Today in the Auto Exotica Showroom, we have a rather tired Honda Accord. One owner has put 260k kms on this workhorse over the last 10 years, and to be honest the paintwork is starting to show a rather tired life.
But, in true Honda fashion, the thing simply refuses to give up after 10 years of long kms and only routine servicing.
At this point confession time: I managed to delete some photos whilst trying whilst trying to free up memory space, but we'll muggle on!
A spray of snow foam assisted in stripping the thick layer of sheer fallout on the car, including the 'clean me' that had been playfully fingered into the boot. After a rinse, it was time to attack the car, particularly the front end with our own budget clayΒ This gripped the dead flies and tar which literally smothered the front bar, leaving pure unsullied paint remaining.Β
Next step of course was a two-bucket wash down with some choice shampoo. After a true suds experience, the fun could now begin.Β
Looking at the before photo you can see the extent of the situation.Β
Headlights have substantially yellowed over years of sitting in the sun. The paintwork had faded from it's metallic pearly goodness to an almost chalkboard grey-black.Β
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Not One to be deterred, out came our own brand pads and polisher to get to work. The lengthy throw meant that it made relatively light work of the paint's condition - taking 6 hours from start to finish. Time was of the essence, as this was a mobile detail as opposed to one in the softer environment of our showroom.Β
The problem with working in the Western Australian Sun can be that product dries hardens much too quickly in the heat - and the panels are already roasting meaning that you have to adjust your working times. Waxing because a literal wax-on, wax-off scenario as it sets much more quickly and you don't want the extra effort required to remove dried wax to result in marring your freshly cut paintwork.
Working around the car panel by panel, counter-clockwise and after it was confirmed that the paint was of factory thickness all-round, we started at the kerb-side quarter and took the opportunity after 5 minutes of polishing using some Limitless Car Care UppercutΒ to take a 50:50 shot.
Before:
50:50:
I was stoaked with the initial outcome, with that haze simply fading away. The car had been treated to a lifetime of petrol-station car washes, with the abundance of swirl marks being a telling tale.Β
after 5 hours of elbow and mechanical grease, well.. you can see the difference for yourselves :) The owner was thrilled with how her pride and joy turned out which is the part that I just love the most about detailing.
The heat and external setting also meant that a ceramic coating was out in favour of a hand applied Carnauba Wax Job.
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After:
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An Hour left for final touches and waxing and she was done.
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