Hello from Nebraska!

D

deafbob

New member
Greetings from a new member and Thanks for all of the insightful methods of detailing autos to look their best. I have been lurking for about three months, collecting information, equipment and materials. This site has been a world of help.



I set out to detail my wife's car, 95 Volvo 850 GLT, Gold which has not been detailed in a while. I Dawn washed, clayed, and broke in the new PC with 3m SMR using the white CMA foam pad. My next goal is to Zaino, but I have a question first.



There are still a large number of swirls after using the SMR twice. I am going to have to get more aggressive.



Should I continue to use the SMR while moving to the CMA yellow pad, or should I use a more aggressive cleaner with the white pad?



Which way would you go?
 
Always preferring to do things by hand I tried to get out the swirl marks on my red finish with about 1/2 bottle of SMR for dark colors. It didn't work. I even went up to light cut 3M and Meguiars by hand but the swirls remained. I tried many coats of Z5 by hand and this didn't work. All this took about 2 weeks waiting for the Zaino products to cure. I broke down and used a ROB. After two coats of SMR and two coats of IHG, all but some deeper scratches were gone. I then applied Z1 and 5 coats of Z2 for awesome results. I agree with everyone who says you must first get rid of swirls and microabrasions or else they will show up no matter how many coats of Zaino. My plan next fall is to use ROB to apply Z5 and then go directly to Z1/Z2 if the Z5 works with the buffer. Always remember that as you move up in abrasiveness of cutting compounds you'll get more microabrasions/swirls so must remove these by moving down to lessor abrasives. SMR is the lowest abrasive 3M product and with a ROB it takes awhile to work but it eventually seemed to work on my car.



Good luck.
 
That's funny mhaber, I got about 10 years of swirls out of my car with 3M SMR by hand. What kind of car was this, and how bad was the finish? BTW I also got hazing from the SMR, so maybe my paint's soft. I'm buying a Meguiar's abrasive today to try out by hand . . . But fine cut rubbing compound didn't remove swirls? That stuff is harsh! Are you sure your car has paint on it? LOL
 
mhaber....You did dawn wash prior to apply the Z over the smr etc to remove the oils and such.



Also the z5 is meant to be applied on top of the Z1 as Z1 is required for proper bonding unless you use ZFX.



Also the Z stuff has no abrasives so I do not see what a ROB would add to the shine etc...PLus I still feel it would waste product. Just my 1/2 cents worth:nixweiss
 
hey the vic, i have a 95' volvo glt that is gold. when we bought it it had swirls. i used perfect it fine cut and finesse-it. it turned out great. i've just kept it washed and protected since and the paint looks awesome. volvo has really good paint to work with, it responds well to polishing. i did use a orbital to apply finesse-it and fine cut.
 
Not gold, but in the neighborhood. BTW, Snake, I remember seeing a pic of your volvo in the garage from a thread several months ago. I couldn't believe the shine on it!
 
Thanks folks for the help,



Snake, the car looks great!!! Good to know there is hope. How have you maintained the black bumpers so well. The bumpers on my wife's car are getting pretty dull and gray.



I read on a Volvo site that the "Forever Black" dye worked pretty well. Not sure it it doesn't sound to gimmicky. Any ideas?



Intermezzo330I. Wow!!! Beautiful 'Vette.
 
thanks intermezzo, the volvo is easy to take care of, realy nice paint. gold is a good color too. it has a nice shine but doesn't show every single blemish like black.
 
no i have the same problems with our bumpers too. they are faded. i have used forever black on the door gaurds and handles and it worked pretty good, but the front bumper didn't work as well. i applied it and it flaked off. i think the problem was that i didn't get the bumpers clean enough. this spring i'm going to give it another shot and really scrub the bumper. this car had 125,000k on it when we bought it and unfortunately the prior owner didn't read the autopia forum. i think we're going to look into getting a 98' or 99' v70 this summer.
 
How exactly does one spot swirls in a gold car? I have a 2000 Mustang that is Gold and I can't spot any but I know it has to have some because it had the snow pushed off of it with a Broom very often before I bought it :eek:
 
If you can't see them, life is good!;)



Bright sunlight and flourescent lights commonly bring out swirls and scratches.
 
yep, sunlight is the only time i could see them. it's nothing like a black car though. gold is a very forgiving color.
 
Be glad that you can't find any swirls on your Gold Mustang.



I see them from every angle out in most kinds of light. They were pretty severe.



No digital camera to take any pics, but the deep ones on the hood are very easy to see. The lighter ones on the trunk require getting into the right light.



Not for long though.



Thanks everyone for the help, bought some Finesse it at NAPA this afternoon and am going to try it in the morning.
 
Hi everyone, not my 1st post but I completely missed this intro section, so I thought I'd post something here.

I've been doing my best to soak up as much knowledge over the last 7-8 months as possible about detailing, so I can maintain my wife and I's vehicles. I've visited numerous detailing sites and forums over that time and I've pretty much concluded I like TID and Autogeek the most. I've been a customer and forum lurker of both PAC and Autogeek. Some great info and products to be had on both of them imho (I'm a big fan of BFWD).

Happy Turkey Day! I need to get back to prepping dinner, just thought I'd take a break and say hi. :)
 
Welcome panthercz, glad to see you introduce yourself here with us at Truth In Detailing. Have a great Thanksgiving with your family and with friends. See you sometime in our Chat Room....................Angelo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top