# EP3 Civic Type R Cosmic Grey - Paint Enhancement



## JMB (Apr 23, 2009)

Right so we have a Type R here that looks very sorry for itself, whilst the current owner (a good friend of mine) maintains the car himself its pretty obvious that previous owners have taken the lazy approach and used the local £5 swirlmaster car wash :shocked!:. This has resulted in the car loosing its true colour and gloss, so up I step to see what can be achieved in a days machine polishing

This is how the car was dropped off the evening before














































So will a few hours of daylight still left I decided to get the car washed and decontaminated, the usual safe wash procedure was carried out. Car rinsed thoroughly then a non acidic citrus based pre wash applied and allowed to dwell for 10 minutes before being rinsed off.





































Then some Meguiars Super Degreaser was applied to the inner arches, the muck this removed was shocking














































All clean now










Then the car was foamed with Autobrite Magifoam mixed with warm water through a Nilfisk E140 Xtra





































Whilst the foam was do its thing, I went round the car with Meguiars All purpose cleaner with a soft brush and tended to window rubbers, badges, door and boot shuts and petrol cap.





































Then I attended to the wheels with Meguiars Wheel Brightner with a soft brush and a Eurow wheel brush.



















Yuck









Next was the wash stage dealt with via 2 buckets, Auto Finesse Lather a Dodo Juice Supernatural sponge. Things got a bit too dark so no pictures here but the 2nd picture shows exactly why 2 buckets need to be used as look at the amount of dirt in the rinse bucket even with all of the Pre wash stages completed. At a cheap car wash all that dirt will be going back onto you paint inflicting the damage.



















Up next was claying I used a CYC fine clay with FinishKare quick detailing spray as a lubricant.



















Then some paint readings were taken to see how far things could be worked, we had some fairly healthly readings but care still needed to be taken as Japanese paint is very soft and on averge I saw 2-4 microns removed so not too bad.

Extra care taken here as quite a low reading



























Now with the car all taped up tne machine polishing started, I use a Flex PE 14-2-150. Here are some 50/50 shots and before any pictures were take the panel was given to wipe downs with an IPA water mix to ensure all polishing oils were removed to give a true level of correction.




























Nasty defect









Removed with some lovely metallic flake pop



























Once the polishing stages were completed I gave the paint a thorough cleanse with Auto Finesse Rejuvenate to ensure the LSP would bond to the paint perfectly and therefore give good protection against the elements.

I chose to treat the car a coat of Swissvax Best of Show, whilst this was curing I cleaned the glass with Auto Finesse Crystal and applied Meguiars All Season Dressing to the tyres and trims.




























After 25 minutes I removed the wax and then gave the car a wipe down with Zanio Z-6 to ensure all the wax residue was removed, unfortunately daylight was against us so the final pictures are under lights but I think it shows that the finish achieved is very good with some added gloss now
































































Thanks for looking, any question please ask ...

Regards
John :-D


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Correction levles of the 50/50 are spot on, very good detail and enhancement from yourself, thanks for posting :thumb:


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## B005TED-G (Jan 5, 2012)

Stunning job mate :thumb:

I envy your skill :devil:


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## shaunwistow (May 13, 2011)

Lovely car & work


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

looks good...

:thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Well done mate,looks excellent!

Was debating whether to do my Type R this weekend and this thread has convinced me to do it


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## shane_ctr (Dec 17, 2006)

Clark @ PB said:


> Well done mate,looks excellent!
> 
> Was debating whether to do my Type R this weekend and this thread has convinced me to do it


Type r???:thumb:


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## mikeydee (May 4, 2010)

cracking work. how did you find the soft paint?


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## David Proctor (Mar 6, 2011)

Great job and great car too..!!!!


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## JMB (Apr 23, 2009)

B005TED-G said:


> Stunning job mate :thumb:
> 
> I envy your skill :devil:


6 years and stilling learning my friend, it never stops :thumb:



Clark @ PB said:


> Well done mate,looks excellent!
> 
> Was debating whether to do my Type R this weekend and this thread has convinced me to do it


Thanks Clark means alot, can not wait to see yours once its been :buffer:



mikeydee said:


> cracking work. how did you find the soft paint?


It was ok you just need to tread carefully, I used a Sonus finishing pad with Megs #205 and spent a fair amount of time jeweling with spritz's of QD to keep the polish alive.

Thanks
John


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

shane_ctr said:


> Type r???:thumb:


Bought a black EP3 a few weeks ago for a new daily driver,don't worry - still got the WR1


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Good job there fella :thumb:


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## Morty130971 (Feb 20, 2012)

Looks great. My sister has the same car and just shows how good it can look.


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## j.s_det (May 8, 2011)

best colour in an ep3, beautiful


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## jimbojones666 (Apr 7, 2009)

Very impressive turn around, might even do my CTR this weekend if I can get out of decorating the nursery.....


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

Great work :thumb:


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

Awesome mate. looks like new.


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## GreenyR (Oct 26, 2011)

Superb job, excellent finish. Gotta love the type r!


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Great work there mate.


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## Emz_197 (Mar 28, 2007)

Superb work there. Looks lovely in the finished shots!!


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Thats a sweet looking Civic R now! Nice 50:50 shots! :thumb:


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Very nice correction work and final finish - great 50 | 50 shots. Looks very nice now. I'm so tempted by one of these Type R's :thumb:


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Fantastic finish, paintwork looks very glossy.


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## JMB (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks for all the kind words guys!


John


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## dhiren_motilal (Apr 3, 2011)

awesome work there mate, looks mint.


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## JMB (Apr 23, 2009)

dhiren_motilal said:


> awesome work there mate, looks mint.


Thankyou, I maybe moving downunder next year with my GF as she has family in Perth...

We have both been given the all clear as we would be financially self sufficient aswell as both our professions are execpted especially hers being a qualified teacher


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## dhiren_motilal (Apr 3, 2011)

JMB said:


> Thankyou, I maybe moving downunder next year with my GF as she has family in Perth...
> 
> We have both been given the all clear as we would be financially self sufficient aswell as both our professions are execpted especially hers being a qualified teacher


mate, Perth is really small only looks big on the map, be sure to PM me and we can meet up.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic job..now looks amazing..


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Great work there John, some truly great 50/50's and lovely finished shots. BOS looks superb on the Cosmic paintwork.

Great write up and read.


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## bigshoetimmy (Jun 11, 2011)

Done a great job there mate. Looks stunning.


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## JMB (Apr 23, 2009)

Thanks for all the hype :argie:


Regards
John


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## Michael_McL (Aug 25, 2011)

great job, lovely motor,


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## B-mah (Oct 4, 2011)

Well Nice :buffer: :thumb:


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## prokopas (Apr 29, 2010)

Well done John


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

very nicely done, it came up really well!!


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