Newbie to detailing, I need some pointers

[rotarymandan]

Well, as the title says I am new to this forum. I have searched fro answers, and believe me I have found many many answers. So many in fast, I think I am more lost than I was before! I need some tips to get my car looking great. If it helps, I have a `93 Mazda RX-7. The paint is in pretty good shape, although I can tell same parts have been resprayed. There is some minor overspray on some parts of the car. The main issue I have is swirl marks in the paint. Looking at the car straight on, the paint looks great, but when you look at it from an angle, there are tons of swirls! I wax the car often, at least once a month, but that doesn`t get rid of the swirls. There are also light outlines from hard rain water. What should I do to get the paint looking flawless from any angle?

[Bunky]

What kind of wax are you currently using and have you been using the wash/wax techniques in the Autopia Detailing Guide?

[Way2SSlow]

With swirls, you can attack them a couple different ways. You can polish them out, or you can swirl them. If you choose to polish them out you`ll need a good polisher and some good pads, as well as an effective polish. I`d go with Optimum polish and some LC or Edge Pads for a Porter Cable 7424.



Filling the swirls is quick, but they WILL return. My favorite swirl filler is NXT. It wont fill all of them, but it will make an improvement. There are other filling products that you can use, but NXT (or Poorboy`s World Polish with Carnauba)is my go to for filling.

[Jngrbrdman]

Waxing won`t do anything for swirls except perhaps fill them in for a few days. Your first step needs to be purchasing a polisher that is capable of doing what needs to be done. Do some research on the Porter Cable 7424 or 7336. Also look into the Ultimate Detailing Machine. Both those machines are able to remove swirls and make your car look as good as it can look without repainting it. It won`t be possible to obtain your `flawless` goals without a machine, so definitely look into getting one of those first. The el cheapo $40 buffer from Sears isn`t going to do the trick. The PC is the entry level polisher for this type of job.

[NickelPlated.45]

You need a pc. Especially if you have etching from water spots. You should probably do a little research and see if you want to invest in one or not. In my opinion it`s great to have even if you only use it once a year. They sell them pretty cheap at lowes.

[imported_Puckman]

The majority of sound advice for your situation includes the recommendation to invest in a PC (as evidenced by those who posted before me). Start with a good thorough wash and then clay. If your financial situation allows about $200 I will add to the folks suggesting a PC, some pads and some polishes. It`s the easiest thing to use and you use it over and over for years! It takes time and practice to really extract the best out of these machines but you`ll notice immediate and enormous improvement in your paint after the very first use.



Then seal that in with a good wax or sealant and concentrate on refining your washing and drying technique with frequent washing.

[MatrixXRS]

Depending on the defects, you`ll most likely need to invest in a Porter Cable dual-action polisher (7424 or 7336). There are some defects that can be removed by hand, but it`s generally a VERY time consuming process. You certainly can start by working by hand (that`s what I did), but the PC will give you significantly better results in a shorter amount of time. There are some products that can help mask light swirls (Meguiar`s NXT comes to mind), but for serious defects, you`ll want a machine.

[Accumulator]

rotarymandan- Welcome to Autopia!



We had one of the 3rd-generation RX-7s and IIRC the paint is pretty hard. So removing the marring will go a *lot* easier by machine. But you could make a good start by hand.



As mentioned, you choices are to mechanically/abrasively remove the marring ("swirls", etc.) or fill it. Some products do both, and one of these that works well by hand is 1Z brand Paint Polish (sources: Welcome to Exceldetail.com! (http://www.exceldetail.com/) or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories (http://www.pakshak.com/index.html) ). For minimal cost, you could get a can of it and give it a try. Put your regular wax on top of it.



Cheap, fairly quick and easy ;) It`d be a good step up from what you`re doing now.



If your *really* want to get it "flawless from every angle", then yeah, you`ll need a machine and it`ll still take a lot of time and effort. But giving it a good polishing by hand might make it good enough that you`ll be satisfied. Trying to get any ~15 year-old car flawless is a mighty tall order (FWIW, I have a number of older cars, including an `84 RX-7 and *none* of them are truly flawless, even the low-mileage garage queens that are in show condition).

[Bunky]

Once you remove the swirls, you need to follow good washing and waxing habits or you will just add them back....

[rotarymandan]

Thanks for all the responses! I will definately be looking into getting a Porter Cable dual action polisher. I have been using Meguiar`s Tech Wax Paste. I have liked how glossy the paint looks after I wax the car, but it seems like it wears off fast. I could just be that I am not spending enough time waxing. But I do drive my car everyday, so I was wondering if there is a wax that really protects against the grind of daily driving.

[Accumulator]

.. I was wondering if there is a wax that really protects against the grind of daily driving.





Collinite 845 or their 476S. And customers will be very impressed by the beading.