Windshield Wiper Arm Repair and Removal

On My Acura Integra, my wiper arms were starting to have the Paint peel off revealing the shiny metal underneath in some parts, while other areas were regular OEM Black. I decided to paint them over with a new coat of Flat Black Paint.

Here is the Duplicolor Paint I used:



To take off the wipers on my Integra, there was simply two 14mm nuts holding on the Wiper Arms at the base of the Wiper Arms. Once I removed the two nuts, you simply pry off the wiper arm. They were a little tight, but they come off.

Here are a few pictures of the wipers off the car, and showing the condition they are in.




First steps are to give it a light sanding. Sanding the piece helps promote adhesion for painting so that your Paint job lasts. I used 320 grit sandpaper I had lying around.



Once you complete sanding, make sure to wash and wipe off all loose sanding dust from the wiper arms. Some soapy water works well, and is what I used. Here is a picture after this is done, and the wipers are ready to paint.



Here is a coat of paint on the Wiper Arms:




Here is the Final Coat (I waited 10 minutes between my coats, as was instructed on the can, and applied 3 coats of paint):


After letting it dry for 1 hour (the can said to wait 1 hour), I installed them back onto the car. Here are the results:





A great job indeed, and the Wiper Arms look like new with this paint job.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Car detailing and Car Buying tips available in my other blogs.

Painting your Body Kit

Here are the Steps I had taken when painting my own Acura Integra Body Lip Kit:

1. Wet Sanding - Kit Preparation (How to Wet Sand)
2. Primer the Kit - helps promote adhesion of the paint to the surface being painted.
3. Painted Lip Kit - pictures after painted with spray can.
4. Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover - level out the gritty clear coat and bring it to a professional shine.
5. Lip Kit Pictures after Swirl Remover - the results of making the clear coat shine.
6. Body Lip Kit Painted and Installed (Acura Integra OEM Lip Kit Installation Instructions)

Hope this inspires some to try and paint your own body lip kit!

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Learn to detail your car in my other blog!

Instructions to Install Body Kit

Many people seek instructions or a guide to installing a body kit or body lip kit.

Here are the instructions I used to install my OEM Acura Integra Lip Kit.

Integra OEM Kit Install

Have any questions about the install? I would be glad to let you know the steps I took when I installed this kit.

Just leave a comment here and you will get your response.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Are you a car body work guy with Diabetes? Learn about a Diabetic Diet in my other blog.

Using Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover

Using Rubbing Compound and Swirl Remover

Rubbing compound is like a fine sandpaper, but comes in a liquidy paste form. The one I used was Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound, and it looks like this:



You rub the Rubbing Compound over the surface. I used a back and forth motion on it and you need to put some muscle into it to level the surface out nicely. You will notice the surface looks dull but you should be able to feel its more level and not gritty.

Once you think the surface is level, then I used 3M Swirl Remover. With this, I did it by hand and went in a back and forth motion really quickly. I didn't put too much pressure on it, but just enough and rubbed quickly. I rubbed back and forth about 30 times or so generating some heat on the cloth I was using.

You basically continue until the Swirl Remover liquid was hard to see, then wiped off the surface. I repeated the swirl remover 3 times per location. This made the surface really shine up. I will post up some pictures shortly of the before and after. You will be amazed as I was.

You can do the Swirl Remover by machine as well, but I won't give advice on that since i've never done it. With a machine, if you do it to long you can burn through the clear coat. By hand is safer, but takes longer as well.

Regards,
Michael Kralj
Get the information about Used Car Buying in Ontario in my other blog.