Swirl marks here to stay or risk it for them to go away..?

[Herminator]

Hurry up with the good pics

Did he mention how hard the paint was and what products he used?
I wish he was closer to me, I'd really like some of my Z's scratches sorted.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm dropping my Coupe off at a bodyshop to get two scuffs/scratches and a door ding fixed up. I've only had the car 3 weeks and these were all on the car before I bought it.

I also asked the bodyshop if they could machine polish the bonnet to get rid of some swirls and they recommended against it as they said it would just cause more swirls. I'm confused as I thought machine polishing was the ultimate get rid of swirls method. Guess I just have to put some more work in with the wax. Treated myself to a pot of Victoria Red Concours Wax the other night which should hopefully arrive tomorrow so I can get some on the car over the weekend.

 

[Anonymous]

OK light was failing and I don't have any "before or during" photos, Lee is going to send those to me in the next couple of days.

The car is looking very nice, had a very nasty scratch on the boot which has completely gone which I'm very happy about.

Obviously photo's don't really do it justice, the car is looking great and swirls are gone, the paintwork is looking the best it has in all the time I've owned it!

Lee was at it from 10:00 to 17:30 and it came to £220, for the amount of time spent and the final result I'm more than happy.

HEADRAT

Looking good

 

[PaulN]

I'm dropping my Coupe off at a bodyshop to get two scuffs/scratches and a door ding fixed up. I've only had the car 3 weeks and these were all on the car before I bought it.

I also asked the bodyshop if they could machine polish the bonnet to get rid of some swirls and they recommended against it as they said it would just cause more swirls. I'm confused as I thought machine polishing was the ultimate get rid of swirls method. Guess I just have to put some more work in with the wax. Treated myself to a pot of Victoria Red Concours Wax the other night which should hopefully arrive tomorrow so I can get some on the car over the weekend.

lol Its because Bodyshops are well known for doing poor jobs regarding.............. Mopping I dont think they will ever have the finer polishes to burnish it right down.

They have done you a favour mate.

Cheers

PaulN

 

[sammyz]

looks like an excellent job for a very good price. Now we need to find someone like Lee in the north west!

 

[duckson]

Iain @ Finerdetails is good by all accounts.

 

[klarky]

It depends how crazy you want to go. I think there's a point where you just have to live with things.

Having looked on detailing world, it seems to me that the most sensible option is to use something like AG Super Resin Polish, which is a very gentle polish that also fills the light scratches/swirls. Then wax on top. Many people seem reccomend AG (AutoGlym) Extra Gloss Protection for after the SRP, rather than a pastey wax.

I've gone for Dodo Juice Lime Prime and then Purple Haze wax for after. Basicly they do the same job as the two AG products but they smell nice I've yet to get a chance to use them though.

I want to protect my paint but I'll not be able to get all the swirls out without a machine and I drive my car so often that it would just be a waste of my time trying to keep it flawless. If it looks a bit swirly, just stand a foot or two further back

ive just spend 3 hours on the z with cleaning / ag super resin polish / ag high def wax and im pleased with the results, swirling is not as bad in bright direct light as it was, less rings around the light. i have a sterling grey z so its not such a big deal - personally i can live with the swirls as it a daily car, more than happy to put a few hours in once a month to keep them a little bit less obvious. reason i went ag was the 3 for 2 offer at halford at the moemnt, also picked up the hood clean / protect. seems to have made the rub marks less obvious, and the protect went off easily.

 

[Herminator]

ive just spend 3 hours on the z with cleaning / ag super resin polish / ag high def wax and im pleased with the results, swirling is not as bad in bright direct light as it was, less rings around the light. i have a sterling grey z so its not such a big deal - personally i can live with the swirls as it a daily car, more than happy to put a few hours in once a month to keep them a little bit less obvious. reason i went ag was the 3 for 2 offer at halford at the moemnt, also picked up the hood clean / protect. seems to have made the rub marks less obvious, and the protect went off easily.

I've just been claying the front half of my Z. I'm doing it bit by bit as I'll not be able to move otherwise
Now I'm debating if I should do the rest of the claying today and then polish/wax over the next couple of days, or polish/wax what I've clayed so far and then start on the rear half tomorrow.

The halfords offer is pretty good, I'm trying to avoid spending much more until I've used what I've already got. I still need some exhaust polish though and one of my waffle weave towels seems to be past it's best and leaving fibres behind when drying the car

 

[PaulN]

As it was raining on and off yesterday i decided to start correcting the boxsters paint!

Found it much easier being silver than the z4's jet black but the bonnet was causing the polish to clump while machining what everyone call sticky paint.

Anyway just need to finish the drivers side and im done, alot faster than the Z4 as i didn't tape up every panel or seal the paint as i can do that when im all finished....

I post up some photos but it wont be as impressive as the Z4 as silver just doesn't have the depth.

Cheers

PaulN

 

[Herminator]

Would you bother taping up when just doing it by hand?

I've finished the claying and used almost all the quick detailing stuff they give you in the Megs clay kit, despite watering it down a bit when 2/3rds through. Was very weary of not having enough lube :wink:

Now it's time for a curry and some TV

 

[Herminator]

Well it's back to regular work today but I got my car cleaning finished yesterday using all my new stuff on it.

The claying was easy enough and worthwhile, something I'll probably do twice a year, probably need to find some clay that works with a cheaper lube though, I used pretty much all of the spray in the Megs kit.

The Lime Prime I'm not so sure about, it was one of the longest processes and seemed to give the least benifit. I was doing it all by hand, it seems it really needs a machine to work the product in properly and with my paint I'd probably need a stage or two of something more abrassive before hand. I have several bird poo ghosts along with several light scratches that need more than I can ever do by hand.

The Purple Haze wax I like a lot, simple to apply, simple to buff off and very nice to work with, especially since it smells so good. I'll probably add another coat in a few washes since it can be done in a couple of hours.

Working on the car, bit by bit, over a few days meant I didn't get too knackered or bored but it did mean I've found more and more paint problems I never realised there were so many patches where bird poop has obviously been left on too long (none of them appeared to be where I remember having to wipe off bird cack) Most of the scratches I had already spotted, the ones I had't are in out of the way places. Swirls appear to be the least of my worries (it has plenty of them too though)
It seems I could do with getting someone to do just the machining process, but I'm worried there's no clear coat left on the bird poo areas :x

Next weekend- the interior :roll:

 

[PaulN]

Would you bother taping up when just doing it by hand?

I've finished the claying and used almost all the quick detailing stuff they give you in the Megs clay kit, despite watering it down a bit when 2/3rds through. Was very weary of not having enough lube :wink:

Now it's time for a curry and some TV

No Need to tape if polishing by hand as you will beable to avoid plastic trim, also you wouldn't overly polish the edges as you could with a machine.

Im not 100% about Lime Prime, but via a machine ive heard its pretty good. But then why not use a final finish polish in stead......

Cheers

PaulN

 

[HEADRAT]

I've got the pic's from Lee, just resizing and uploading etc.

Snowfoam

Rear (Before)

Rear (After)

Clay Bar

Bird Lime Front

Swirls on Front (Before)

Thickness and work in progress on front

Swirls on Front (After)

More coming soon.

Cheers

HEADRAT

 

[duckson]

Clay bar = very dirty! :lol:

Good job! 8)