A lot of people have been asking me lately how to buff swirl marks out of the paint using a random orbital buffer(Porter cable 7336SP). I only recommend using this buffer or a similar RANDOM ORBITAL buffer, do not use a rotary, there is too much risk involved for a beginner. Also I do not guarantee perfect results, perfect results comes with practice from these basic instruction that i can provide you. This is how I do all the cars I do and I find it is the technique that works best for me. I suggest playing around a little bit and experiment (dont forget to post your results!
) Here are the instructions for a car with a fair amount of swirl marks.
I recommend getting a porter cable 7336SP from your local lowes and buying the porter cable pad accessory kit from
www.properautocare.com Also try and find a local body shop supply store that carries
meguiars professional line of products. I highly recommend their Dual Action cleaner polish (#83). It is a fairly aggressive polish, excellent at removing swirls and is very easy to use, especially for a beginner.
1) I would use the wool pad that comes in the kit(if u have a lot of swirls) and make 4 dime sized drops of the product around the pad and rub it around a 2ft by 2ft section while the machine is off. (I actually suggest that you try the yellow pad first, you want to try and use the least aggresive route to removing swirls as possible, most automotive paint finishes are extremely thin so be careful!)
2)Go to the top left corner of the section, set the machine speed to 5 and start it pushing down with about 10 pounds of pressure. go side to side until you reach the bottom right corner and then start going up and down(over lap the passes of the buffer, just like mowing the lawn) still with 10 pounds of pressure until you reach the top left corner again.
3)Now lighten up pressure and keep repeating this until u see the product has almost completely buffed out (dissapeared). Now turn the machine off and wipe off the excess residue with a quality microfiber towel.
Tips: Remember to let off on pressure around edges and tops of the fender as the paint is usually thinner in these areas. Also avoid crossing body gaps with pressure, or you will get a lot of splatter. I also recommend taping off rubber/plastic trim unless u are really skilled at avoid the trim(the machine does vibrate all over the place). After u have used the dual action cleaner polish with a wool pad, I would follow up with
meguiars #9 2.0 swirl remover to remove any swirls left behind or hazing created by incompletely buffing out the product. This haze is especially noticeable on a black car. Work this swirl remover in the same way as the
DACP but use the white pad that comes in the kit, not the wool or yellow pad. This should leave u with a near perfect finish, dont expect all the swirls gone but a good amount of them will dissapear and the others will be diminshed. Then dawn wash the vehicle if you plan on going the Zaino route or
Klasse to remove gloss enhancers and polishing oils left behind by the polish or just top it with your favorite carnuaba wax. If you have any further questions dont be afraid to ask!
I would like to thank Steve at the Guru Reports (
www.gurureports.org) for helping me with this technique.
. I've wondered about 
Thanks for going to David and clarifying this Paul (and trying it out too).
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