Finally got all the salt and dirt of my car this week, and it's once again shiny... but I also noticed swirl marks all over the car! I took it to those drive thru car washes (I know...stupid, but it was too dirty and it's still too cold to wash at home)

I have had about 3 layers of Zaino Z5 and 3 layers of Z2 on the car from late summer, it didn't cover up all the swirl marks, but made a big difference. However, today I noticed tons of swirl marks all over the car

any suggestions on how to remove them??

 

zanio only magnifies swirls if they are there. do you have a PC? if not i highly recommend getting one and a good supply of quality pads. the swirls are simple to remove with a PC and a good quality polish. start by washing, claying and then polishing with the PC and then finally a wax of your choice.

start with the least aggressive polish to do the job and then work up from there if you're not seeing the results you'd like. i would start with the PC on about 3 1/2 to 4 and an orange Lake Country pad. work the polish in until it flashes and then wipe the area clean and inspect your work. it may take several passes depending on how bad the swirls are but they will come out.

 

Sorry, but what is a PC? polishing compound? Is there any particular brand(s) you recommend? I'm a total noob at this...

So after I polish with this PC thing (I'm visualizing it as some paste like substance), I can use Zaino over it?

Thanks for the input!

but I guess I have to wait until it's warm to try it out...

 

Also, would I need to strip the existing Zaino off my car first before using the PC? and what did you mean by "PC on about 3 1/2 to 4"?

 

Go to this link http://www.autopia-carcare.com/autopia/inf-swirls.html for info on swirls. PC is short for Porter Cable and this link for using it http://www.autopia-carcare.com/autopia/inf-pc7424.html. There is also some info on the PC here http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=47.

 

trust me on this one...try clay barring that area. I did on my black cl and all the swirl marks disappeared

 

Do not trust him. I've been doing this way to long. A clay bar is used to remove contaminents from the paint, it has nothing to do with removing swirls. The only possible explanation I could come up with is that the clay actually fills the swirls, which is not a good thing. When you try to polish or wax over it, it will not bond.

You need to either fill the swirls, using something like 3M Swirl Mark Remover (product ID 39009) or use a stronger abrasive to remove them.

Whatever you use, I would highly recommend the Porter Cable orbital, as mentioned above. Makes the job much easier.

 

im sorry, a PC is a Porter Cable 7336 random orbital polisher. it can be purchased at Lowes for $99. this will by far be the most important tool in your detailing kit. they are simple to use and will remove your swirls with complete ease. much faster and effective than doing it by hand. someone above posted that clay will remove swirls. this is not true, you'll need to clay the area first to remove contaminants and dirt that are trapped in your paint prior to polishing. and you had asked about removing the zanio first. the claying process will also remove the zanio or any other wax you might be using. try claying as you wash the car and use the soap as lube. this cuts your time in half and prevents you from having to needlessly washing the car twice. when your done you can polish out all your swirls with the PC and then apply your favorite wax. the whole process should take about 4-6 hours depending on how bad the swirls are, so plan a whole day to do it and repeat the process about every six months, or sooner if you feel it needs it.

 

So sounds like PC orbitor + 3M Swirl Mark Remover would be a good combination to start with? and would you recommend using the PC to wax (in my case Zaino) the car afterwards?

Thanks a lot guys, much appreciate the help!

(esp TSXtc, you probably don't remember it, but you had saved my car from tree sap when I thought it was some idiot pouring glue on my car... )

 

No, especially with Zaino. It wastes too much product as most of it soaks up into the pad. Stick with hand application. You can use it to remove excess Z when you're done. I've used a microfiber bonnet to do that.

 

i have only hand washed my car since i got it myself....

im so afraid of this happening

 

:iagree: Clay does not remove swirls. Besides an orbital, you can also use a buffer if you have some experiece, to remove, vs. just hiding like some products do.




Katana, who thinks NSXNEXT knows his stuff.
















(almost as good as me :wink

 

Hey I'm learning. :wink:

 

3M SMR is not a bad product. there are better, but its a good start for you if your new to all of this. be sure to buy the 3M for light cars or the one for dark cars, depending on your color. some other choices that work well with the PC are Einszettes, Menzerna, Meguires and Four Star SMR. Meguires can be found in stores but the others can be bought online. it is my opinion that you will have much better results and ease of use with the others as opposed to 3M.

there are only a handful of synthetic waxes that i like to use the PC for application with. for Zanio i would definetly stay with hand application. the thinner the product with Zanio, the better. the pad on a PC will just waste too much product.

after you polish be sure and rewash the car with Z7 to remove any oils form the polishes. Zanio needs a clean surface for proper bonding to occur.

and yes i did remember the tree sap. i hope you're not parking under those tress anymore. good luck and let us know what you choose and how it all works out.

 

Isn't your car silver?

 

Are they're any models of PC's that are better than others-or better for certain applications? After reading up on the the PC polishers, I'm wondering if they're is any advantage to getting a 7424, as opposed to a 7336, (or any other model)? Sorry if I'm asking a tired question, I'm new at this stuff. Thanks in advance for any info...

 

I used a swirl mark remover from meguiars (beige bottle) and it came out awesome.

99 black

 

There are two model numbers 7336SP and 7424 both machines are identical, but they come equipped slightly differently. The 7336SP, sander polisher comes with a 6-inch counterweight, Porter-Cable outfits the 7424 Polisher with a 5-inch counterweight and a 6-inch foam-polishing pad, PN 54745.
JonM

 

Porter-Cable 7335, 7336, 7424
The Skinny on the Sander / Car Polisher Systems
This article covers the following Porter-Cable tools:
The 7335 5" & 7336 6" Random Orbit Sanders (along with the sander kits we sell, 97355 & 97366 respectively), and the 7424 6" Random Orbit Car Polisher.
These tools are essentially identical in that they all use the same body. The difference lies in how these tools are outfitted. Therefore, if you own any one of the above models you have the capability to convert it into either a 5" or 6" sander/polisher. But before you can proceed you must understand that depending on the pad diameter one of two counterweights is used.
The counterweight is a half-moon shaped piece of metal attached to the rotating shaft of the tool. This smooths out the random orbit action by providing a counter balance to the elliptical orbit of the rotating backing pad. If you change the pad size you must also change the counterweight or suffer unnecessary vibration and possible damage to the tool.
There are two different counter-weights which are clearly marked to indicate use with either the 5" or 6" backing pad. Therefore if you decide to outfit the 7335 5" Sander with a 6" backing pad for sanding or polishing you must switch to the counterweight used with 6" backing pads. The same goes for the 7336 6" Sander. If you decide to outfit it for 5" sanding or polishing you must switch to the counterweight used with 5" backing pads.
The only exception is when using the 54745 6" Foam Polishing Pad. Due to its light weight and the small-diameter backing pad used (included with pad), it should be used with the 5" pad counterweight. Porter-Cable outfits the 7424 6" Car Polisher with the 5" pad counterweight.

 

I've got the PC with polishing pad but need to ask what might be a stupid question. Do i use the pad or put a cotton bonnett over it? It seems that if I use the pad that I could not use it again.

 

nsxnext.. i was wondering if you can help me.
i hav a black TL as well, and i would say light-medium swirl marks...
now im confused on how many steps there are with the PC, i will follow with Zaino after.
to my understanding, i would try a medium abrasive like PB 2.5 first with a light cutting pad? and follow with a Poor Boys 1.0 to remove the haze?
and can i go straight to Zaino after?
how many pads do you recommend for one Swirl Remover job..? thanks

 

i'll jump in, you should always try the least aggressive aproach. if that doesn't do the job, move on to more aggressive products/polishing pads.

if you have light medium swirls, try using the poorboys ssr 1 with a light polishing pad. if that doesn't work, move onto 2.5.

as far as pads go, you should use a different pad for different products i believe. i dont know much about zaino, someone else can answer that.

 

All of the Porter-Cable DA polishers are basically the same, the numbers refer to different sorts of options like (the weights).

You probably will want the 6 inch counterweight.

You'll also need pads. I'd recommend the starter pads from exceldetail.com. The Sonus DAS starter kit from autopia-carcare is very similar and also nice (but a bit more expensive).

 

Cool-thanx for the info, guys...

 

I remove swirls using the following steps, all with my $30 buffer from sears:

1. Apply Meguiars Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner (this will remove some pretty nasty swirls, but it's not too aggressive).

2. Polish using Meguiars Show Car Glaze No.7 (this polishes the clear coat, especially nice on my black CL).

3. Finish with some Meguiars NXT Wax (this wax completely hid any residual swirls that the Medallion Cleaner didn't get).

I was amazed how well the NXT Tech hid the swirls. I also used Medallion Premium Paint Protector (wax) but I have not yet compared it to the NXT tech in its ability to hide swirls.

 

Ok i'm new to waxing but if I were to go out and buy a PC for 99 bucks which one would you recommend me getting? Are the pads really that think from the pics I've seen above? I'm assuming that if I used that pad that comes with the PC than I can't use it again right? What's a cotton bonnett?

 

I have some 3M but how many coats should I use? Does it get better with each coat?

 

If you are talking about 3M Swirl Remover, its not the amounts of coats that gets rid of the swirls. The polish itself has light compounds that physically get rids of swirls, it also might have fillers that can hide the swirls.

Are you using a porter cable or doing it by hand?

 

well I was going to get a PC but how hard is it by hand?

 

It is alot of work to really remove swirls by hand, if you can get a porter cable I would.

 

Before using the swirl remover...should I clay bar the car first...then swirl remover and then wac?

 

If I were to purchase the Sonus DAS Pad Kit from Autopia but use it with a PC 7336 as opposed to a 7424, would I need a different counterweight or anything? Sorry if this question sounds lame to you vets, but I'm just trying to get everything right before I go to work on the swirls all over my TL...

 

The 7336 and the 7424 are both the same unit .. because the polishing pads are relatively light weight (as compared to sanding pads) you should use the 5" counterweight for either. You can use the 5" weight with either a 5" or 6" polishing pad (again b/c of their light weight). so a reallly long way of saying "No"