1990 Honda Accord - Iron X, polish, and Opti-Coat

Shane731

Shane731

New member
This car belongs to my mom and dad, but it is being driven by my sister for the time being (she had a car, but wound up totaling it out due to hail damage). Unfortunately, our schedules are very different, so I am typically unable to give this car the TLC it needs. With infrequent care (or should I say, less frequent care than I would prefer to be the case), a tough barrier between the paint and the elements was a must. My weapon of choice was Opti-Coat. This is what I was facing: this car is 21 years old, a daily driver that sits outside 24/7, has 191k+ miles on the odometer, and has its share of deeper defects (water spots, RIDS, rock chips, small dings) that were unrealistic to attempt to correct. Also, I was limited on time. Keep in mind this car has been polished/corrected before, so it pretty much just needed some deeper defects removed and a light polish to remove toweling/wash marks and amp up the gloss. I started around 5:30 PM (did not have access to the car prior to this time) and finished up at around 2:30 AM, with a break for dinner. I also had to pull the car in after rinsing the Iron X off because it started to pour down rain. So I did a wash and rinse, water bladed what water I could off, Iron X, agitate, rinse, pulled in garage, water bladed again, clayed, and finished from there. Interior just got a light spruce-up. My process was as follows:

Wash
Tires, wheel covers, and wheel wells cleaned with Meguiar's Super Degreaser 4:1
2 ounces of Dawn with 2 ounces Chemical Guys Citrus Wash
pre-soak horizontal surfaces and front bumper with DP Cleanse-All
2BM, 2 wash mitts

Decontamination
Iron X
Lake Country blue grout sponge
Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay with Meguiar's Last Touch 1:1
Cobra Miracle Towel

Correction
G110v2
Meguiar's D300 with 5.5 inch microfiber cutting pad on horizontal surfaces
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with 4 inch LC orange cutting pad on top edge of rear bumper, smooth plastic by doors
M205 with 5.5 inch and 4 inch white LC polishing pads
IPA wipedown

Protection
Aquapel on all exterior glass (required 4 individual applications)
Opti-Coat 2.0 on paint, chrome, headlights and tail lights, and smooth plastic around the middle of the car

Miscellaneous
Ardex Viper Wax on side mirrors and smooth plastic by doors
UTTG on lower trim, tires, and wheel covers


Wash/Decontamination stage

Iron X working on hood




Iron X working on trunk lid


Iron X working on rear license plate area


Iron X working on bumper


Iron X working on rear of car


Iron X working on trunk lid



Correction stage

before - side panels were in pretty good shape


look just above the light, and you can see that the hood had some light swirls - looked like someone had possibly wiped it with a dirty rag at some point, perhaps while it was in the shop


after polishing, before sealing








Post sealing stage

UTTG on tires and wheel covers




reflection of overhead light in hood


rear passenger side quarter panel


reflection in trunk lid


reflection of light in trunk lid


roof reflection


another roof reflection


smooth plastic by doors


reflection in driver side door


reflection in driver side


over-all shots (held the camera over my head - sorry they didn't turn out very good)




Sorry my pictures were all in the garage - I took most of these at like 2:30 in the morning. I will try to get some better pics outside when I can. All in all, I think it turned out pretty good, at least as good as a 21 year old Honda can turn out.
wink.gif
Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!
 
Hey C, Is that the original paint? I have never seen a 90 model Accord without Clear Coat failure,Oxidation.....I have a 90 model as a around town car, the hood, trunk and roof paint is beyond help, but I have the sides of the car almost perfect......lol....
Great job on the detail, no matter what the age of the car...........but for a 21 yr. old car.......its still sharp. I think that body syle is still up to date and a classy look.
 
I love when folks post images of freshly detailed older daily drivers. That Honda is impressive! it will inspire me to tackle my next project, a '91 Toyota with 191k miles. Iron X has become one of my favorite products, especially on wheels.
 
Looks super for it's age, my wife had a 92 and it was PITA to keep up with all the oxidation and CC failure. Hope to see outside pictures when you post them. :bigups
 
I only became an Accord owner last year and my other daily driver made it to 18 years so it's always impressive to see such a great looking car at such an age :bigups Gotta love the being up til 2:30 detailing experience too. I can relate very well! You did a really great job!
 
Some pictures I took outside this morning:



roof reflection


The driver's side headlight looks cloudy because there is condensation in the lens. Not sure what it's from. I told my dad so he can get it fixed.




 
Wow, excellent job, this thing is a beauty. I've got a 99 black accord, with about the same mileage, and it has not done so well. I take the best care of it that I can, but it gets driven about 80 miles a day, and the Maine conditions are extremely rough on cars with horrible roads, unreasonable amounts of salt in the winter, and tons of sand (more like bank run gravel). Needless to say, I've got lots of chips, and some rust. I can really appreciate someone who can make a very old DD look like that.
 
Great work ... I had a 91 EX coupe and 91 LX Sedan.

That paint looks amazing!! I know everyone has mention here that they are surprised by the paint condition, but I'm more surprised that it doesn't have rust in the usual areas (quarter panels).
 
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