Swirls and Scratches - can I do it this way?

C

Cheetah

New member
Hi, I'm a noob and I've only detailed my own car once which was a week ago. Came out great though. I've got a couple of rock chips and some very slight swirling that I want to try to remove this weekend. I don't have a polishing machine and I'm not able to use one because I don't have a garage and my car is parked about 80 feet from my house. Maybe I will buy a long extension cord someday but for now I will try to do all of my detailing by hand.



I'm going to give ScratchX or Autoglym Super Resin a try and I know it takes a long time by hand so I was wondering if I could work on, say, one half of one panel, then polish and wax that area with the same product that I used last week when I did a full clay, pre-wax and wax job. Then a couple of days later I could do the 2nd half of the panel and then some days later I would move on to another panel and so on.



Would this approach be valid or should I attack it another way?:o



Thanks.
 
Cheetah said:
Hi, I'm a noob and I've only detailed my own car once which was a week ago. Came out great though. I've got a couple of rock chips and some very slight swirling that I want to try to remove this weekend. I don't have a polishing machine and I'm not able to use one because I don't have a garage and my car is parked about 80 feet from my house. Maybe I will buy a long extension cord someday but for now I will try to do all of my detailing by hand.



I'm going to give ScratchX or Autoglym Super Resin a try and I know it takes a long time by hand so I was wondering if I could work on, say, one half of one panel, then polish and wax that area with the same product that I used last week when I did a full clay, pre-wax and wax job. Then a couple of days later I could do the 2nd half of the panel and then some days later I would move on to another panel and so on.



Would this approach be valid or should I attack it another way?:o



Thanks.
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Cheetah,

Your suggested technique and products look workable. ScratchX can be used by hand, and the Autoglym is famous for having quite a few fillers so it tends to fill minor swirls rather than polish them out. Don't be afraid to do multiple coats of the SRP and you'll notice the swirls gradually vanishing.

Vanishing but not gone, they're still there of course, you just won't see them until the SRP gets washed away, so put a good long lasting carnauba on top.

If your arms can stand it, go for a panel at a time, it'll save the cleaning between applications.

-John C.
 
Make sure that if you do a panel a day for example, your car is as clean on the forth panel as it was on the first. In other words if you drive it a lot you may have to wash again before the next panel or at least use a quick detailer spray. Honestly if I were you, I would invest in a 100ft long extension cord and do it with a machine. What kind of machine do you have?
 
Yep, when working by hand, I would go for a panel per day or something sensibly achieveable... That way, you can focus your efforts on getting that one panel spot on by hand rather than rushing to complete the car, and you'll get good results that way.



I would give Meguiars ScratchX a go, I find this effective on many paint types for light to medium swirls so long as you are patient with it and are willing to do repeat applications. Work on areas about 1' square with it, spread a around and work in with firm pressure until the residue goes clear... This takes a lot of effort but its well worth it in the end and there's a good feeling of satisfaction about it. :)
 
Cheetah- Yeah, do a whole panel after each wash.



FWIW, much as I like the SRP, if you haven't already ordered it I'd get some 1Z paint polish instead. It works great by hand and is aggressive enough to do some fair correction as well as some filling. It leaves wax behind too, enough to last a while so you don't have to wax if you're tired after doing the wash/polish.



If you do use the SRP, it won't do much (if any) correction but it will last a while. Either approach will work by hand but get some long lasting wax on top before too long (I'd get Collinite).
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.



I already have ScratchX so I was thinking that I could try that approach first but now I'm thinking that this will just eat up my time doing a wash, then one panel, then another wash and another panel in an endless circle forever.



I don't have a machine yet. I'm not sure which one to buy yet.

I would like to buy a machine that I can use for removing swirls as well as applying waxes. Should I get a porter cable or what? Any reccomendations on a good machine for beginners?



Oh, here's a pic of my car with Mother's Synwax on it.
 

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Cheetah- The car looks nice, great starting point.



Doing the one-panel-at-a-time thing doesn't have to be a huge pain, you can just polish/wax a panel after each of the next regular washes.



See how you do with the Scratch-x, works great for some people, doesn't for others.



The PC (or the more expensive Cyclo that I generally prefer) is a fine tool for a beginner. I'd have no qualms at all about recommending it to somebody with no prior experience. Just recently, a friend of mine with *zero* detailing experience borrowed one of mine and used it on her Lexus after she got tired of waiting for her husband to get around to it. No coaching/advice from me, just common sense. Turned out great.



Oh, and Welcome to Autopia, think I forgot to say that earlier :D
 
Ok, sounds like a plan. I'm going to get a Cyclo and while I'm waiting for it to arrive I will figure out what polish to use to get the swirls out.



By the way, can the Cyclo also be used to apply and remove waxes for the final finish?



Thanks for your help. I'll post an update with pics when it's done.
 
Cheetah said:
Ok, sounds like a plan. I'm going to get a Cyclo and while I'm waiting for it to arrive I will figure out what polish to use to get the swirls out..
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Ah, cool. Hope you like the Cyclo as much as I do; I really love mine (so much I bought a second one!).



Most polishes work fine by Cyclo (remember that it's single speed, unlike the 6-speed PC). One product that does *not* work well for me with the Cyclo is Klasse AIO. The Autoglym SRP works fine.



Getting back to my previous recommendation, the 1Z Paint Polish works fine with that machine.



Dunno if it'll give a *perfect* finish on your car...the clear on my '97 BMW is hard as a rock and requires hard work with the rotary but other BMWs reportedly have very soft clear, so it's one of those :nixweiss things. Just have to see how it goes, but that 1z stuff would be a great choice and I'd still go with Collinite over top of it. Not like there aren't plenty of other good choices though, so do a little investigating.



By the way, can the Cyclo also be used to apply and remove waxes for the final finish?
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You bet! Applying and removing wax by Cyclo (you still have to do the tight spots by hand of course) works great. Heh heh, it almost qualifies as fun in my book ;)



Use finishing pads to apply. I prefer MF bonnets over cutting pads for the removal (the thicker, firmer cutting pads seem just right for this, better by far than wool IMO). I do give it a final by-hand buff, but that's just making sure. The bonnets get a good 95% of the wax off and really burnish the finish for a great appearance. Get *good* bonnets, some of the earlier/cheaper Cobra brand ones I have aren't soft enough for every paint and better safe than sorry.













Thanks for your help. I'll post an update with pics when it's done.[/QUOTE]
 
Funny day today. I came home at lunch and I saw one of my neighbors (don't know him) washing his very expensive top of the line looking black Lexus. I see him washing it about twice a week so I went over to take a look. He was using a raggedy stained rag and doing his wheels. After that he washed his hood with the same rag! Of course he only had one bucket. I looked at his finish and it was literally covered with millions of heavy swirls. It looked horrible. The car is a 2006 model too. I told him he should get some wash mitts and use 2 buckets but he said kinda rudely "I'm busy". Poor car.



After that I was doing some interior detailing on mine and another one of my neighbors came outside and said to me "I see you working on your car all the time now. You're not going to be using any of those loud machines are you?" I said "uhh.... no i guess not."



I guess that's the end of my looking forward to getting a cyclo. I guess I'll have to try by hand now. :(
 
I saw a video on this site of someone using the cyclo and I didn't think that it was

as loud as I thought. I think the PC is worse, so I'm going to get one. I will just try to

work at respectable hours so the neighbors don't freak. Yay!!
 
I don't think noise is a concern with the Cyclo. I also bought mine when I read about it here(thanks Accumulator) and I am glad I got it. I usually use Poorboys SSR 2,5 or 1 with it and it works great. :clap:

Good luck and welcome to autopia, tell us how your detailing works out.
 
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