my car has some pretty heavy swirl marks. i'm planning to wax my whole car soon. i looked into the meguairs 3-step wax procedure, but on the step-1 bottle, it says that it removes "light" swirl marks, but i have heavy swirl marks. so would the 3-step even work?? if not, then what other products do you guys recommend?

 

3 words...."professional" detail job. I dont know how many cars I've seen that have swirls in them from a poor buff job, I laugh everytime. Spend the money for a quality detail if 1) you dont know how to yourself 2) You have no one to properly teach you, or 3) Have tons of money so it doesn't really matter and your mistakes can be fixed no problem. Where I used to work it was only 250 for a complete which cleaned almost any part of the car you could think of besides the undercariage. And barely ever did the manager swirl it, only every once in a while, and when he did, he would pull it back in and redo it until they were gone.

 

Sounds like you need the help of a Porter Cable polisher, a yellow pad, and either 3M Rubbing Compound/Menzerna Intensive Polish. Then a white pad to apply a finishing polish/swirl remover. If the swirls are really bad then you can use a wool pad to apply the compound but it's really abrasive and care should be used.

 

If there are Wizards products where u are there is a Finish step thats the bomb

 

You really need to read the Detail thread by Bunmango at the top of this forum.

Read it and come back with any questions. We'll be glad to help you. Pics would also help.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JMS JT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You really need to read the Detail thread by Bunmango at the top of this forum.

Read it and come back with any questions. We'll be glad to help you. Pics would also help.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i did, but couldn't find any good products for swirl removing, i also searched, but most of the people said to use the 3-step from meguairs, but i already looked into that, and it stated that it removes "light" swiril marks, not heavy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRD MA70 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3 words...."professional" detail job. I dont know how many cars I've seen that have swirls in them from a poor buff job, I laugh everytime. Spend the money for a quality detail if 1) you dont know how to yourself 2) You have no one to properly teach you, or 3) Have tons of money so it doesn't really matter and your mistakes can be fixed no problem. Where I used to work it was only 250 for a complete which cleaned almost any part of the car you could think of besides the undercariage. And barely ever did the manager swirl it, only every once in a while, and when he did, he would pull it back in and redo it until they were gone.</TD></TR></TABLE>
What's the name of the place, I live near Kirkland.

 

I FUCKED UP MY PAINT JOB

first when they were wet sanding the car
they polished it in the shade so they didnt
notice the swirl makrs till i pulled out
then i washed it at one of those 1 dollar car washes
scratched the **** of my paint



then for eibach
i just used a wax depot polished one coat
and wax depot wax one coat

 

dayyyumn. im bout to clean my **** tomorrow. ill post up some before/after shots when i do.

 

You wax probably just filled in the swirls and hid them. They will probably reappear over time.

As for polishing these out, here are some basics on swirl removal:
http://www.properautocare.com/removingswirls.html

scratch removal:
http://www.properautocare.com/noname5.html

Always start with the least abrasive product/pad first.

 

All commercial posts should be left to PMs. He is looking for a DYI solution and honestly, it is not that hard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JMS JT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it is not that hard.</TD></TR></TABLE>

....unless you have a black car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TRD MA70 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

....unless you have a black car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Still not that hard, depends on the paint really though.

Removing them is one thing, keep it that way is another.

 

is the 3M rubbing compound pretty good? i just saw it at a local auto store yesterday.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itsJDMyo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is the 3M rubbing compound pretty good? i just saw it at a local auto store yesterday.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You need to use a DA polisher/buffer to get optimum results.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itsJDMyo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is the 3M rubbing compound pretty good? i just saw it at a local auto store yesterday.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Compounds are pretty strong and probably not for you. You always want to start with something the least abrasive first to see if that works for you.

You are looking for a polish/swirl remover. If you used a compound, you'll probably end up making your paint look more dull than it already is. After using a compound, you would need to follow-up it up with polishing anyways.

Meguiar's makes a Swirl Free Polish which may work well for you. Do you have access to a porter cable?

Hey where's BUNMANGO?

 

If you want to risk it. The best thing to do is wetsand, buff, an polish. Use 2000 grit sandpaper with lots and lots of water. lightly sand your car until flaws are less visible or completely gone if they aren't too deep. Then use a buffer with compound to start shining the paint. Keep progressing and getting finer and finer with the compound. Finally wash, polish and wax it. I would not recomend this to do yourself. Go pay a shop to do this for you. It will look like a perfect paint job if they do it right.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JMS JT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Meguiar's makes a Swirl Free Polish which may work well for you. Do you have access to a porter cable?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, i just recently got one, i have the meguiars swirl remover, but when i looked at the bottle, it it used for light swirls. so i'll see how that turns out.

 

The meguiar's 3 stage got rid of the swirls in my paint I used it 3 days ago. But it hailed here today so it doesn't really matter.

 

A polish/swirl remover alone will not remove heavy swirls and scratches from the car's finish. It will only fill and hide them, and that's basically only for light swirls. The only way to get rid them, so to say, is to minutely abrade away the topcoat or round off the top egde of the scratch. This can be accomplished easily with a clearcoat safe rubbing compuond such as the 3M brand and the correct application. The only way a rubbing compound will dull the finish is if you use an application which is too harsh, i.e. a wool pad and too much speed on a polisher or buffer. Then it needs to be followed by a polish/swirl remover.

 

Meguirs 3 step will not remove your swirls. It will only hide them by filling in the tiny scratches. You need to use something that has abrassives in it to actually remove the swirls. 3m or wizard products work very well you just need to take your time to get the job done right.