A few months ago, Malco Automotive sent me a sample of the Epic Paint Restoration System. I initially tried it on my 1969 Dodge Charger and it did a very good job of restoring the rough paint. Considering my skill level with paint, I was very pleased with the end result. The only problem is that the product doesn’t quite fit in my car.
This paint correction system is designed for basecoat and clearcoat applications on modern vehicles. No matter how well it performed on my single stage industrial paint job on a Charger, it would be unfair to judge it solely on how it performed at that point. The purpose of this review is simply to give you an initial taste of it, experiment with it a bit, and get a quick idea of ​​how it performs on a fun project. Once that’s out of the way, we can get to the really important stuff.
So I decided to give this product another try during a cold northeastern winter. This time I used it on a 2016 Honda Civic to see how it worked. As expected, it worked even better.
Overall, the Malco Epic Paint Restoration System is designed to make polishing your car as easy and quick as possible. While other systems recommend multiple polishing sessions using different polishes and pads, this system is designed to be done in one pass, with the second polish being done entirely at your discretion.
The kit includes medium, coarse and finishing polishes, as well as the corresponding polishing pads. The degree of damage to the clear coat and its hardness will determine whether you should choose a heavy or medium polish for the initial polish. After using both polishes, you can proceed to the finishing polish if you want a deeper shine.
The process is very simple: apply a few drops of polish to the buffing pad, apply it to a 2 x 2 foot area, wait for the abrasive to break down, and then wipe the surface dry. Each section takes just a few minutes to complete, allowing you to cover the entire car quickly. It’s not much different from other buffing systems, but it’s definitely worth a try. It doesn’t have the drawbacks of a single buff taking longer than a more thorough buff, which would negate the time savings.
A detail-oriented person might shudder at the thought of having to perform just one maintenance task, but it’s clear that this product isn’t just for them. Its appeal is that it reduces the need to make the car look presentable, which is ideal for people like me who want a car that looks good, but isn’t so good that they don’t dare drive it on rough roads.
Timing was of the essence for this test, as it was so cold that the foam froze while I was washing the car. Luckily, I can wax the car in a warm garage, ensuring that both I and the product do their job properly. But my frozen fingers were grateful that it worked so quickly. That said, I got through at least one panel of both medium and fine polish to gauge the maximum performance a monkey with a buffer (me) could get out of it.
The car is painted in Honda’s Black Amethyst Pearl, which does a great job of hiding imperfections. But if you look closely, you’ll see that it’s full of imperfections.
The first pass, using only medium grip rubber and the correct brake pads, did a great job of removing the smallest dings and scratches, adding a bit of depth to the paint. It’s far from perfect, but I know it’s good enough. While part of that was due to me being too cold at the time, the fact is that this car is a daily driver and would have been wrecked anyway, as it already had plenty of scratches and stone chips.
If you feel a little weak and want to do a few more steps to make the paint shine, it is perfectly fine to do it again. After polishing with polish and a pad, most of the imperfections left from the first polish disappeared. I am very happy with the end result and can say that any performance issues were entirely my fault and not the product.
Finally, I gave the rest of the car a thorough service, using only the medium-strength compound and the mats. I then applied another coat of Malco Automotive’s Nano Care Banana Cream Paste Wax. The entire process took about four hours, but it would certainly have gone faster if I had done it in warmer weather and not wasted time on the various steps.
I’m only human, and while I take pride in a job well done, I’m far from obsessed with the details. But the effect is clear. The Epic Paint Restoration Kit did exactly what it said it would and then some. It lets you achieve great paint results in a fraction of the time. Getting a high gloss finish in just one pass is a great deal, and if you want to go even further and make the paint richer, it will add even more versatility and appeal. For me, a paint restoration kit under $150 is a steal.
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Hank was previously the business editor of The Drive. An avid mechanical enthusiast, he spends much of his free time taking apart and repairing various mechanical devices.
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