Under normal everyday sunlight / overcast, by paint looks perfect. Shiny and beautiful. But when I park at night under those really yellow / orange parking lot lights (like at supermarkets) I see all KINDS of scratches and stuff in my paint?

I have a DB 350Z. What can I do to get rid of them? My car has so many coats of wax on it now, that after driving in the rain, it still looks perfectly clean.

 

You need to use a swirl remover product before you wax like 3M Swirl Mark Remover part number 39009 and use Zaino Z-5, it fills in imperfections in the paint like that.... Also, use good towels, bad toweling will cause that look, I use the www.dftowel.com

 

These, my friend, are called swirl marks. Typically a result of using dirty wash mitts, abrasive towels, and poor drying technique. Dare I say auto car washes also, hopefully you don't take your Z to those.

Kevin is correct, to an extent about 3m SMR. SMR contains oils and fillers though, and you won't actually be removing the swirl marks, you'll be filling them in. And while the resulting finish will be MUCH better under those flourescent lights, the swirls WILL reappear after some time and after the SMR is effectively washed away.

To actually REMOVE swirl marks, you'll have to use a product like Meguiar's DACP (Dual Action Cleaner Polish) or 3M Finesse-It II Machine Polish. Furthermore, swirl marks CAN NOT be removed by hand, you'll need to use a Porter Cable Random Orbital buffer. For those not in the know, a random orbital is safe to use on your paint, even for a newbie to detailing. The don't rotate nearly as fast as a rotary buffer, and the risk of actually burning your paint is slim to none. The "random orbital" motion also does not result in additional swirl marks, or micro-marring of your paint. Whereas the steady rotation of a rotary is much more likely to swirl the paint.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks. I am really ginger with the paint, using soft terrycloths, hand washing only, blah blah blah. There isn't a huge amount of swirls, but I can't believe they are there.

My 7 year old 3000GT never got those marks. And my girlfriends 94 Accord which I use all the same products and towels on doesn't have them either.

I have done the same routine with all my cars- which is the same routine that my father always did. None of our cars ever had swirl marks in them (which is why we got top dollar when we sold them - they looked brand new.)

I know its been said before, but this is some soft *ss paint on these cars . . .

I'll just use the filler. With how easily this paint swirls, I'll lose half my life with an orbital in my hand.

 

[QUOTE]Kevin is correct, to an extent about 3m SMR. SMR contains oils and fillers though, and you won't actually be removing the swirl marks, you'll be filling them in.[QUOTE]

No, 3M Swirk Mark Remover and Foam Pad Polish part number 39009 is an abrasive and is capable of removing some paint material, ALL abrasives and compounds contain carrier agents (oils, etc) if they did not you would be rubbing essentially sand against your paint. The Finesse It II also contains oils but is a MORE aggresive product than the 39009. It does not matter anyway, because BEFORE you apply Zaino polishes (z-5) after using the 3M's , Meguiars, anything, you will want to wash the car with Dawn to remove the oil residue.

 

Kevin, do you or don't you recommend the 3M Swirl Mark Remover? Or would you suggest using the Zaino product instead? I would ultimately just like to fill the fine scratches, and not keep using abrasives everytime.

 

So, 3M Swirl Mark remover is what to get for minor swirls?

Where can you buy it? Does autozone and pepboys stock it??

 

I recommend to my customers to use the 3M Swirl Mark at first before you do your first coat of Z-5, perferred use by far is with a foam pad and orbital buffer, if you do not have that just skip the 3M and use the Z-5.

Most of my customers only use the 3M once and never again.....

 

Yes, as far as compounds and polishes go, the 3M Swirl Mark remover part number 39009 is extremely mild and is easy for anyone, even a novice, to use it effectively. I am told Pep boys stocks it (no Pep boys in my area) but I buy mine at NAPA, just ask for 3M part number 39009, if NAPA does not have it in stock, NAPA can get anything from their matrix over night, so they can order it from the supplier.....

 

I would bet 500$ that both other cars have swirl marks out the wazooo. you just havent looked in the right angle.

its damn near impossible not to have them. dust hitting your car on the road; towels with car dirt on them rubbing against the paint. ect ect. Ive never seen a car that doesnt have them(unless its just had its finish redone).

its a way of life; Z5 keeps them at bay for me. more or less a even match on how many I create while washing and how many it removes when I wax.

 

I just got in the mail today the new Meguiars NXT Generation Tech Wax. This stuff looks pretty bad. If it would stop raining here, I will wash the car with Dawn, clay, sick a stripe of tape down the middle and do a test. I'll post pics too. At $20 a bottle, if it does what they say it will - Zaino may be at an obsolite price point.

 

Be careful trying to buff the scratches out as you may cause more damage to the paint surface. Take it to a professional detailing shop to have them permanently remove the scratches for you.

 

In 20+ years in the car cleaning business, I have seen way better results from citizen detailers rather than detailing shops. Detail shops around here are interested in two things, 1. Your money and how much we can get from you and 2. How fast can we slap on some high silicone content wax to hide your imperfections until the first rain storm....

Also, to permanently remove scratches that the eye can see you have to replace them with very tiny scratches that the eye can not see, that is how abrasives in auto compounds work....

 

mcgraphics, any luck yet?

 

I agree w/ Kevin. Most "detailing" shops out there have really stunk up the detailing industry. Many are not professionally trained and do not have extensive knowledge of chemicals, technique, and equipment for different types of exterior / interior detailing. I have seen many customers go from one detailing shop to another w/ unsatisfied results. Although, I cannot generalize here, it seems the industry doesn't have much standards. Very often, customers come to me skeptically after trying multiple detailers. Some very common problems w/ detailing shops are: burning paint w/ machine buffing, overlooking scratches that could be removed, wax/sealant residue leftover, improper technique leaving paint surface exposed to UV rays, etc.

Here are some things to look for when searching for a professional detailer:

-Take a look at the cars they've detailed - this is a good indication of what your car would look like.
-Ask the detailer about prior training and background
-Ask to see the detailer's own car: this would show you how good's the detailer (if the detailer can't maintain his own car, then he's likely not to do a good job w/ your car)

As a matter of fact, detailing is somewhat similar to window tinting. We've all seen cars tinted that bubbled up and faded purple. Even some shops that offer those "$99" tint jobs can end up doing cutting the film into 2-3 pieces just to make it fit the curvature of some glasses.

 

Check out my NXT tech Wax post for how I made out.