D Car — July 2004

After chrome-heavy lowrider customs, the next must-have treatment is smoothing. As the lowrider scene has grown, smoothing has become impossible to ignore. Together with a bold single-color paint job, lots of chrome wheels, and an ultra-low stance on air or hydraulics, it has become an essential custom style. Even smoothing a small section follows the same process, but doing the entire body is a major undertaking. It takes a great deal of filler and sheet metal…

…and just the materials alone add up to a lot. The goal is a perfectly smooth surface, so each step is carried out with the finish nearly flawless before moving on. Even including paint, the job takes about three days at a minimum. The result is not complete unless it blends cleanly with the surrounding bodywork. Take a close look at the professional work by Prison #8, which has handled countless smoothing jobs!

Smoothing

BODY SMOOTHING Part 05

Bodywork

A major bodywork transformation: let’s learn the techniques behind smoothing. The finished result may look easy, but the process is surprisingly labor-intensive and can take an incredible amount of time!

HONDA Civic [EG6]

This Civic was expertly smoothed by lowrider specialists Prison #8. You will fall for its flawlessly smooth finish!

The body lines are…

…beautifully smooth!

What is smoothing? It can be as simple as filling the holes left after removing a model emblem, or as extensive as filling the license-plate recess and reshaping the whole car.

That is what smoothing is: changing the car’s shape by filling and reshaping its surfaces.

With thanks to: Prison #8 For smoothing and all kinds of bodywork, leave it to them! They mainly handle Honda sport-compact builds, but will also gladly discuss custom bodywork to suit an owner’s preferences. Closed Tuesdays. Address: 680-62 Obata, Ibaraki-cho, Higashiibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Tel: 029-240-7110

D Car — July 2004

About this issue

Page 64 — English draft translation