Removing swirls in the clear coat

J

janderson

New member
That is it! I give up. Man, every time I spend a weekend washing, Klassing, and Blitzing my car, mother nature (or the construction site right next to work) decides to drop a hurricane, or five cubic tons of dust on my car.



The old girl looks great two days a week, and barely remains dust free for a day. I just wanted to gripe about my woes. I am sure that you all have had this happen to you before.



The real challenge comes from the fact that the area that I work in (Fells Point area of Baltimore), is currently under major construction. So, even on nice non-breezy days, my car still gets super dirty. I was thinking about a car cover, but that might draw attention to my car, and I don't want to put my baby on center stage for any thief.



I will let you all know if I come up with something to combat this horrible act of violence.



And by the way, Happy Holidays to you all.



Best regards.
 
MarylandBimmr



In a way, I know how you feel. I spend hours on my mother's car on the weekends, and then when I leave she parks it under a tree everytime. I usually do the weekly work on Sundays, and by Tuesday it's covered in bird crap again.:mad:
 
MarylandBimmr,



You are not alone, I feel for ya buddy. Between the dry, windy days and the freakin leaf blowers blowing dirt around, LA is just as bad. A day after I wash/detail my car, it is full of dust and that's even with parking in a covered garage!:mad:
 
I feel your pain, but forget about the car cover if it is as dusty and windy as you state. The dirt will get between the cover and your finish. Can your say sandpaper...:eek:

Find a beater and leave the jewel at home. :cool:
 
Is that my car looks really good when she is all clean. I have actually had a few people stop and make comments about my car while I am putting the final coats of Blitz on the car.



It makes me feel really good when I have people say what a nice new BMW I have, despite the fact that the car is a '89.



My car is a daily driver, so she has to endure so much. God bless her for all that she deals with (huge potholes, dust, rain, snow, doors from other cars, the list goes on).
 
I feel your pain!!!!





But DON'T give up - keep 'er clean. I once bought a barely used (3K mi) white RX-7 - and only after I got it home did I notice the tiny rust stains all over the paint. Turns out it had been parked next to a contruction site - got iron dust on it and sat out in the rain. It wouldn't polish out - I had to have the car painted.



There's bad stuff in that thar dust - so get it offa there!



Maybe a car cover?
 
I'm a middle of the week rinser, but I have a silver car, when I get home I whip out the hose and rinse away the daily dust. Sometimes I'll rinse in the morning and drive extra fast to work. I rather have small water spots then dust on my car.
 
Guess it is the climate here. The summer is tough with pollen. At times I do what steve mentioned....but I rinse the car, but a capfull of car wash in a spray bottle, spray the car down, let it sit a minute or two, and rise off. Then I drive to work at 80 mph and it dries completely.........but on traffic days when I am bumper to bumper traffic I am screwed.........hehe
 
I don't get much pollen here, but the dirty roads! Ugh!



When driving home today, the road (Hawthorne Blvd. for those who are familiar with the South Bay in LA) was undergoing some construction. I couldn't help it, but I heard what were like stones and pebbles flying all over the car. So far, only minor dents on the bumpers and rocker-panels, but its covered in dirt and some tar. :(



Why cant all roads be perfectly clean?
 
Sadly, I found a new dent on the car. I saw a new dent on the hood this morning, as I parked my car in the company lot. I was sad at frist, but then I realized that my car is much like me. She has a few scratches here and there, but she looks great when she is clean, and gets all the girls when she goes out at night (hey it sounded good in my head, so I had to type it).



Best Regards.
 
I use a car cover, always have and always will.



I go for the Techalon cover. It's a custom fit and cost's me like 190.00. In Boston, MA you have, sap, sun, rain, snow, a very little bit of hail once in a blue moon, lots of mud and right next to a bus stop so ALOT of brake dust and the salt water from the ocean.



I see other people with thier clean cars (clean for a day or two) then the cars look as bad as they did before, my cover keep's the paint free of everything and anything and as long as your car is CLEAN before you put the cover on you have NOTHING to worry about, I know I don't. I even put it on when the car is a little dusty and it still doesn't mar the paint's finish.



People think is the dirt touches your paint it's shot to hell, don't be so worried, it's not about fearing the dirt it's about knowing your paint's limit to dirt. Like where it will scratch, how much dirt + how much pressure it takes, what kind of grime is worse than others etc....



I don't think I could keep a car clean without a cover.
 
I agree . When I lived in Boston I used a car cover. Nevertheless, at that time I did not own a dark colored car. The Rx7 was red which is a very forgiving color when it comes to swirl marks. Now that all my personal cars are black I would never use a car cover on them. Black is sooo prone to reveal any surface abrasion. Like I stated before everyone's situation is different and warrants different solutions. :cool:

Are you going to the Pat's game Saturday or watching it at Daisy Buchanan's? :D
 
I am more of a Celtics fan, good ol' irish southie. Never really got into football.



If I want to see swirl marks, I drive to a gas station at night and scope out the car under those lights. You think your car is perfect and wham! your hit with all these defects. Now when I saw my car has no swirls I can really say it.
 
I have a black car and you can see all the swirls in the paint. I'd like to see what you guys have used to get these swirls out. Twice a year I'll clay bar and wax the car using BlackFire products. This web site depicts I think exactly what I need to do: http://jasonsautospa.com/ccr.html

Anyone know how I can get these results myself?
 
Your best bet is to invest in an orbital polisher such as a portercable 7424xp. In order to damage your paint with a PC you pretty much have to throw the machine at the car..

If the scratches and swirls are heavy, you will need a compound such as Meguiars m105 or Menzerna Powergloss Compound, etc....Along with a foam cutting pad to fit the PC

If the scratches are light to moderate, you can use a medium to agressive polish that will both remove swirls and give the paint a nice gloss..
Agressive polishes I use are Menzerna 203s and Super Intensive Polish..

If you post pics of the swirls I'm sure some of the guys on here can pretty much give you an exact polish/pad combination that will do the trick..

-Brian
 
Where are you located?

I've seen some of Jason's work before, it is very good, but he does charge a premium. Definitely worth the money if you don't have the time or know how to do it yourself.

If you're in the southern Wisconsin area I'd be willing to come out and show you the ropes for a discount.
 
CH.Detailing said:
Where are you located?

I've seen some of Jason's work before, it is very good, but he does charge a premium. Definitely worth the money if you don't have the time or know how to do it yourself.

If you're in the southern Wisconsin area I'd be willing to come out and show you the ropes for a discount.
Click to expand...

I'm in Arlington Heights, IL (northwest suburbs of Chicago) but might be at Great Lakes Dragaway in the next couple weeks on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. I can post up some pics of the car and see what people think. The scratches are all very minor, pretty much looks identical to the ones on Jasons Auto Spa site. I definitely have the time and the desire to do this myself.
 
Yeah, that's a little too far for me. Although I haven't been out to GLD yet this year...

Post up some good sun shots of your paint and you'll definitely get some good responses, my bet is that at least one of them with start with using Meguiar's #105 Ultra Cut Compound. :)
 
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