dullness due to car wash

[ronluis]

This is my first post and was hoping for some guidence... I have a 1995 z28 that is torch red. My paint is perfect (no major scratch) but it has very small ones from the previous owner and I am guessing to many gas station car washes making it seem dull. I am going to clay bar this weekend but from there what takes these out. I have a cheap orbital buffer I think it's a 10 inch I bought in Japan (nothing fancy) if I could get these scratches out I think it would be almost perfect. Thanks for the help.
Ron

 

[CharlesW]

This is my first post and was hoping for some guidence... I have a 1995 z28 that is torch red. My paint is perfect (no major scratch) but it has very small ones from the previous owner and I am guessing to many gas station car washes making it seem dull. I am going to clay bar this weekend but from there what takes these out. I have a cheap orbital buffer I think it's a 10 inch I bought in Japan (nothing fancy) if I could get these scratches out I think it would be almost perfect. Thanks for the help.
Ron

Welcome to DC!
Unfortunately, your cheap buffer probably won't be much if any better than doing it by hand.
A swirl remover would be my next step, but swirl removal is a lot of work by hand. I have used Meg's #9 and #82 and both work good with the Porter Cable. Both can be used by hand, but like I said, it's a lot of work. If you do decide to try it by hand, two things I have heard.
1. Poorboy's SSR1 and SSR2 both work pretty good by hand.
2. Fold a terry towel in 1/4's so you have a cushion for your polishing. It's suppose to spread your pressure out so you do a better overall job.

FWIW, a good polisher would be well worth the money. I put it off for a long time and wish I had done it much earlier. I don't think I would ever go back to hand use for swirl removal.

Charles

 

[Big Leegr]

One alternative to removing the marring would be to fill them. (I know-short term fix, and not "proper" :redface: ) If you were to use something like Vanilla Moose or even Mothers Sealer and Glaze, you'd likely be able to get fairly nice results even with your buffer, or by hand.
The VM would darken the color a bit as well.