Dealing with mild swirls on black car

S

superstring

New member
I just got my car back from the detailer's, where they spent an afternoon polishing out some fairly significant buffing swirls, sanding marks and overspray that were left there by the paint shop.



The car sure looks a lot better than when they started! However there are still some light swirl marks left by their efforts. They used a rotary buffer with some kind of synthetic bonnet (which resembled lamb's wool, but wasn't) and a polish which I'm not familiar with (can't remember the name, but it wasn't something that I recognized from reading this board).



Anyway they told me that some swirling was inevitable (especially noticable on black, of course) and I should use a sealant with fillers to hide them. I'm planning to use the Klasse twins, but I think I should be able to do something more about the remaining swirls before applying them.



They also told me not to touch the paint with a PC and foam pads otherwise I'd make a big mess! :eek:



I have some Griot's Machine Polish 2 & 3 which I've used with relatively good results in the past (IMHO anyway, having not tried any other products with the PC). However I'm feeling a little paranoid about the whole thing at the moment! :scared



Would something like DACP or SFP be a better choice than the Griot's stuff?



Thanks!
 
superstring said:
They also told me not to touch the paint with a PC and foam pads otherwise I'd make a big mess! :eek:

Click to expand...



Hard to believe they'd say that. Is the paint job new? If not, and you're PC-experienced, I doubt you'd mess anything up. Sounds like you're at the point where SFP would do the trick. Try it first before moving up the ladder to DACP. Fillers are fine for a short time, but if you're a perfectionist, there's no reason not to try to finish the job right!
 
I also find it pretty hard to believe that a supposedly "professional" shop would say that swirls are inevitable.

I agree with ZJ. Take a shot at them yourself. I've gotten swirls out manually with nothing more complicated the SMR.
 
Sounds like your detail shop folks don't really know what's up. I have a friend who owns a high end detail shop. All of his finished vehicles receive a polish treatment with a pc before they leave the shop.



I have a black Dodge Ram pickup that had some swirls left in it by a body shop. With my pc, I used both 3M Perfect - It II fine rubbing compound and DACP to get the swirls out. I used a Meguiar's burgandy pad on the pc. The finishing touch was Meguiar's #82 with a polishing pad.



Sometimes the advice for "less aggressive" is a waste of time. I seem to be getting impatient in my old age. :D



Tom :cool:
 
Hmm, there are only a few users of Griot's polishes on this board, so I would hit the Search button and start reading about how good or equivalent to other products that these polishes are.



I'm also surprised that they said that you'd just have to live with the swirls and fill them. They definitely can be removed even if they are eventually "inevitable".



They probably have no idea what in the world a "PC" is so I would discount their opinion on that....
 
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