Act of God

['08S2K]

I rarely drive my S, really just on the weekends. But, on one of the rare times i do bring the car out (going to put on new wheels), i got caught in a violent desert windstorm (called "haboobs" here in AZ) and my perfect baby got pelted with sand and gravel. I had to get my windshield replaced because it had pitting all over it. i brought it to a body shop and they said they would just clay bar it to remove the "bumpy" paint and buff out the pitting in the headlights for $299 (conveniently the exact amount of my deductible!) I have two questions:

1. Is buffing the pitting out of the headlights something i can do myself?

2. Do you think this is a message from God telling me I need to quit keeping her in the garage and put some mileage on her? (i've got 5k now)

Oh yeah, btw, I have a CR frontlip in white new in the box if anyone is interested. I originally wanted a CR but I didn't want to sacrifice the convertible and the leather. Instead the dealer agreed to put on the CR wing for me, but they installed the wrong one, the regular one. To remedy matters, they gave me the CR front lip. That lip grew on me and the CR lip has grown "off" me, so to speak. I would be interested in the regular Honda front lip, so maybe I can swing a deal.

I didn't even end up liking the wheels so it was all for nothing!

['08S2K]

i mean the wing regular wing grew on me, not the lip.

[Java Junky]

Yup. 'Message frum God.
'Jus' be grateful 'E wuz workin'n sand'n gravel'att day'n not 'Izz usual fire'n brimstone.
Either way: bummer.

[flyingarmadillo]

1. Is buffing the pitting out of the headlights something i can do myself?

I haven't had to try it on my S2000 but I've done it on my truck with some pretty good results. You can buy a kit at AutoZone that has 5 or 6 pre-charged pads. You put the pads in an electric drill and buff the headlight covers. You have to spray them and keep them wet while you're buffing. Not perfect but a lot better (and cheaper) than buying new covers. The cost was under $10 I'm pretty sure so even if it doesn't work you're not out that much.

[gomarlins3]

I can't answer your questions and I am not interested in a white CR lip, but I am sorry to hear about the wind storm and the damage it caused. We get them here as well (a really bad one Monday lead to 10 houses burning down), but we only get dust.

[s2000isu]

walmart sells a kit for doing that as well. I did it to my buddies camaro and it did a pretty nice job.

[DJJSR]

I'm not an auto body pro, but I think your body shop is giving you some bad information. A clay bar will remove dirt, not paint. And it will not repair pits in the paint from sand blasting. You might want to get a second opinion.

['08S2K]

Well, I had to bring mt car to the dealer for some minor repairs, among those some paint flaking off the corner of the bumpers where they attached to the metal body parts. I checked the lot and the same thing was happening to other s2000s, new and used. Well, I got my car back and it turns out they repainted both bumpers (not what I wanted.) It looked like crap! Ridiculous orange-peeling, bubbles, rough areas... it looked like a maaco or earl scheib job! I addressed the issue with the dealer and they said they use Larry Miller Body on the same lot but not affiliated with the dealership, and they guarantee their work for life (charged them $1200, btw). I brought it back to the shop and the girl in charge of the work done on my car was very agreeable. Every problem I pointed out to her she said they would fix, including wet-sanding or even redoing the whole thing. So, the moral of the story is, I no longer need to worry about the pitting in the paint (they repainted it,) now I have to worry about a crappy paintjob! The dealer really only fixed one out of all the problems I addresses to them.
Also, at 5k i changed the oil to Mobile1 synthetic oil and filter. I read somewhere that the original oil has a "moly" constituent in it. Is this an additive that can be added? Would it help anything?