Paint Restoration
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5 min read
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The Honda Fit We Weren’t Even Supposed to Restore
By
Dragon Auto Team
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Milpitas, California
He saw the story and drove in
Ramilio is a mutual who'd been following the Honda Fit Special. We'd just restored Felix's purple Fit and Eric's black one, posted the results, and within the same weekend he was at the shop asking if his blue one could be next. He's a stage manager, headed to Coachella to set up and tear down the show, and the Fit is his daily. He plans to keep it for the long haul. That kind of trust means a lot, someone watched the work happen in real time and showed up the same day. We get it, because we're Fit owners too. Jenn, our co-founder, has had hers for over a decade.
The same process, every car
Honda Fits will happily run past 300,000 miles. The paint is the part that gives up first, usually after about ten years in the California sun. Episodes 1 and 2 went deep on the technical side, so for Ramilio's we kept it simple, the same prep, compounding, and coating we run on every car. The process is the same every time, but each car still feels a little different to us, because each one has a different owner and a different story. His blue Fit had some clear coat peeling we weren't sure we could save, and we're honest about that up front. Once paint is peeling, it isn't a guaranteed fix. We coated it anyway, and it cleaned up far better than expected, you can barely see it now. The coating is Icon Rocklear, a permanent layer that bonds to your clear coat. Unlike PPF, there's no film to yellow, lift, or replace every few years. It carries a 15-year manufacturer warranty, and under ASTM D4587 weathering testing it took 4,000 hours of extreme UV with zero visual change. One application, and the paint is protected for practically the life of the car.
The best part of the job
The reveal is the part we look forward to. Ramilio's first words were "I can't believe how shiny it is, even the front bumper was dull when I brought it in." He told us he was more than happy. That's the whole point. It's not just transforming the paint, it's knowing that for the next decade plus, while he's putting miles on it and living life, the finish holds. If you love your car, even a quirky daily, you get it. We're grateful we get to do this for a living, every car we keep on the road feels like giving back to the community that's supported us. Ramilio's blue Fit is protected and off to Coachella. About a month later we sponsored California's biggest Honda Fit meet, over 100 Fits in one place. That one's coming next.