Light Scratches

G

Ghaleon0721

New member
I have a 2006 black Infinity G35. The paint is in great shape, but when I look closely I can see some fine scratches and swirls. They are barely there, I can only see them when I bend over and look closely, and even then I can only see a few. I can see more if I use a halogen light, but still not many. Some of them I would even call scuffs, because even though they look like scratches, they are still black like the paint.



I already did a full detail with clay, machine polish, sealer/glaze, and two coats of wax about a month ago. The pics are in the Click&Brag forum. I also plan to do another full detail like that in the spring. In between I'm going to use ONR washes and a monthly coat of wax to keep it looking good. So my question is, if I do another machine polish this weekend, is that too much polishing? Am I being to picky? You can't see the scratches with the naked eye, so is it worth polishing again now, or should I leave it until spring when there may be more marks to fix after a rough New England winter.



Also, if I do polish, what do you recommend. I'm somewhat limited because I don't have a PC. I told my wife to buy me one for X-mas. So that might be another argument for waiting. My options right now are a hand application of Meguiars Scratch X. From what I understand it is a real pain to work in properly and takes a lot of elbow grease in small sections. It seems to be more of a spot treatement rather than a full-car polish. Or I could use my Craftsman Random Orbital buffer and apply Mother's Power Polish.



Is polishing too often going to hurt my paint over time?
 
If youve got a good fresh coat thats going to make it through the winter, wait until spring. One CAN polish too much, plus if youre going to be armed with a PC in the spring....itll be so much easier.
 
Ghaleon0721 said:
.........should I leave it until spring when there may be more marks to fix after a rough New England winter.......



.........Or I could use my Craftsman Random Orbital buffer and apply Mother's Power Polish.......
Click to expand...
I agree with thesacrifice, wait until spring when you have the PC, your Craftsman isn't suited for defect removal.



Just keep your car waxed and as clean as possible during the winter and then tackle any problems you notice in the spring. That will give you plenty of time to read up on products, pads, and techniques so you'll be ready when warm weather finally returns.
 
Ghaleon0721 said:
I have a 2006 black Infinity G35. The paint is in great shape, but when I look closely I can see some fine scratches and swirls. They are barely there, I can only see them when I bend over and look closely, and even then I can only see a few. I can see more if I use a halogen light, but still not many...



So my question is, if I do another machine polish this weekend, is that too much polishing? Am I being to picky? You can't see the scratches with the naked eye, so is it worth polishing again now, or should I leave it until spring when there may be more marks to fix after a rough New England winter.



Also, if I do polish, what do you recommend. I'm somewhat limited because I don't have a PC..



Is polishing too often going to hurt my paint over time?
Click to expand...



IMO if the marring doesn't bother you then it doesn't need removing. I always encourage people to apply their *own* standards and to *not* judge their vehicles' condition by what they see/read about here.



It sounds like the problem is coming from the washing...so if you fix everything perfectly you might still get a recurrence of the marring. How often do you want to repolish? You really do only have so much paint to work with and you can't keep correcting it forever.



I'd recommend using products that do some concealing (oh my :soscared: the dreaded "fillers" :eek: Don't let others convince you that this is a bad approach or "cheating"). Polishes like 1Z are *very* user-friendly, even by hand, and they hide a good bit of what they don't remove. You can then top with a heavy carnauba and have a good looking vehicle that's well protected. Then you can concentrate on getting the wash/dry regimen all scienced out so that you no longer mar it up so badly. *THEN* you can consider getting it really marring-free with the confidence that it'll stay that way.



For now, I agree that you should wait until spring to do any correction. Winter's just around the corner and you're bound to pick up some even more severe marring before spring arrives.
 
I am in the same boat... 2006 G35 in Serengeti Sand. I have those very minor swirls on the hood and leading edge of sunroof. So far I have used Zaino products including Z2 and Z5 (which is the non abrassive swirl remover). The gloss of the paint is super, but I can still see the swirls. I bought the ZPC product, which is the abrassive product. I did a test section by hand and it worked.



But down to the root cause... It has to be the washing, QD or dusting technique. I am switching to a bucket system with grit guard. My QD and dusting technique I carefully inspect each time and I am not introducing any new swirls. I figure I need to fix the root cause before I start using abrasives.
 
I can't imagine what is wrong with my wash process.



I mix a bucket of soapy water and a bucket of clean water. I clean the wheels, tires, and paint below the door line using the appropriate brushes. Then I empty the buckets, rinse them and mix a new bucket of soapy water and a new bucket of clean water. Grit guards are in effect the whole time.



I use a thick lambswool mitt, washing one panel at a time. Rinsing thoroughly after every panel. I dry using two thick microfiber drying towels. One for the initial water pickup and then a second pass with the dry towel to pick up anything left. Though, I just got a new leaf blower and I think that might become my preferred drying method.



I rarely use quick detailer. The car is black and it doesn't take much for the dirt to show up. Once I see it, don't really trust anything to clean it off and not mar the finish. I keep a bottle of QD in the trunk in case of emergencies like bird crap.



I think alot of these marks were already on the car when I bought it. And as you said, the craftsman buffer isn't suited for defect removal so when I polished, glazed, and waxed last month, I just hid the marks. Like I said, you have to be REALLY looking for these things.



Here are some shots of my car after I detailed it last time. This was the best its ever looked. I can't wait for spring now so I can KEEP it looking like this.



http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/79348-detailed-2006-g35.html
 
you are right... your wash process as described above is rock solid. It has to be the dealer.



It's funny on mine.. only the hood and the leading edge of the sunroof. The rear trunk lid is fine and nothing on the vertical surfaces. It's a mirror finish, except for barely discernable swirls in bright light on the hood and leading edge of the sunroof.
 
I too agree that most of the damage probably came from the actions of others, but don't discount the difficulty of doing a marring-free wash.



Consider that much of the dirt on a car is abrasive. If you apply pressure to the dirt and then move it across the paint, you'll get marring.



I tried to wash with mitts and (very soft) BHBs for decades, with varying degrees of success. But it wasn't until I sorted out my current foamgun-centric wash approach that I really put an end to my wash-induced marring. And that "sorting out" period was a long, long process.



I've gone on at length about wash techniques before so I won't rehash it all again here, but *in my experience*, even just the weight of a washmitt, applied to dirty paint, can be enough to cause marring on some finishes, and during any wash, once the mitt gets dirty (as in, after the first *inch* of contact with a dirty surface) the potential for marring exists. Rinsing a mitt after a whole panel isn't (again, just in my experience) even *close* to safe enough, not even when using a foamgun. I can't remember the last time I used a mitt on even *half* of a small panel without rinsing it, certainly haven't in the last decade. But then it takes me forever to wash a vehicle too :o
 
Your wash technique is as close to perfect as you can possibly get, maybe try getting a foam gun as said before. Keep in mind that Infiniti clear is really soft. I too have a G35 and the clear is suprizingly soft, even after I was warned. But, that makes it easy to fix I guess. I agree with most of the other posts, wait until you get a PC, then fix it all. It will be better than new. Have fun in the snow!
 
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