Complete Paint Job to Fix Delaminating Paint & Microchecking

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 2008 Honda Civic Coupe. The original paint was peeling off in chunks. It also had microchecking, something that can happen to any car but we see more often on certain years of Hondas & Acuras. Microchecking looks a bit like cracked ice. It usually occurs when the primer under the paint is failing. Microchecking can allow water to penetrate to the metal and cause rust.

We sanded off the delaminating paint and repaired a quarter panel. We stripped the panels with microchecking down to bare metal. Then we applied a coat of primer-sealer and painted the entire car in the original Nighthawk Black Pearl using single-stage Enamel+UV Protection paint.

Before:

After:

Before:

Close-up of microchecking: lots of small cracks that can be caused by repeated heating & cooling.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

1994 Jaguar Paint Job!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1994 Jaguar XJ6.  This Classic luxury car came to our shop looking not so luxurious.  Its paint had failed years ago, leaving behind remenants of old clear coat and exposed patches of the dull base coat, making it vulnerable to the elements. We began by removing all of the peeling and chipped paint, while some panels needed to be stripped to bare metal, which is quite common on most Jaguars. Once sanding was complete, we sealed the car with a primer, Painted it with our Enamel Single Stage paint, and finally baked the car in our oven to cure the finish on!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

1999 Mercedes Exterior Re-Paint!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1999 Mercedes Benz E430. This Luxurious mid-sized Mercedes came to our shop looking extremely un-luxurious. Its original paint had started to fade and discolor years back, eventually turning into the dull greyish tone that you can see in our pictures. The roof was particularly rough, it required stripping down to the bare metal due to a case of failed (cracking or "microchecking") primer beneath the paint, as for the rest of the car, we removed all of the light chips and scratches to prevent them from showing through the new paint. Once the base surfaces were nice and smooth we applied a primer sealer for the new paint to bite onto, and finally repainted the exterior with its original glossy black paint!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

1999 Honda Accord Color Restoration!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1999 Honda Accord. This car had all of the typical "Honda Problems" things such as; Peeling or "delaminating" clear coat, a condition called Microchecking, and just an overall dull looking finish. We repaired these problems starting with some heavy sanding, some areas had to be taken down to the bare metal while other areas simply had the delaminating paint removed, this process creates a smooth, paintable surface. After our sanding was complete the car was sealed with our basic primer sealer to cover up any bare metal areas and give the new paint a surface to "bite" onto. Finally it was ready for new paint. We refinished the exterior with our Enamel + UV protectant paint in its original color and returned the car to its thrilled owner! Also check out our Youtube channel for more of our recent cars and transformations!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Dual Action Sander used by Almost Everything Professionals

Heres an interesting look into how our shop works, this sander (and the person that uses it)  is one of the key factors in producing a great looking paint job that lasts. In order for paint to stick to something, the surface must be first cleaned of all dirt, dry, and oil free but most importantly the surface must be abraded or sanded to intentionally cause extremely fine scratches.  The reason we purposefully inflict these fine scratches is so that the new paint can flow into them and "bite" onto the surface. Without these scratches the new paint would not be able to stick and would simply fall off over time!  We have many types of sanding procedures and methods. Some cars benefit from repairing chips & scratches. Cars that have had rough lives or have been vandalized with key scratches may need a little more work. In California we also see a lot of cars with sun and environmental damage that causes paint to peel or "delaminate." Basically the cars clear coat has failed and is coming off of its color coat. The process of removing this type of paint issue involves an in-depth sanding procedure starting with rough sand paper to remove the majority of the problematic paint, and gradually moving on with finer and finer grades of sandpaper to completely smooth out the edges of the old paint. Once that has been completed, the car is completely smooth free of all the old peeling paint and is ready for it new coat of paint. With the proper surface repairs and sanding, we can transform your car back to looking like new again!

1997 Ford Mustang Color Restoration!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1997 Ford Mustang Convertible. This Muscle car started out as a dull, lifeless looking pony. We corrected that by sealing the existing paint surface with a primer, and refinishing the car with our Enamel paint in the cars original color!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Acura TL Color Match

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 2002 Acura TL type-s. This car was prepped by the owner due to lots of old, failing paint. Once the owner was satisfied with his sanding work, he dropped the car off for us to paint. We refinished the Hood and Roof back to the factory blue color and had this TL looking like new again!

Before:After:

1998 Honda Civic Sedan

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1998 Honda Civic. When this car came to us it had many of the usual "Honda problems" such as: peeling/delaminating paint, microchecking paint (a condition where the primer beneath the paint fails, forming a "checked" looking top finish) and minor chips and scratches. It had also recently been hit on the rear quarter panel/rear door causing a decent sized dent in both panels. We repaired the damage caused by the accident by pulling and reshaping the existing sheetmetal as closely as possible to its original form and applying a very thin layer of plastic filler to smooth out all of the wrinkles and dings. Once the bodywork had been completed we moved on to sanding. The hood and fenders had to be stripped down to bare metal due to the microchecking on these panels. The rest of the car luckily didn't have microchecking, however it did have peeling or "delaminating" paint, which was smoothed and feathered until it was all gone. Priming the car was the next step, this provides a protective sealing layer between the bare metal and the top coat of paint, while providing a solid even surface for the new paint to adhere to. Instead of repainting the car with its original green, the owner decided to change the color to "Diamond Black" in our base coat/clear coat paint package!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After: