Restore a faded red car

sp3ctre

Administrator
Staff member
The missus has a Honda Jazz and it seems to have lost it's vivid red colour. It's not like some old Vauxhalls I see on the roads that have faded completely but it just looks "dull".

I have a Meguiars 220 polisher that I am quite a newbie with. I have used it for polishing up my car but never tried any kind of restoration with it.

Questions are:

1. Is it possible with a DA polisher

if so...

2. What combination of pads and "polishes" do I need, and what order to go about it?

I am washed and clayed it (and washed again) last week but I would do it again before having a crack at this.

Any advice would be appreciated :)
 
Cheers, having a read now.

Never sure quite how much polish to put on and how long to polish before putting more on... might have a look at some youtube vids too.
 
i had a go at a mates Astra that had gone really bad, almost matt red.

a friend of mine suggested a low cutting polish and i used a sponge rather than a rotary Polisher as he thought it might get the paint too hot due to the friction.
it worked really well and i then finshed off with a rotary polisher and sealant.

not sure how long it lasted though ... as they have a nasty habit of going 'off' again..
 
Nathanhu said:
i had a go at a mates Astra that had gone really bad, almost matt red.

a friend of mine suggested a low cutting polish and i used a sponge rather than a rotary Polisher as he thought it might get the paint too hot due to the friction.
it worked really well and i then finshed off with a rotary polisher and sealant.

not sure how long it lasted though ... as they have a nasty habit of going 'off' again..

I don't mind doing it once a year or so if I know I'm doing the right thing and the paint is thick enough... speaking of which, are there any cheap-ish paint thickness meters, or are the cheap ones just crap?
 
Is it Milano red by any chance???

Honda paint is different than Vauxhall.

From what I have seen, and read about the Hondas, although they do have clear coat, it didn't have the correct UV properties to protect the base (paint) coat.

This means that it can't be polished back to red as with most other cars and paints.

sorry, the only way to fix the faded red is a repaint.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:
 
Should tell you all you need to know in there.

As far as polish goes - a little goes a long way. I normally put 2-3 pea sized beads on the pad to do say a 12 x 18 inch area.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me on this but for paint correction using a compound, I normally pat the area to be polished with pad to spread the polish onto the paintwork and then start the DA at speed 2 and do 1-2 passes to make sure there is a nice even coverage. I then increase speed to 4 and do 3-4 passes and then finally increase the speed to between 5 and 6 and do another 1-2 passes to make sure the polish has been properly worked in.
 
the cueball said:
Is it Milano red by any chance???

Honda paint is different than Vauxhall.

From what I have seen, and read about the Hondas, although they do have clear coat, it didn't have the correct UV properties to protect the base (paint) coat.

This means that it can't be polished back to red as with most other cars and paints.

sorry, the only way to fix the faded red is a repaint.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

Yeah, I read the posts about Milano red too... not sure if that's the same as the wife's Jazz, will need to check.
 
"Quite impressed" - understatement of the century ! That's fantastic :thumbsup:
 
I don't know, those with shiny cars want mat paint and those with mat paint want shiny cars :D
 
the trick was using a sponge and Colour magic first, to cut as much of the damaged clearcoat as possable.
this was a good arm workout i can tell you..

but because it was a little more aggresive than using a cloth, it worked much better.
final work was done with a multi speed Polisher and using a polish and sealant.
i think it put about 1000 euros onto the asking price of the car when we sold it 8)
 
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