New Member=newbie question

[superbon54]

Yes, I`ve used the search, blah blah blah...:D



anyway, it`s good to be here. I`ve been directed here by some of my BMW brethren, and I have a question that I know has been covered some, but there are so many variations on it, I thought I`d give it a try.



My car (see below) is 8 months old now and I`m starting to see more swirls. I want to do a major detailing and have recently bought P21S paint cleanser. Will this alone strip the 6-7 layers of Zaino I have on my car? Or should I use the much debated 50/50 alcohol mixture as well?



Thanks very much for listening! :cool:



http://members.roadfly.com/atyclb/DSC00374.JPG



http://members.roadfly.com/atyclb/detail2.jpg

[superbon54]

wow--you moderators are quick! sorry about the wrong forum

[Green Monster]

:shocked NICE car man and I love that color!!!!! :bow





Try doing the dawn thing a few times to help strip the wax.



Then Meguiar`s #9 2.0 (mild)

If the #9 don`t work turn it up a nouch.



Meguiar`s Medallion Paint Cleaner (mild/medium)

or

Meguiar`s DACP (medium)

or

FI 2 (medium)

[2wheelsx2]

Dawn won`t touch the Zaino. Anything with abrasives will remove the Zaino. So if you are going to do swirl removal anyway, just have at it with you PC and the #9 or 3M SMR.

[superbon54]

I already have the P21s paint cleanser. Will this do the same job as SMR?

[Jngrbrdman]

SMR is much more aggressive than P21s paint cleanser. I would do what Green Monster said and start with #9 and move your way up. I`m in the process of doing that on a car that I`m working on too. #9 will cut through light swirls but the real tough buggers need something stronger.

[superbon54]

Thanks for the advice. The swirls are quite minor at this point, and my main concern was stripping off my Zaino.



Should I use the 50/50 mixture, or can I just use the P21S?

[Jngrbrdman]

Paint cleaner won`t really do much for the swirls. You can apply Meguiar`s #9 by hand if you don`t have a PC. I would start there and skip the paint cleaners or 50/50 mixture. I really think you`ll see better results that way.



edit: The thing about swirls is that they are either in the paint or in the Zaino. Either way, you are going to have to take it down a little to get rid of the swirls. Reapplying the Zaino is sort of a given when you are talking about swirl reduction.

[superbon54]

Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

Paint cleaner won`t really do much for the swirls. You can apply Meguiar`s #9 by hand if you don`t have a PC. I would start there and skip the paint cleaners or 50/50 mixture. I really think you`ll see better results that way.



edit: The thing about swirls is that they are either in the paint or in the Zaino. Either way, you are going to have to take it down a little to get rid of the swirls. Reapplying the Zaino is sort of a given when you are talking about swirl reduction.



thanks--



fewer steps=good in my book. No PC for me, but I may try the meguiar`s #9 by hand then.

[imported_Intermezzo]

Meguiar`s #9 by hand will hardly put a dent in your swirls. In my experience, it seemed to fill in the swirls more than remove them. It`s more abrasive than P21S PCL but not by much. You`ll be scrubbing your car all weekend long. I`d highly recommend getting DACP or FI-2. Follow that up with P21S PCL, a dawn wash and your car will be ready for Zaino.

[Jngrbrdman]

Is DACP or FI-II anymore effective than #9 if they are applied by hand? I figured that if he didn`t have a PC and wanted to work on swirls that #9 might be eaiser. Any of the swirl removers are going to be tough to work with by hand I think.

[imported_Intermezzo]

Jngrbrd,



After re-reading the thread from the beginning, #9 might be the better choice. The concern of the original poster seems to be more on how to remove Zaino and brush up on some very light swirls than any hard-core swirl-removal. So yeah, #9 would probably be a better choice than FI-2



To answer your question, in my experience, when using #9 by hand, I was hardly able to remove anything but the lightest of swirls. Sometimes it was even hard to tell if it was more abrasive or than PPCL. With FI-2 I was able to remove what I would classify as moderate swirls. Both products were pretty tough to use by hand...I definitely agree with you there.



Tony

[superbon54]

Originally posted by Intermezzo



The concern of the original poster seems to be more on how to remove Zaino and brush up on some very light swirls than any hard-core swirl-removal.

Tony



yes! Someone`s finally hit on my question!

[Green Monster]

Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

Is DACP or FI-II anymore effective than #9 if they are applied by hand? I figured that if he didn`t have a PC and wanted to work on swirls that #9 might be eaiser. Any of the swirl removers are going to be tough to work with by hand I think.



Maybe a little but alot of work!!!!!!!!



If you are working by hand I would stick with #9 2.0. You can try the DACP by hand its more user friendly than FI 2 but you will have to work it for a while. Your may fall off before you finish the whole car. I have never try DACP or FI 2 by hand but the DACP is much easy to work with. Good luck man!

[jerry@robs]

OMG... love that car...