Swirls in black paint

[digitalpinscruiser]

Yep I have removed my swirls by hand and with my dads $50 buffer as you can see above. I always do it myself because my dad has done it for years to all of his cars and he taught me when I was young while washing his cars. There in no place in New York City near me that I have found to trust and I find it fun doing it myself.

[soonercruiser]

Originally Posted by digitalpinscruiser

Yep I have removed my swirls by hand and with my dads $50 buffer as you can see above. I always do it myself because my dad has done it for years to all of his cars and he taught me when I was young while washing his cars. There in no place in New York City near me that I have found to trust and I find it fun doing it myself.

DITY! Cool, Guy!
Live independant!

[PT_Cuda]

Originally Posted by digitalpinscruiser

Yep I have removed my swirls by hand and with my dads $50 buffer as you can see above. I always do it myself because my dad has done it for years to all of his cars and he taught me when I was young while washing his cars. There in no place in New York City near me that I have found to trust and I find it fun doing it myself.

I have done it by hand too. But my DA does it a lot faster

[Candyman]

Hey digitalpinscruiser,

Looking good man! I was looking to see if I can tell what you used for the job and (Please tell me how close I am here) on the right it looks like we have a tube of Meguiar's Scratch X, far left I want to say is either a one step Cleaner Wax, or Polish from Meguiar's Deep Crystal line, and the middle bottle is a bit tricky. It really reminds me of an old bottle of 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, but I somehow doubt that is what it is. So I will go ahead and take a guess and say its a wax product under the Meguiar's Gold Class Line.

OK, how close was I?


Anyways, looks really good! If you really want to add to your gloss, maybe pick up a bottle of Meguiar's Swirl Remover, and a a bottle of Show Car Glaze. Keep that up and your going to pass me up in gloss one of these days!


PT_Cuda,

Actually, though a lot of people would probably like to blame swirls on the Dealership, they are actually caused by friction. You get them from washing, or whenever something comes in contact with the surface. Even airborne contaminants humidity, and other relate atmospheric conditions can have an effect on Swirls in your paint. So swirls are just a way of life. In a way, you never truly get rid of swirls, but rather by using good Micro-Compounds, Glazes, and Polymer Fillers, you can smooth out the harsh edges of Swirls to better reduce light refraction thus producing more gloss.

For best results on polishing out paint to perfection, you need a rotary buffer that will run around 1000 to 1200 RPM, and for me, I like to use a Lambswool Buffing Pad, but you can also do as good or better job using a new set of High Tech Foam Buffing Pads which vary in density, and waffle pattern for various applications. If you run at 1000 RPM to 1200 PPM then you will cause enough friction heat to remove most defects, light scratching, and Swirls without causing damage, or burning the paint. If you go much faster, you need proper training in techniques to perform the job without causing damage.

Anyhow, for more info in detail on all this stuff and more, please check out my Detailing Guide at the top of this Forum Topic, and as always, if anyone ever has any questions on Detailing, please feel free to drop me a line anytime and I would be more than happy to help any way I can!

Go easy, and I will catch you all later.

Candyman

[digitalpinscruiser]

Originally Posted by Candyman

Hey digitalpinscruiser,

Looking good man! I was looking to see if I can tell what you used for the job and (Please tell me how close I am here) on the right it looks like we have a tube of Meguiar's Scratch X, far left I want to say is either a one step Cleaner Wax, or Polish from Meguiar's Deep Crystal line, and the middle bottle is a bit tricky. It really reminds me of an old bottle of 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, but I somehow doubt that is what it is. So I will go ahead and take a guess and say its a wax product under the Meguiar's Gold Class Line.

OK, how close was I?

Candyman

thanks for the compliments Candyman & everyone...

Candyman the pic below is what I used....you were pretty close though only thing you missed was the wax


The IBiz car wax is what I love to use on my car. I meet the guy whom makes this stuff years ago at the NYC autoshow and have been using it ever since.

.

[PT_Cuda]

Oh candyman I can tell you story. After having spent an entire day working with a guru who polished out my 01 N/A after an extended neglect(I had a hip injury that made me handwashing/waxing impossible) we took out every swirl, scuff and mar mark on the car. A month or so later I had a minor fender bender. Nothing serious just a new bumper fender and blend paint into hood/door. Well the bodyshop buffed out the entire car - installing swirl marks on every bodypanel. This was a high end custom shop in the San Fernando Valley. I was PO'd as was the guru who had given me his time to help me clean up my car. They should have not even touched anything beyond the front doors, nope EVERY panel.

And No swirl marks not a way of life, if you use the correct towels and care for your car the way it should be and follow a few simple rules you can keep pretty much swirl free for years. I've done it, its when I let others who have no knowledge or plain just don't care about MY cars surface then swirls happen. Is it being anal retentive, yes, but its not rocket science to keep it that way.

I will bet my DA over a rotary any day of the week on a well cared for surface. A rotary in the hands of an idiot will get you the left side of this hood. The right side was after a few passes with a DA and the most cutting compounds you can use with a DA.




I understand full well that a rotary in the hands of a master can be wonderful. But in the hands of a novice or in this case an asshat, can do more damage than words can express. A DA on the other hand in the hands of a novice will NOT damage the paint, and in the hands of guru will flat out work wonders.. The right is the guru's work and I take no credit for the fixed side other than I left him alone and kept his shop dog occupied for a few hours. Oh and I brought beer


You have to match tools to the user, you I would bet can work wonders with a rotary, but if you are just as skilled with a DA you would be a killer detailer. I would put a rotary tool ONLY in the hands of someone who has taken the time to really learn to use one, cause in the hands of someone not skilled or just plain doesn't care a lot of damage can happen. But a DA if you don't use it right you are just playing with wax, unless you happen to drop the DA machine on the car then yeah you will damage it..

[Candyman]

Hey their PT Cuda,

For better, or worse, her is my two cents. Please keep in mind this is only for help, and clarification purposes, and I big time have no intentions ever of getting anyone going off on me. Just trying to help out.

I think we might be getting lost in translation a bit which unfortunately is really pretty common.

Their are generally two types of Paint Defects referred to as Swirls. The first type of Defect is seen as a circular spider web effect like scratching into the surface which is caused by a number of things ranging from washing your car, dusting your car (even with a damp microfiber towel), or by friction caused by air borne contaminants such as hot brake dust particles from other vehicles around you on the road, an more. Unfortunately, unless your ride is sealed away in a plastic bubble, though they may be very hard to spot, I am sad to say your Paint has swirls in it. The best way to see the Swirls in any Paint is to view it under very bright florescent, or other high intensity Lighting which will magnify the light refraction showing all defects. You can hide swirls from view to the point where you pretty much are not able to tell with the naked eye where they are, but within a matter of weeks they will re-appear.

Here is a moderate example of Swirls in a 1964 Bentley.



The other type of defect is also sometimes refereed to as Swirls, but the proper terminology in the Detailing Industry are "Holograms" which are directly caused by improper buffing technique, improper equipment or there use of. Hologram's can also be formed by working on a contaminated surface which, or accidentally introducing any type of Foreign body during the buffing process. The damage shown in your Pic's above are good examples of Hologram's which are usually very much visible as moderate to severe surface damage.

And here is another example of Holograms in a 1998 Ford F150.




As far as Buffers go, the DA, and Rotary both have their rightful Place. The DA or (Dual Action) is excellent for removing minor surface defects, Glazing, and applying Wax, or Paint Sealant in an officiant manner, however it will not remove scratching, swirls, and other more serious paint defects.

In order to effectively remove swirls, scratches, and other defects, you need to built up by friction which will create heat and allow you to remove, flatten, and other related types of Paint Defects, you need a Rotary Buffer. For the most part this is not usually a consumer tool as it can cause damage if not used properly, or if the operator is using the wrong Pads for the job.

So anyways, like I was saying, this is strictly for the for the benefit of providing the best information possible to help people better understand about Swirls. I totally understand both problems, and their respectiv

Candyman

[SR-PT4]

Originally Posted by PT_Cuda

Holy smokes! I just stumbled onto this thread and I can't believe there was no reaction to these images since they were posted back in April!! That's quite the save on that hood.

[PT_Cuda]

Originally Posted by SR-PT4

Holy smokes! I just stumbled onto this thread and I can't believe there was no reaction to these images since they were posted back in April!! That's quite the save on that hood.

that is cause it was done with a DA, not a rotary. Some people couldn't/wouldn't believe a DA could undo such damage.

I know, I know the dude who did it had mad skills, he works for meguiars now.. Umm yeah I know people.. And he a few others taught me everything I know..

I can't accept thanks for the appreciation, but I will pass a linky on to the dude that did the saving of that hood..