Fastfwd

I have the worst swirl type marks down one side of my ’94 Black SC400. I drove through house paint about a year ago and had to use a solvent to get it off and unfortunately it left horrid swirl type marks in the paint. I’ve been reading up on what action to take and while at the auto parts store today I ran into a paint professional. He very much discouraged me taking a buffer/polisher to my car considering its age and my lack of experience with a buffer.

He recommended this:
3m imperial glaze 39007

My impression was that this stuff isn’t going to do any good for taking out the swirl/scratches. What would you guys recommend for a hand rub treatment to remedy my problem? Here are a couple of pictures, but you can’t tell very much in the dark. I’ll post better pictures later.

Guitarman

That product isn't going to "fix" your swirls, although it would likely "hide' them somewhat. It's merely makeup that will wash off when you wash the car or in a rainstorm. I suggest you look into a fine abrasive polish with no silicones or oils. There are many, more on that in a minute.

I wish I could say that XXX brand product would work the 1st time and everytime, but every car and the severity of the swirls is different, so you have to experiment. By hand , you'll need patience and a good deal of arm strength, along with the right product for your paint's needs.

Others can suggest polishes that have been effective for them, for me I use 3M Machine Glaze ( http://www.premiumautocare.com/3mpeitiiimag.html ) on swirls, albiet with a machine buffer.

By hand, I used to get good results with 3m Finesse-It II Finishing Material ;

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/levineau...iniifinma.html

Menzerna also makes a great product here; http://www.properautocare.com/menfinpol.html

All are going to help you, can't go wrong with any of them really (you only need to choose 1 though, as they are close in relation to what they do).

The car should be squeaky clean, clayed etc. then you should work SMALL 1ft x 2ft areas AT A TIME. Rub with a terry hand applicator or terry or microfiber polishing towel, and DO NOT RUB IN CIRCLES. Back and forth, perpindicular and 45 degrees to the initial back/forth polishing is the trick. When th polish starts to dry out (not when it IS dry) is when you need to stop and reapply. You can spritz the area down with alcohol & water mix to remove all the polish residue and see EXACTLY what the process is doing for you. You WILL likely have to ferry the car in and out of the sun to see if the swirling is truly diminished. No way around that. Just do it generally in the shade, when the paint is cool to the touch, or the product will dry out prematurely and lose effectiveness.Make sure you use clean, quality microfiber or terry towels to buff off etc. or you'll put swirls right back on it.

You may have to work the area 2, maybe 3 or 4 times to get the results you need. Be patient. ALWAYS lighten up your pressure on the last passes of the area. Use medium pressure otherwise.

Will this work? It will, but to what degree I cannot say. You can experiment with different polishes, and techniques. This is a general overview.

You can also go over to;

http://autopia.org/

...and see what others have used in similar situations.
Best of luck!

Fastfwd

Thank you for your reply. I will check into the products that you have mentioned. I have to ask, though I may find this out myself, the 3m product that you mention – does it require a fairly high speed buffer (over 4,000 rpm) in order to work? I’m not familiar with buffer/polishers, but I’m picking up on what the idea is. Apparently, I’m taking a huge risk to attempt the buffing process on my vehicle. I take it that any of the products that are going to heat the paint up enough to ‘melt’ the surface are going to take a buffer with enough oomph to do that (such as the porter cable 7424). I ask because I also picked up a Sears Craftsman buffer/polisher before I finished researching what I was about to undertake. I suppose that this buffer isn’t going to do the trick for the products that you mentioned either. I’ve seen there really aren’t any proper attachments (backing plates – foam) for this buffer even if it’s speed were sufficient. (What are these things good for anyway?)

I did clay my car yesterday. In the poor sunlight today, it actually does look a little better than I remember it looking before the claying. Possibly the clay picked up some of what was giving the haze look. The swirls are still pretty noticeable even on a overcast day. It’s such a shame, the other side of the car is beautiful even without glaze and wax on it yet.

I picked this up before fully researching my project and understanding the complications of buffing/polishing.
http://tinyurl.com/7yafs

Is this similar to the 3m machine glaze product that you mentioned? It was recommended on the Zanio Bros. website.

Guitarman

Those polishes will all work by hand. Maybe not as fast or 100% as well, but they can be effective at remedying swirls by hand. Done it many times.

You needn't worry about doing damage with those products by hand, they aren't that abrasive to give you any problems. By machine yes, but any product used by machine improperly can cause issues if you're not careful (witha rotary at least).

Fastfwd

Update: I went to an autobody supplier locally and they recommended a product that is designed for both hand and low rpm buffer application. AutoMagic XP Swirl Remover http://www.automagic.biz/polishes.htm I was pretty skeptical about their products. I didn’t see anything here or anywhere else about them, but I have to say that I’m very pleased with the results. This stuff was cheap too – less than $6







These were taken after a single coat of Zymol Wax. Not as sweet as some of the paint I’ve seen here, but a huge improvement over what it did look like.

Guitarman

Looks very nice! Good job, by hand is always a real workout. I remember those days, lol.

The fact that that product isn't well known here doesn't mean much-you just have to find the right abrasive level for what your paint need is, and it seems they guided you to one that did the trick.
I know the KIT Scratch-Out polish is another lesser known product and is about $3, and that works wonders on many paint problems as well, and compares favorably to the more $$$ stuff out there.

Fastfwd

Thanks. I did get to utilize the $20 Craftsman buffer that I picked initially before I found out about the Porter Cable machine….. I don’t think it would have even turned out as well as it did without it. I still spent like 5 hours on it and was feeling it the next day. In the end, it worked out pretty well in my opinion and it didn’t cost $300 to do it. I look forward to putting a really good wax job on it to see how it looks. I was pretty tired by the time the wax was going on.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Pics look pretty good, man, looks like your work was worth it. Can't really see any swirls or scratches in the after photos.

superpats

nice job fastfwd I feel your pain. I know how hard it is to keep swirls off black paint. Isn't it a fun 5 hours though. But those pix look good, just gotta keep up with it.