four-door.