My 3-year old magnetic black 350Z has been taken care of but has the normal swirls and marring which come with time. None of the swirls or marring is particularly bad, but I'm about to buy a dual-action polisher (such as a Porter Cable 7424XP or Flex) and I'd like to hear from people who have machine polished 350Z's.

How hard is the clear on our vehicles? Would starting out with Meguiar's #105 polish with a Lake Country orange light cutting pad be too strong? There are other less extreme options, such as #105 with a white polishing pad, or Meguiar's #205 with a white polishing pad.

Really, this boils down to a question of whether the added cut of #105 polish is needed or if #205 will do the job on a Z for swirling/marring resulting from car washings done by hand over the past 3 years. From what I've read on the Autopia forums, car clearcoats range from ultra-soft to ultra-hard and I have no idea where the Z clearcoat comes in.

Thanks for any advice

 

As a side note, I love my DA Ultimate Detailing Machine. They are typically ~$199, but I've seen them on sale for $129, which is a steal for such a fabulous piece of equipment.

 

From my experience when detailing Nissans and Infiniti's is that the clear is harder than average. However that being said it doesn't mean I would jump straight to a more aggressive combination of pad and polish. I always start from least aggressive to most aggressive. Sometimes it's very hard to tell how much polishing is needed to get rid of swirls. If you don't have a paint thickness gauge the more reason to go from least aggressive.

I would suggest starting with the least aggressive combination you have which from what you typed is the white polishing pad and M205. Start with that and see if you can get the desired results. You could even start with a lighter combination like M205 with a finishing black or blue pad.

When you pick up your PC or Flex which I am sure you will be thankful you purchased instead of doing it by hand, be sure to pick up different grades of pads, ranking from finishing pad to more aggressive pads, of course it is also dependent on your cars condition. Your paint will love you for taking the least amount of clearcoat necessary

Whoops I forgot to provide you with a Z example.
http://www.torontonissan.ca/forums/s...ead.php?t=6494
The link is a full write up i did on a Z. I found that Power Finish from Menzerna was sufficient but cutting ability is in between 105 and 205.

BTW Porter Cable 7424xp ( Ultimate Detailing Version - just a sticker ) is on sale at autopia. If you use the code "Autopia" i believe it's another 10%.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/ultim...-polisher.html

Have fun and good luck ! Keep us up to date with your car and be sure to take tons of pics!!!

Take care,
- Nick

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind while shopping for a machine. Do you have any experience with Meguiar's #105 or #205 polishes? If not, what would be your recommendation(s)?

 

Wow, great information. I'll read up on the thread you linked to and post any more questions I have here. Thanks!

 

Well done! So, what DO you charge for a job like that? You can PM me, I'm curious how it compares to rates out here that I charge for full details (let me know if you did anything else, like interior, under the hood, wheel wells, wheel insides (pulling the wheels), calipers, etc.)