Low mileage '90 Prelude, 2-step polish and Opti-Guard protection

[RaskyR1]

This car belongs to a previous co-work of mine and to be honest it's a little near and dear to my heart for a few reasons. The first reason being that I'm a big Honda fan and IMO these cars are what made Honda what it is today. My first car was also an '86 Prelude which my father and I repainted a different color when I was 16. I've also owned several other Preludes over the years and currently have a '92 as a beater car. Last but not least, this was actually the first car I detailed out of my garage 6 years ago after I finished it all off.


Here is the car 6 years ago before I worked on it...

The owner has had this car since new and it truly is her baby! It's rust free, which is rare for a 22yr old Honda in MN, and it currently has 148,xxx kilometers (91,xxx miles) on it. Yes, this is a Canada spec car so the instrument display is in kilometers. Needless to say I LOVE this car and definitely put in more time then I should have, but I can't help myself.


It had been a long time since the car was detailed and it's seen it's share of less than perfect washings over the last 6 years. To top it off she recently allowed the neighbor to "wax" the car, which was actually what caused her to contact me and see if I was still detailing. The neighbor had left wax in all the cracks, on the trim, and in the chips. I was able to remove most of it, but only so much could be done with the chips. Side note: MF pads do a great job of cleaning out wax from rock chips!


Before pics

Removed trim piece on hood

Light oxidation and wash marring

Taped up

50/50 shots

Hood propped up to avoid burning edges on this 22yr old paint...I also taped off some adjacent edges during the process too.

Correction was done with D300/MF followed by Sonax Perfect Finish on a LC crimson foam pad. Paint coated with Opti-Guard and trim coated with CarPro D-Lux.



Finished pics!

About to rain when I finished so no sun pics, sorry.

Sylvester has also been in the car since about the time she bought it....clearly the UV exposure over the years has not been kind to him.

He says hi though!

Thanks for looking,
Rasky

 

[Todd@RUPES]

Wow Chad, that looks absolutely amazing! I cannot believe how shiny it looks in the driveway next to the other red car. Stellar job!

 

[Orinda Auto Detail]

Handled Chad!!!! Great work! I use to have one of those too lol. fun little car

 

[Old Pirate]

Wow, it's amazing to see the finish! Awesome work Chad:drool:

 

[mustangmikeFL]

Great job, that old car looks new again! I've got to get some Opti-Coat or Cquartz soon for my new Mustang to keep the paint in it's like new condition.

 

[broker99]

wow great job. That car looks incredible for its age. I remember when the Prelude came out I thought it was so awesome. You are right this is the era that put Honda on the map. If I remember correctly the first couple years the Prelude had 4 wheel steering.

again nice work

 

[rzatch]

Amazing job Chad :bigups What did you use to strip it before applying the Opti-Guard?

 

[tropicsteve]

beautiful finish there chad :yourrock

 

[dc52nv]

great work right there. it looks like it just got a new paint job.

 

[Rocket]

Nice job Rasky. The car looks great

 

[RaskyR1]

Wow Chad, that looks absolutely amazing! I cannot believe how shiny it looks in the driveway next to the other red car. Stellar job!

Thanks buddy!

Handled Chad!!!! Great work! I use to have one of those too lol. fun little car

Thanks Joe!

Wow, it's amazing to see the finish! Awesome work Chad:drool:

Thanks Angelo!

Great job, that old car looks new again! I've got to get some Opti-Coat or Cquartz soon for my new Mustang to keep the paint in it's like new condition.

Thanks Mike! Lots of great coatings out there to choose from now.

wow great job. That car looks incredible for its age. I remember when the Prelude came out I thought it was so awesome. You are right this is the era that put Honda on the map. If I remember correctly the first couple years the Prelude had 4 wheel steering.

again nice work

Thanks! I remember the 4WS ones too....that's when Honda was still innovative and making good looking cars. Don't get me wrong, I still like Honda and just bought a new Acura, but they have fallen behind and make boring cars now.

Amazing job Chad :bigups What did you use to strip it before applying the Opti-Guard?

Thanks! I washed with CGCW and did a wipe down with CarPro Eraser.

beautiful finish there chad :yourrock

Thanks Steve!

great work right there. it looks like it just got a new paint job.

Thank you!

Nice job Rasky. The car looks great

Thanks!

 

[01GreyStangGT]

Good job

 

[dd1101]

Great job, and such a classic car too.

 

[Toytruckmike]

wow great job. That car looks incredible for its age. I remember when the Prelude came out I thought it was so awesome. You are right this is the era that put Honda on the map. If I remember correctly the first couple years the Prelude had 4 wheel steering.

again nice work

I had an 88 prelude with the 4WS, it was a fun car. It was very fun to drive. It was used when I got it and I had to get the clutch replaced at 75k or so miles. I loved that body style, it was so cool. It saddens me when I see an accord coupe now and think of how Honda no longer innovates. Prelude, dead, CRX, dead. 2 of the funnest front wheel drive cars ever made, in my opinion.
Michael S.

 

[broker99]

Thanks! I remember the 4WS ones too....that's when Honda was still innovative and making good looking cars. Don't get me wrong, I still like Honda and just bought a new Acura, but they have fallen behind and make boring cars now.

I had an 88 prelude with the 4WS, it was a fun car. It was very fun to drive. It was used when I got it and I had to get the clutch replaced at 75k or so miles. I loved that body style, it was so cool. It saddens me when I see an accord coupe now and think of how Honda no longer innovates. Prelude, dead, CRX, dead. 2 of the funnest front wheel drive cars ever made, in my opinion.

I cant agree more. My parents had a 1993 Acura Legend, black on black. In my mind one of the nicest sedans of its time. The body line where great. Now the TL is ultra boring. I wish Honda would stop messing around make something with some style, RWD, a some HP. Everyone elso is going retro why cant Honda.

 

[RaskyR1]

I had the owner stop by one evening this week to pick up her new supplies and to go over proper car care with her. Normally when I've completed a job for a client I simply email some good articles on proper car care, answer questions, and provide the proper wash media and detailing products. However, on occasion I do have a few who aren't as versed in car care and if I have the free time I will wash the car with them and cover any areas they want to know about in order to help get the most out of the investment they've just made with me. I had planned to get some actions shots but once she showed up I spaced out the whole picture taking idea. I did manage to snap one while she was going over the interior with some 1Z Cockpit Cleaner.


The new goods!

Client doing work!