peter_bigblock

I know, I know. I went into a filling station car wash that had those weed-whacker spinning wash-things and, yes, it left about 275 million little scuffs in my finish. None of them goes through the paint, I'm assuming they're all blemishes in the wax and clearcoat. Should be able to polish those out, yes? I don't have a random-orbit polisher, just elbow grease -- that should do it, I think.

I have Meguiars 3-step system -- Paint Cleaner, Polish, and NXT wax -- that should do the trick, don't you think?

I will never -- NEVER -- use the friggin' gas station p.o.s. car washes ever again. I have sinned . . .

aaronng

If it is in the clear, and you want to do it by hand, then you need Meguiar's ScratchX. Follow up with your Deep Crystal Step 2 and 3 after that.

exceldetail

I would recommend a membership to 24 hr Fitness also......Shame on you.......!
You could go for some clay to begin with, then Poorboys SSR 2 and and a nice Polymer protectant.....Apply with a cotton applicator for additional bite, and apply the Polymer with a foam applicator. Remove all products with a quality Microfiber polishing towel......

peter_bigblock

Thanks, guys. Is the Poorboys better than (or different from) Meguiars Scratch X (which I have)? Also, if I went ahead and got a PC polisher, are they fairly straightforward to use? Would I get better results (in this case, and also in general) with a Porter Cable than by hand? I'm not adverse to using this incident as a reason (excuse?) to buy a decent polisher, but I've never used one and certainly don't want to do more harm than good.

Thanks for your advice!

exceldetail

The Poorboys is extremely easy to use, and theres varying degrees of abrasiveness which allows the user a choice when it comes to scratches and swirls. Plus, it can be used in the sun. Its a great choice for using on the entire vehicle. I dont know a whole lot about the ScratchX
Your results will be 10 fold with a PC. If you only polish out the scratches, your going to see an impressive difference. The price for proper products can be paid for by 1 professional detail.
The PC's are very easy to use and have about a 10 minute learning curve. There plenty of folks here and on other car care forums who can help you learn its function, as well as capabilities. Im sure theres as amenable to assisting you as I will be, if need be.

joerockt

Personally, I dont see how he's going to remove swirls by hand. I've done enough cars now to know that if I didnt have my PC, their would be no way. In fact, I'm going to buy a rotary here pretty soon. I did a white Mustang that was swirl city and it took me entirely too long to do. And this was using a PC with an orange DAS pad and SFX-1! It was a huge improvement when I was done, but I didnt get every swirl out, so I was dissapointed...

Bottom line Peter, you might see some improvement, but without a tool to assist you, I think its a waste of time. Take it to a pro or get a PC.

aaronng

By hand, you can use scratchX to improve but not totally remove the scratches. If you have a PC, then go ahead with Poorboys. When I use my PC, I use Poorboys SSR2.5 with a yellow Propel pad. Works much better than ScratchX and my hand.

peter_bigblock

Thanks so much, guys. As soon as I scrape together a few bucks, I'm going to get a PC and pads, some Poorboys, and attack. I did the car by hand the other night, using the Meguiars paint cleaner, polish, and nxt wax. Looks 1000% better than it did, but obviously still has swirls and super-fine scratches you can see when the sun hits it right.

I don't show the car but I do take exterior care and appearance seriously and, having found this forum, I never realized how much better a car can look than just the typical wash-and-wax. So, in the long run a PC buffer and pads is a great investment.

Any advice on the types (I guess they're classified by color) of pads a guy should get for scratch repair and then general finish maintenance?

exceldetail

You have found a reliable resource(s) for information here. We're all serious about car care. Welcome to the addiction.......

peter_bigblock

Gents, I know this has been addressed somewhat (I've searched on it), but I wanted to ask a specific question: is there a difference in polishing performance or ease of use between the PC 7336 (with the appropriate-sized pads) and the PC 7424 (with the appropriate--sized pads)? As I understand it, they simply come with different counterweights, requiring different sized backing plates and polishing pads, but are otherwise the same machine. Correct?

The 7336 is available locally for about $40 less than the 7424, that's why I ask.

joerockt

Yup, same machine, different CW's...5" for the 7424 and 6" for the 7336.

Hawhyen51

As Joe said, the difference is just the CW's. Here's a FYI about pads. I can vouch for exceldetail's comments, there is a lot of info to be gotten here given by experienced people. You're gonna be addicted.......

peter_bigblock

I know I am, I did one simple mod -- put a K&N filter in my OEM filter box -- and CAI, header, Random Tech cat, Hondata reflash, oil catch can, and grounding wires later, I'm just a mod-monkey. Now I will become a polish fiend.

TSX7

I'm thinking about buying a PC polisher + some pads. Which pads do I need to get rid of swirl marks?

Thanks

aaronng

Depends on the product that you are using. I use SSR2.5 with a yellow pad for swirls, SSR2.5 with a green pad for minor swirls, SSR1 with a blue pad for fine polishing and #21 with the gray pad.

exceldetail

Nice quiver !

TSX7

Thanks for the reply. I was surfing autopia and ordered the PC kit with SFX-1 and SFX-2 pads. Couldn't find SSR pads on their website. I just couldn't resist the 25% discount offer!

Hawhyen51

SSR = Super Swirl Removers (Poorboys Polish)

aaronng

SSR is the swirl remover, while the pads are by Propel. Get them from exceldetail.com. I want to try the Propel2 pads. My yellow is biting the dust because someone used it and pressed down too hard.

aaronng

The best arrows come only from the best source. I'm introducing people at the OZ Honda forums to machine polishing now and because Meg's pads are ridiculously priced, I get them to look at Propels. Hehe.

What is the difference between orange and yellow? On the abrasive scale, orange is higher but I've heard of people going for orange because it is softer!

TSX7

Anyone use the SFX series pads? It said SFX-1 is for removing swirls so I bought it. The PC kit comes with the SFX-2 polishing pad so I was thinking use SFX-1 to get rid of swirls and then use the SFX-2 to polish. This is my first time using foam pads to get rid of swirls so not sure what kind of results I'm going to get.

joerockt

It really depends on the amount of "swirllage". That yellow pad should be fine, but I would start with a light swirl remover first.

Its been my experence so far that heavy swirls are very difficult and time consuming to remove with a PC. I'm about to purchase a rotory for those jobs. Not saying it cant be done with a PC, but it does take longer and will chew up your pads faster.

TSX7

Thanks for the reply. The swirl on my paint is minimal. I had no swirls until couple of days ago when I decided to try the brush at the car wash. It felt very soft so I thought I give it a try. Big mistake. From now on, I'm sticking with the wash mitt.

einsatz

FWIW, Autopia has a 15% off coupon code (SONUSPOLISH) on all Sonus polish, foam pad and polisher products.
I recently got their SFX pad kit with SFX 1/2 and a clay bar for well under $100 thanks to the 25% coupon code someone posted here. I've yet to try them but the quality of the materials seems rather good. They could skip the fancy packaging and offer it a little cheaper if you ask me.

edit: You can get the 7424 for ~$100 at Lowes if you get the 10% coupons they mail out every other week - but the combo deal of PC+pads at autopia is pretty good if you ask me.

Hawhyen51

You mean 7336, they don't carry the 7424 (the last time I checked).

picus

FWIW if you want to do all your shopping at Autopia their polishes are pretty good too - very comparable to the SSR series. I picked up all three when I won that contest they run and have been using them quite a bit. Cheers (and have fun!).

joerockt

Autopia polishes? Are you talking about Sonus? I'm not a fan. I would use ths SSR's over them...

picus

Yes, I was talking about the Sonus line of polishes. I find they work well and don't dust as much as the SSR line.

joerockt

SSR dosent dust at all when I've used it. I've used SFX-1 before and I would say it dusts more then the SSR's...

picus

OK well then we've just had different experiences.

Of course keep in mind SFX-1 is the most abrasive of the Sonus polishes and would be on par with SSR3 (which is about the chalkiest polish I've ever used). But ya, either line will serve the OP well. I only mentioned Sonus because he seems to be doing his shopping at Autopia, so it would mean he'd be able to get his polishes from the same place.