Make It Shine: 2008 Civic Si Black Beauty

kaval

New member
Hello again! Going to try and keep this one short on the writing (but still lots of pics!:D)



This is a 2008 Civic Si in black that came for a multi-step correction detail. This paint is really soft!



Wash:

Weather has been pretty cold these days (getting down to -5*C), so I began the detail with an ONR wash in the garage with warm water.



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I'm starting to get used to washing with a grout sponge and I must say it works really well. Rims and tires were not cleaned during this wash.



Correction:

M105, white pad @ 1800-2000rpm

PowerFinish, white pad @ 1400rpm

FPII, blue pad @ 1000rpm

Washed with Maxi-Suds in foam gun with Sheepskin Wool Mitt

Poli-Seal, white pad @ 6 on PC



Even after the FPII, there were light buffer trails in the paint. I used Poli-Seal on a white pad with lots of pressure, did 2 IPA wipedowns, and the finish was LSP ready.



The first four pictures here are after M105, and PowerFinish:

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The rest of the before and afters are only after M105 on a white pad @ 1800-2000rpm:

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Took a quick break to do the exhaust tip which was very dirty. It cleaned up nicely with P21S Finish Restorer and Steel Wool, followed by use with an MF towel.

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Back to the paint:

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Trunk lid cleaned up very nicely!

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Nice reflection shots:

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After washing the car with Maxi-Suds in a foam gun and sheepskin wool mitt (using buckets was out of the question as it was near -3*C without wind factor), I proceeded around the car with Poli-Seal as outlined above. Final protection layer was Collinite 476S which will keep this beautiful car protected throughout winter. Rims were cleaned with Kleenol APC and sealed with Opti-Seal. Tires cleaned with Grime Reaper and dressed with Opti-Bond. Wheel wells cleaned with Grime Reaper and dressed with Armor All.





Final Pictures on next post:
 
Final Pictures:

I recently picked up a new lens, 50mm f1.8, so some of my pictures are looking a lot better than before (with my kit lens). Some pictures were still taken with the kit lens though.



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This picture needed some editing as it came out overexposed:

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My favourite picture:



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Thanks for looking!!!!





Kaval
 
excellent work . . . . especially in those weather conditions. The pics came out great! What mode were you shooting in and with what kind of camera?
 
Carticular said:
Great work on the car! Good choice on the new lens, I love my 50mm 1.8!



Thanks a lot! The lens is really good at capturing crisp pictures, and it's so cheap relative to the results.



Rob. said:
Great Job Kaval ! Can't wait to get my 1991 civic done. :bigups



Thanks Rob. Looking forward to working on your car!



vtec92civic said:
excellent work . . . . especially in those weather conditions. The pics came out great! What mode were you shooting in and with what kind of camera?



Thanks! Using a Canon Rebel XSi with kit lens (18-55mm) and a 50mm f1.8. Used Av mode for most of the pictures.



ocd dave said:
Nice work man, very nice!!!:2thumbs:

Beautiful reflection shots as well!!!



Thanks a lot! :woot:
 
Great work Kaval. The paint looks really deep :)



The weather has been a bummer hasn't it? I've been detailing and boy it's freezing but i'm happy we're not getting hit with the weather out west.
 
great job, you have me sold on the lens. I've been debating whether or not i want the 50mm or the 35mm, but it works either way. I'd suggest maybe going down to 200 iso if the XSi has it. Car looks great tooI have mine set on aperture priority too.
 
Nikku said:
Great work Kaval. The paint looks really deep :)



The weather has been a bummer hasn't it? I've been detailing and boy it's freezing but i'm happy we're not getting hit with the weather out west.



Thanks Nikku. The weather definitely has been a bummer, but this week looks pretty good! I almost put my winter tires on last week, haha.



artikxscout said:
great job, you have me sold on the lens. I've been debating whether or not i want the 50mm or the 35mm, but it works either way. I'd suggest maybe going down to 200 iso if the XSi has it. Car looks great tooI have mine set on aperture priority too.



Thanks! The 50mm is a great lens, but you need a lot of space while shooting. The 35mm might be a better choice. I usually go down to the lowest ISO for pictures that I'm going to be editing heavily, but for pictures like this, I usually don't bother.



artikxscout said:
I just thought of something right now, that if the civic had Mugen wheels, it would look AMAZING!



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Picture borrowed from Charleston Honda



I'm going to suggest this to the owner as he is currently looking for a new set of rims!
 
I work at a Honda dealership detailing, cant beleive the softness of Honda paint. We have an SI on the showroom now that i have washed ONCE, and you can see swirls in the paint, and i even washed it with a brand new mit. Ridiculous. Great job though, especially in that weather :o
 
S&S Detailing said:
I work at a Honda dealership detailing, cant beleive the softness of Honda paint. We have an SI on the showroom now that i have washed ONCE, and you can see swirls in the paint, and i even washed it with a brand new mit. Ridiculous. Great job though, especially in that weather :o



Thanks a lot!
 
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