xcaliber

Hey yall,

Brought home my Crystal Black 2.4L ILX last week and am looking to give it it's first detail this weekend.
Before I purchased the car, I noticed swirls in the clearcoat that were probably done by the dealer's "detailers."
I decided not have them touch it, knowing they'll probably end up doing more damage.

So I'm looking to polish out these swirls before I apply any protection. In my garage right now, I have the following...
- - -
I used these a few years back to restore my 01 CL-S black paint after it had been parked outside for a few years. Worked great, but I feel it may be too harsh for a brand new car.

Any advice on getting out those dealer installed swirls with what I have on hand? Should I go with something less abrasive?

Also I have some left over that I'm planning to use afterwards. Any opinions on it's quality?

Thanks

veeedub

You made a great choice in deciding to do it yourself! I had the same problem as well when I brought in the car for its first service.

It really depends on how severe the swirls are. When I had the same problem, I went with Meguiars Ultimate Polish with the W8006 Polishing pad with the PC as well.. Removed all the defects and left a glossy finish. Megs 205 should do the trick though.
if you want to figure out which product to use, try taping off areas of your hood and use different products to see which one has the best results. After using M21, I would finish it off with another layer of wax.

xcaliber

Yeah doesn't look too bad, typical swirls made by detailers who don't know what they're doing. Only visible at certain angles in the sun. I'll probably try it out on a less visible spot first and see how well it works out.

Thanks

Rocket_man

Depending on the swirls I might use an Orange pad and a slightly more aggressive swirl remover like Meg #9


Pads:
http://www.autogeek.net/vcpad.html

Megs #9
http://www.autogeek.net/meg9swirrem.html

Or Megs #205 as veeedub mentioned.
http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-finishing-polish.html

If you want to go high tech, use Opti-coat 2.0. I put it on my car and my wife's Civic and used less than half the syringe. It goes on super easy. It is a bit pricey but it lasts a long time. I found the best way to apply it is to take the applicator they give you, put it inside a blue nitrile glove, then use a paper towel over that. You waste less product and it goes on smoothly.

http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-opti-coat.html

Here is a pic of my 7 year old TSX after Megs #9 with an orange pad. I didn't even use a glaze after the orange pad. I had just removed an old clear bar and was getting ready to apply a new one.