# Honda Civic Typre R - Mile Deep Black!



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Today's detail was by Stuart and myself and it was a trip to Edinburgh for a Knighthawk Black Civic Type R, recently resprayed and looking a touch dull and grey...










Apologies here for the writeup, which will be shorter than normal as I didn't get much chance to take lots of pics as per my usual today - was dodging the weather a bit on this one, wind blowing rain through the car port...

After washing and claying the car, we could see the resulting swirls in the paintwork that were contributing to the lack of gloss, and also a light peel over the finish too which was giving it its slight greyness. The before shots:



























































































Correction of the light peel and the swirls was carried out using 3M Fast Cut Plus which knocked back the light typical bodyshop peel and allowed the gloss to be restored... Using a cutting technique as follows with FC+:


Spread at 600rpm
Begin working at 1200rpm, light pressure and slow passes to evenly spread residue
Work at 2000rpm for a couple of minutes until compound begins to dust, with moderate pressure and slow machine movements

Refining today was carried out using Menzerna PO106FA Final Finish on a polishing pad, the extra bite of this finishing polish allowing for the rounding of deeper RDS on this paint which were too deep to fully remove without significant and unsafe paint loss. Refining carried out using the traditional Zenith Point technique...


Spread at 600rpm
Begin working at 1200rpm, light pressure and slow machine movements to spread residue and build panel heat a little - wax based lubricant of menzerna responds better with a little heat in the panel
Work at 1500rpm, medium pressure and moderate movement pace of the machine until residue goes clear
Burnish at 1200rpm, light pressure, slow machine movements
Burnish at 900rpm, slow machine movements

The results of correction and refining:




































































































Much better 

The paintwork was cleansed using Lusso Revitalising Cream (no better for black IMO), and followed with a Concours wax for protection.

The tailpipe before...










Wirewool and Briliant #2 Stainless Polish was used, followed by Briliant Chrome & Hot Area Polish to give...



















Glass cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass, wheels protected with FK1000P, tyres with Meguiats Hot Shine, plastics and arch liners with All Seasons Dressing. Roll out into the daylight and enjoy 

The afters showing the benefits of using Fast Cut to knock back the bodyshop haze and allow the finish to have its deepest possible look 


























































































































































:thumb:

(As with all my writeups, pictures taken with Nikon D90 camera with 18-105mm VR lens [kit lens], resized using Paint Shop Pro maintaining aspect ratio. No other editing carried out).


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## adam87 (Dec 11, 2008)

Stunning work dave!

Looks amazing!


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## golf548 (Feb 27, 2008)

Great work Dave....and what a beasty lookingn type r. What kit is that on it??? Any other mods done to it that you know of???


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## jerry318 (Feb 16, 2006)

1st time ive seen a kit like that on a Type R and wow does it looks good

Great work Dave the car does look amazing now


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## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

another fantastic detail!

the weather today was terrible!

some proper depth in the paint on this one!


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## Slick 77 (Jun 19, 2007)

awesome work guys :thumb: love the finish


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## wedgie (Apr 5, 2008)

Stunning results as always dave :thumb::thumb:


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## PaulB (Mar 26, 2009)

excellent stuff. Not a fan of that kit though


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## Eeloe (Aug 12, 2008)

I LOVE ep3 Type R Civics!

I'v my heart set on one, and now i know a black one can look THIS good, i'm definately going to get one!

Best looking ep3 i'v seen in a long time!


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Top finish again Dave well done


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Really really nice results Dave :thumb:


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## Type R Dave (May 3, 2009)

PaulB said:


> excellent stuff. Not a fan of that kit though


I dont know mate i think it looks quite mean tbh, first wide arch one ive seen fair play for having the balls to do it i say:thumb:


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

Very nice car and brilliant results....

:thumb:


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## Planet Admin (Jul 11, 2009)

Wow amazing looking car, bet it's fast too, lovely finish:thumb:


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## nsanity (May 7, 2007)

The finish dave achieved was amazing, this is my wee brothers car .

Dave, he was mighty pleased with it when he saw it


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Nice dave. You've got to love doing pure black cars. They just look amazing when they are right.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

nsanity said:


> The finish dave achieved was amazing, this is my wee brothers car .
> 
> Dave, he was mighty pleased with it when he saw it


Glad to hear it


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## bart (Jul 20, 2009)

Great finish on the honda, always liked black cars that are looked after :thumb:


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

Amazing the car went from being swirly black to brick and stone coloured:thumb: 

I must say I wouldn't want to be the owner when he has to wash it next. I'd be to feart to touch it.


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

That looks absolutely immense.

I've always said you cannot beat a detailed Nighthawk Black paintwork but one without stonechips looks incredible.

Dave KG - you said the car was resprayed. Does that mean the paintwork is a little tougher than the normal 'buttery-soft' CTR paint?


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

hotwaxxx said:


> That looks absolutely immense.
> 
> I've always said you cannot beat a detailed Nighthawk Black paintwork but one without stonechips looks incredible.
> 
> Dave KG - you said the car was resprayed. Does that mean the paintwork is a little tougher than the normal 'buttery-soft' CTR paint?


Yes, the paint was a little harder but not what you might call hard - one hit of Fast Cut enough to knock back slight paint haze suggests the paint was still fairly soft.


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Dave KG said:


> Yes, the paint was a little harder but not what you might call hard - one hit of Fast Cut enough to knock back slight paint haze suggests the paint was still fairly soft.


Thanks. But if I was in the owners shoes, this would have been a great opportunity to put some very hard paint (VAG hard paint) on the car I would have thought.


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## nsanity (May 7, 2007)

hotwaxxx said:


> Thanks. But if I was in the owners shoes, this would have been a great opportunity to put some very hard paint (VAG hard paint) on the car I would have thought.


And lose the nighthawk black?

It's not had a FULL respray, the parts where the bodykit has been added/blended in have been sprayed which is essentially most of lower half of the car. Any overspray remaining had also been removed when dave worked his magic!


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

hotwaxxx said:


> Thanks. But if I was in the owners shoes, this would have been a great opportunity to put some very hard paint (VAG hard paint) on the car I would have thought.


Hard paints have their disadvantages too, and they are far from being marring proof  I'm also not sure one culd spray Knighthawk black colour base, and then a "harder" clear laquer if the paint systems ended up being different - but then painting is not my specialty.


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## Type R Dave (May 3, 2009)

cant beat Nighthawk black, has a nice bluey flake to it looks the **** when its sorted like that! love it:thumb:


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