Black Subaru Paint - Need Help Badly!

joeyb7 · 07-25-05, 04:08

To start, I take meticulous care of my car, the right mitts, microfiber, poorboys/Klasse products, Mazerna, etc., etc.

I washed/polished/waxed my car (BY HAND) yesterday, and it looked great, really wet and shiny.

Today I look at it close in the sun (from even a few feet away it looked great), and the paint is really getting scratched. The scratches can't even be felt with your fingernail, they are not very deep, but they are all over (I mean all over) the paint. It practically looks like someone began wetsanding the paint - well, maybe not that bad. But the paint is only a few months old, and only been washed/waxed a few times so far.

What could be making it look this bad?? I'm washing with a sheepskin mitt, applying polish with a terry applicator, and wax with a foam pad or terry applicator... as far as I know, all the right items. I'm even drying with waffle towels and microfiber, but the paint under the sun looks horrible.

Could I possibly be not putting enough wax on the terry cloth applicator. The reason I ask is because the scratches are very noticable long (side to side) scratches in the sun - just the way I apply my wax and polish.

Can anyone help?? Anyone have a black suby that they take good care of out there??

Thanks in advance everyone!!

zippymbr · 07-25-05, 04:46

Are you using the two bucket method to wash? Black is very difficult to maintain a mar free Finnish. I have a black Lexus and try very hard not to scratch it. I still have to polish it several times a year to keep the swirls to a minimum. Klasse seems to advertise swrils not hide them. If you do not own a PC you may want to consider a LSp that will fill and hide the scratches. Like a good carnuba. I use S100 on the black Lexus and it hides alot.

joeyb7 · 07-25-05, 05:33

Well it's funny, I used the poorboys polish w/carnuba, followed by Blue Natty's paste wax which should hide some swirls/light surface scratches, or so I thought, and the finish seems to be getting worse.

I'm thinking it's my application or the polish and wax, or the way in which I wipe off the polish.

Should I be using a circle or figure 8 motion when applying the wax/polish instead of back and forth? The scratches seem to be long, so I'm thinking this might be where they're coming from.

Would not turning my applicator, or refreshing my microfiber when I wipe off the wax be the culprit??

I'm just really worried about the finish... some of the scrathes, although not deep are looking pretty bad in the sun. I just don't want it to get any worse because the car looks so good except when it's not in direct sunlight... it's only about 3 months old!!

Amused · 07-25-05, 07:20

hey joey,
i'm not sure if you're going to be able to remove the light marring by hand and i don't think you'll be able to fill all the imperfections(if they're that light) with a product. i believe PwC is a chemical cleaner and it won't have the proper cutting ability to reduce the marring(i'm not sure of it's filling ability either). it may be worth it to get yourself a PC. i never found hand application to yeild satisfying results on black. i'm not sure if i'm going to be around this weekend, i may have to travel to DC for work, but if i have time, i might be able to swing by with my PC and see if i can help you out.

zippymbr · 07-26-05, 06:12

I have not seen good results hand polishing. Out hands cann't produce the random rotations or the high speed that a machine can do. Some polishes are made for hand use like Scratch-X. I think VM is good to use by hand as well. But I do not think you will be happy with the results you will get by hand. It is an art for those with big shoulders. If you want to get rid of them I suggest you go get a PC and a pad kit.

Bill87GN · 07-26-05, 07:57

Hey Fuji, want to swing by my place too. It seems I need help with my stuff too. I have a bunch of products, just don't seem to be able to get anything out with stuff that should be able to get the marks out. Must be my technique. I need a tutorial, lol. I live in Arlington by the way and have all the products and beer you may need

LOL

Accumulator · 07-26-05, 09:07

joeyb7- I have't done a *black* Subie, but I've done other colors and I don't think the clear should be all that different. Once you get the marring out (yeah, you're gonna need a PC unless you have the patience of a chopping block) you oughta rework your wash technique. Check out my Non-marring Wash Technique thread in the Hall of Fame forum.

To correct the marring, I'd use PI-III RC followed by PI-III MG. While discontinued, these products are still commonly available (or you could use their PI-3000 replacements). I"ve uded them on Subaru clear- they worked. I used the Klasse twins on mine after these polishes. VM is *much* too gentle for this job. Subie clear is sorta tough, so it'll take a while evn with the right products. I'd *definitely* get the PC, doing this by hand is possible (I did small isolated areas by hand) but it'd take many, many hours of hard work.

Another idea would be to use Meg's #80 for the final polishing, and seal in its oils with a "heavy" carnauba, which will hide a little more too.

Direction-of-motion shouldn't matter. Scratches are scratches, they're a mechanical phenomenon caused by pressing something abrasive against/into the paint and can happen in any direction.

I'd ditch the terry and use only the hightest grade fom and plush MFs for your polishing and waxing. My guess is that it's the washing that's causing most of the problem. Yeah, you should get a fresh MF whenever the one you're using gets loaded with product. I used a *lot* of MFs when I did my WRX.

Pull it into the sun as you're doing the work, so you spot problems early and don't get the whole car done before you realize that something isn't satisfactory.