1987 Honda Background Info
The 1987 Honda Vibe
1987 was the year Honda really found its groove in the States. While the Marysville plant was busy churning out the first wave of American-made Accords and Civics, the Prelude was turning heads with those iconic pop-up headlights and a wedge shape that looked like it was moving even when parked at a red light. It was an era of over-engineering and bulletproof engines. We've kept the flame alive for the survivors of this generation, specifically focusing on the heavy hitter: Granada Black Metallic. In '87, if you weren't driving a red hatch, you were likely rocking this deep, metallic black that made even a commuter car look like a stealth fighter.
Paint Health Check
Welcome to the heart of The Peeling Era. By 1987, the industry was moving away from the old thick-single-stage solids and leaning hard into basecoat/clearcoat systems for those fancy metallics. The problem? The chemistry wasn't quite ready for thirty years of UV rays. If your Honda has been sitting in the sun, you aren't just looking at "fading"-you're likely dealing with delamination. This is where the clear coat loses its grip on the color underneath and starts flaking off in translucent sheets, leaving the basecoat exposed and vulnerable. If your roof or trunk looks like it's mid-sunburn, you've got clear coat failure, and the clock is ticking before the metal starts to see the light of day.
Restoration Tip
In this era, your #1 job is to seal the edges. If you spot a stone chip or a tiny area where the clear coat is starting to lift, don't wait for the weekend. Seal that chip immediately before oxygen and moisture get under the clear and start "ghosting" the surrounding area. When you're doing a touch-up, make sure you feather back any loose clear coat with a fine-grit abrasive before applying your color. If you just "blob" paint over a peeling edge, the old clear will keep lifting underneath your new work, and the whole repair will sail away the next time you hit the car wash. Build your layers thin, let them bite, and keep that Granada Black looking deep enough to swim in.