Take a look at my car - what should I use??

[spartan]

Ok I am fairly new to the mechanical polishing aspect of car detailing. I have always waxed my cars by hand and stumbled across this site a while ago. I would like to know what you guys would recomend using to fix some defects with my cars paint and trim. First are the swirls, the car is pretty badly swirled. Last year I tried, megs #9 and it really didn`t do anything via pc. I am looking for something to better take them out. Right now the car is dirty because it has rained a lot and I don`t have a garage spot.

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_0402Image0001.JPG



Next is the fading in some areas. On the side of the car there are some moldings all of them are faded except for one (I think they were all taken off except that one when the car was repainted)

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_0402Image0005.JPG



And then lastly, what should I do for the trim around my sunroof. Before I found out that taping is much easier than trying to be careful, I got a lot of wax on it and it won`t come off.

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/data/500/2007_0402Image0004.JPG

[gmblack3]

What kind of car is it? Is #9 all you have right now? What pads do you have for the PC?

[JashGTP]

use the least abrasive product to get the job done...



but from the looks of it try some M80 Speed Glaze

[Envious Eric]

I highly doubt that 80 will work enough on that alone...



just get a compound and some light cutting pads and set the PC to speed 6 and go to town...something like 83, OC, TOTL heavy cut, menzerna IP, etc...dont waste your time to work with the least aggressive method possible...that is for those cars which are going to get compounded 4-6 times a years due to neglect....then step down to a light polish, then wax...



you can polish your car with meguiars 83 over 20 times before a repaint becomes necessary...polish with 80 about 50 times....most people would be able to polish it out and keep it looking really good from then on, and only need to compound once a year if that...which would lead you to having a solid 20+ years with your car, but who keeps their car around that long anymore....

[Envious Eric]

and are those molding faded, or oxidized....try a chemical cleaner polish to clean them up a little more before you decide to repaint them...if that is what you plan....

[Envious Eric]

for the trim, you can try a APC and a slightly stiff brush to agitate and remove the wax, then add a UV protectant to them after you condition the rubber trim

[SpoiledMan]

I`m going to guess that it`s an Eagle Talon. Wash the top of it and take more pictures of it clean. Repost so that we can see how bad the black is.

[nonsensez9]

try a soft pink eraser to remove the wax from the plastic trim. Works great on my car.

[spartan]

Thanks for all of the help guys. I should have mentioned it but yes the car is an Eagle Talon. I guess you would call the sides oxidized because they look quite a bit better when I have wax on them, but I haven`t been able to do that since the fall. But it doesn`t last very long, I have used color-x on them but it was by hand, and it did an ok job? I will definately post pics after I wash and clay the car. Right now I only have a couple of pads for my pc, so I will be looking to pic up some new ones. Thanks again for the help!

[Monte78Carlo2k1]

I was reading the side of my Clearcote Vanilla Moose and it says it can remove oxidation. I dont know if you can use it on moldings?

[Accumulator]

I was reading the side of my Clearcote Vanilla Moose and it says it can remove oxidation. I dont know if you can use it on moldings?



I`ve used it on all sorts of surfaces, including plastic and even *rubber* moldings, and it`s always worked fine. I`d test a small area first just to make sure though.

[imported_JoshVette]

Don`t waste you time with least aggresive, go straight for the medium/heavy cut compounds and pads.



Spread it and then work it on speed 6. Go over the molding as well and it will more then likely recover.



Compounds that will get the job done are 3M 39002, or Menzerna IP or Menzerna PowerGloss or Optimum.



Those are probably the top 3 compounds. Be sure to tape off trim and striping as it may get stained by the compounds.



I would bet on you going over it at least two times if you`re using the PC, both times set on 6. A good combo would be the power gloss then intensive polish and see how it looks after that.:waxing:

[spartan]

Don`t waste you time with least aggresive, go straight for the medium/heavy cut compounds and pads.



Spread it and then work it on speed 6. Go over the molding as well and it will more then likely recover.



Compounds that will get the job done are 3M 39002, or Menzerna IP or Menzerna PowerGloss or Optimum.



Those are probably the top 3 compounds. Be sure to tape off trim and striping as it may get stained by the compounds.



I would bet on you going over it at least two times if you`re using the PC, both times set on 6. A good combo would be the power gloss then intensive polish and see how it looks after that.:waxing:





Just the kind of answer I was looking for thanks so much!