# First Attempt at a 'detail'



## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

So it was my first attempt at detailing...I had all the gear and no idea 
I was armed with about 10 hours on detailing world trawling through all the posts and ideas people have...
It is 5:44 and I am sat with a brew and a wheat pack on my back...and I am only 23!
Started at 10am... including unloading all the goodies from my car!

At 10am the car looked like this:





























I then uploaded all of the stuff out of my car and into the house to warm up (it was ~2degrees at this point! - and raining)


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

I then went on to take photos of the equipment of choice


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

And of course.....


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Did you get it done? See you at the Malthouse tomorrow!!!


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

Which left the paintwork looking like this:


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

Damned rain. Good luck with your first detail and welcome to DW, your wallet is going to be taking a hell of a beating over the coming years.


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Goodluck with this one, i would be seriously watching out for this thread, i like honda civics specially in that colour, great car to have for a 23 year old, welldone buddie.

Is it 1.8 vtec then, or 2.2 diesel version.


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## Niki (Dec 6, 2011)

Very nice,please explane in details what products You use :buffer:

Its my future work to do for first time-just bying products now

And the wallet


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

Then onto claying - the first time ever - for me and the car from the looks of the clay and this left the paintwork lovely to touch!


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

How are you getting on and are you enjoying it?


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

And achieved this with the DA


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Looking good for the Malthouse now!!


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Thats looking good, the great thing about honda's is they have soft paint....


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looking good there mate.


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

shaunwistow said:


> Did you get it done? See you at the Malthouse tomorrow!!!





shaunwistow said:


> Looking good for the Malthouse now!!


I have polished 1/3rd of the car - the drivers side door, the front drivers panel and the bonnet - on with the rest tomorrow...so not at the moment matey...and the weathers gonna be rubbish...100% for the next one 



svended said:


> Damned rain. Good luck with your first detail and welcome to DW, your wallet is going to be taking a hell of a beating over the coming years.


Already has done...DA, and Wax, but still room for more ... after the 20th!



Trip tdi said:


> Goodluck with this one, i would be seriously watching out for this thread, i like honda civics specially in that colour, great car to have for a 23 year old, welldone buddie.
> 
> Is it 1.8 vtec then, or 2.2 diesel version.


Its the 1.8 - I love petrol motors!
The colour is immense - nice to work with as well for a first timer anyway!



Niki said:


> Very nice,please explane in details what products You use :buffer:
> 
> Its my future work to do for first time-just bying products now
> 
> And the wallet


Started washing with fairy liquid in the pressure washer - currently dont have snow foam & a lance which are next on my list! then used Autoglym BSC (was unsure whether this was the right method but after buying another 3 bottles last week i thought I ought to! Then popped it into the garage as it started raining; dried it, clayed it (bilt Hamber soft and water in my new pistol toy  ) - then back outside for a quick blast with the pressure washer to remove the residue then back into the garage for another drying (all with Microfibers BUT I knew I needed a drying towel so still wondering which purchase!)
Then just matched the pads with the job - used the Meguiars Ultimate Compound for severe swirls after trying the other options as didn't want to go to deep! Then used Autoglym UDS as my finishing product and then Poorboys Natty blue wax - nice and easy to start with supposedly... and smells so good; was unsure whether to put it on the microfibre or my tongue 

And then had to come home so took me 40 minutes to pack up 

Wheels to be done tomorrow along with the other half of the polishing...and wax...ooh my back!



Derekh929 said:


> How are you getting on and are you enjoying it?


LOVE IT!
I often find a habit and then go knees deep into it - I love it... just wish I had a garage at my house rather than using the parents! and more time off work 



DMH-01 said:


> Looking good there mate.





Trip tdi said:


> Thats looking good, the great thing about honda's is they have soft paint....


Cheers - not bad for a first timer... didn't want to do too much on my first go...I could tell the paintwork looked miles better - the metallic stood out soooo much more! Also after reading on civinfo the amount of posts about soft paint I didn't want to go too far and be buggered!

Thanks for all the comments and any tips/ critique PLEASE feel free to post!

And just a little closer shot which I like 








and then an insane photo...


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## WP-UK (Apr 24, 2011)

Good job on that paintwork :thumb: nice gear too


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

WP-UK said:


> Good job on that paintwork :thumb: nice gear too


cheers fella....
Was in bad condition to start with and does need more


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

I really do love the honda civics, i have driven one many years ago, when the first ones came out on 06 reg, the first model i drove was the 1.8 i vtec 138 bhp, pulled well through the gears, specially the power band kicking in at 6,200 if i am right, 6 gears felt smooth, but what really shocked me was the interior design, like space age, it looked very high tech, something different.

The only problem i did have was the torque was not kicking in the power band at bottom revs, even at 3,000 rpm, really need to change at 5,000 rpm to get the best performance.

How are you finding the engine and the car over all, would be keen on your honest feedback please.

Your right there, this blue is a lovely colour, but once fully corrected, it will really stand out.


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

Trip tdi said:


> I really do love the honda civics, i have driven one many years ago, when the first ones came out on 06 reg, the first model i drove was the 1.8 i vtec 138 bhp, pulled well through the gears, specially the power band kicking in at 6,200 if i am right, 6 gears felt smooth, but what really shocked me was the interior design, like space age, it looked very high tech, something different.
> 
> The only problem i did have was the torque was not kicking in the power band at bottom revs, even at 3,000 rpm, really need to change at 5,000 rpm to get the best performance.
> 
> ...


If you do want to get the best out of the engine you do have to hold the gears for significantly longer than expected - but it pulls and pulls at the high end - can almost hit 70 in 2nd without bouncing off the rev limiter!

The lower end power is significantly lower than many other petrol motors out there - all that have turbos though! it makes up for n/a higher end of the gears as you mentioned - 5000 rpm and your **** is wedged into the seat - as is the grin on your face!

I absolutely LOVE it!
I do secretly want a type r but it is 100% impractical for me at the moment 

Cheers for the comments!


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

new photos 

Passenger side was in similar condition to driver - apart from 1 BEAUTY of a scratch which I wanted to try to repair!

This was the scratch a couple of months ago:








And then now: - still there but cant be seen without inspecting


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

well done on getting the majority of that scratch out :doublesho


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

And then it was time to open the Poorboys...which isn't too wise when you haven't had time to eat...

So I left it sitting in a butty bag in a pan of water for a wee while and then was unsure which instrument to use....

The microfibre for the car or the spoon for me 









Was unsure of which way was best to apply the wax so decided to try both circulations and see which seemed better


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

Leaving the motor looking like this:

























And a shot for a bit of an advert for Shinearama - thanks for all the products and your help via email! Top guys and I am 100% sure they will be hearing from me again soon.... drying towel cough cough :thumb:


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Good work Michael, see you at the 28th of Jan if you can make it


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

nice write up & work!


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## Lewisredfern001 (Apr 21, 2011)

great work bud, looks a hell of alot better. was the poorboys difficult to remove? looks a little thick? although i havent used it so not sure if it goes on like that?


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## Kane. (Feb 5, 2011)

Wow, great turnaround.


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

magpieV6 said:


> nice write up & work!


Cheers :thumb:



Lewisredfern001 said:


> great work bud, looks a hell of alot better. was the poorboys difficult to remove? looks a little thick? although i havent used it so not sure if it goes on like that?


I think it was to be honest...first time for me!
I think it was also a little too cold still as it did start to crack once I used it a couple of times - smells immense 



Kane. said:


> Wow, great turnaround.


Thanks :thumb:


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## MarkSmith (Dec 17, 2010)

Stunning work mate. I too love the Poorboys stuff - the Red wax smells of Strawberries and Cream !

Great work on that car mate, stunning finish and reflection !


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

good work, always worth it when ya look back at the befores will look even better with the plastic trims dressed


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## leachy (Sep 20, 2011)

That's a pretty brave start to detailing to jump right in with a machine polisher even if it is a DA.


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## -kane- (Dec 1, 2011)

job well done mate


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

michael3011 said:


> If you do want to get the best out of the engine you do have to hold the gears for significantly longer than expected - but it pulls and pulls at the high end - can almost hit 70 in 2nd without bouncing off the rev limiter!
> 
> The lower end power is significantly lower than many other petrol motors out there - all that have turbos though! it makes up for n/a higher end of the gears as you mentioned - 5000 rpm and your **** is wedged into the seat - as is the grin on your face!
> 
> ...


To be honest i have test driven a few of these in my time, es model plus the ex model, and the 2.2 diesel, all of them.
Your right there, you do need to hold the power band up in the gears to get any improvement, i remember the 6 red lights came on on the left, telling me to change up, theres no way in 2nd gear you can come close to 70 mph, its around figure of 62mph i got that figure on all the vtec motors, the only thing with the new generation vtec is they should of gave it more power and torque at the low revs.
They are releasing a new model out next year, will be the same engine, not much improvements there, although the suspension setup on the rear is slightly different, oil filled i believe.
Don't get me wrong they are great engines, but i found to get anywhere you need to push them well up above 5,000 rpm to get anywhere, i was changing to 6,400 rpm, but the problem was i was out of runway.
The type r is more of a racy punchy vtec, that kicks you, and that's the new model, the only thing i did not like was all the red lighting inside, plus the red carpet, i find your one, a better contrast inside with the blue lighting.

Anyway amazing detail there, great work on the whole car, plus the nasty scratch.

Keep up the good work :thumb:


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## michael3011 (Nov 27, 2011)

Perhaps 70 was a little over zelous 
But yeah the type r engine is certainly one of a kind!
Thanks for the comments though


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

michael3011 said:


> Perhaps 70 was a little over zelous
> But yeah the type r engine is certainly one of a kind!
> Thanks for the comments though


Has the modified handbrake been done on your car, plus the rear mounts.


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## Keir (Aug 31, 2010)

looks great man.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Great turnaround..


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Good work mate.


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