Do you guys achieve removing ALL swirls ?

[chip douglas]

Been trying for 2 days in a row, using MG 5937, with not much success. Well, of course it did remove a good deal of em, but not as i thought it would........maybe im trying to achieve the impossible.......could it be ? Oh i forgot to mention the car is red, and under the sun light, i can still seee em on the hood(just a few) but the roof is far from what i thought iut would be......i spun the machine at 1100, using a polishing pad from 3M, yet i have to admit that when i tried it at 1500 rpm, it did seem to help.



Any idea why im not getting the expected results ?



P.S. i keep the pad flat as possible, exept wher i have to move with the curves of course.





:nixweiss

[Jngrbrdman]

Total swirl removal is possible. What isn`t possible may be the removal of all marks on the surface. There may be some damage that has gone beyond what a PC or Rotary can fix without removing paint. Some things need to be wetsanded. It is possible.

[chip douglas]

How long does it take you to remove swirls on an average car ?

[Jngrbrdman]

I don`t know. I`ve never done an average car. lol Usually about 4 to 6 hours of polishing on the average car that I work with. It really depends on the color because swirls show up a lot worse on black than they do on white. It will take a lot of time to do swirl removal on a car if your goal is total removal of all swirls. I spent 20 hours on my car recently getting it preped for a show. I removed every swirl that could be removed with a PC durring that time. At least 12 hours was spent on the outside of my car dealing with swirls, dents, scratches, junk in the seams and stuff like that. You can spend an awful lot more time on your own car than you would spend on a client`s car. I think you want your own car to be your best work. That takes a ton of time.

[chip douglas]

You bet i want it to be my masterpiece lol..........then i was correct to think it was goingto take forever.......thanks for confirming what i thought was right .......take care :wavey

[chip douglas]

do you use a buffer for swirl removal or DA ?



Then, when you say total swirl removal is possible, did you imply hiding part of them, or really taking them out without filling ?

[Jngrbrdman]

I don`t use fillers or glazes for swirls. I remove them. If they come back then I want to know that its something that I`m doing wrong and not just that the oils finally evaporated.



I use the PC 7427 for my work. Usually I`m using the Meguiar`s red pad and something like DACP or Diamond Cut on the really hard areas. I maintain it by just being careful and using clean towels when I`m working. I haven`t seen very many swirls come back. I`m keeping my fingers crossed. :xyxthumbs

[chris0626]

Hope I`m not thread-jacking, but I`ve been having the same question as Chip Douglas, and hope it`ll be ok to add my questions to his.



Hey, Jngr: One white-car-owner to another. I finally `fessed up to the little miniscule scratches on my Jag, stripped off the Zaino (50% alcohol, then clay), and went at it with the PC, white/polishing (Lake Country) pad, and 3M SMR. I`m going over each section two or 3 times. Spent about 2 hours on the boot alone, but there are still some miniscule scratch marks. I`m quite hesitant to "bump up" to anything more abrasive, for this really is a nearly-immaculate paint job. (Yes, it is clear-coated, though it`s a `75 model.) 20 hours on polish doesn`t scare me at all. (After all, I think I`ve married this dang car.) But ... would you just keep just gently reapplying SMR with a white pad on the PC, or increase speed, move up to a stronger pad, or move up to a more abrasive polish?



All advice welcome.



Chip Douglas, I hope you don`t mind my adding my questions into your thread. Sounds like you and I are dealing with similar issues.

[Jngrbrdman]

I suppose you could..... As long as the product you are using has particles in it harder than the surface you are trying to perfect then you are fine. Using a product that isn`t working is like trying to cut through the bars of your jail cell with 2500 grit sand paper. :lol Sometimes you`ve gotta bump it up a notch. ;) I wouldn`t be afraid of using something like DACP or the 3M equivilant (still not sure what that is). The only time I broke out the Diamond Cut was on surfaces I just knew needed it. I wouldn`t have done it if I didn`t think it was the only way. I didn`t use very much either. DACP and a red pad did most of the work for me without worry. I followed up the DACP with #9 and some PPCL and all was well. A perfect (although slightly sandblasted on the hood) white swirl free shine was the fruit of my labor. At the time of my show I would have paid you for every swirl you could find on that sucker. There wasn`t a mark on it. Wish I could say the same for it now, but.... oh well. More fun for me to remove. :)

[chip douglas]

I don`t mind at all, i seem to have a thing for you lol ;) go right ahead dear, embark on my thread :wavey

[chris0626]

Chip, you`re a hoot! :lol Does that mean you forgive me? :o



Jngr, maybe chalk it up to the late hour, but I can`t tell what you`re saying to Chip and me. I`m back to Chip`s initial question in this thread: Can you really get rid of ALL the swirls/mars in a basically-good-looking paint job without declaring "nuclear war" on it?

[chip douglas]

Of course i forgive you, you`re so sweet to me, how could it not :lol



I think it`s great to have couple of women on here, but that`s just me :)

[Jngrbrdman]

The thing is.... Why use a low level abrasive that you have to go over the car 300 times with when you could use a higher abrasive and take off the same amount of clear in one pass? Its like driving. You could go 1 mph or you could go 60 mph. The end result is that you are going to get to where you are going. One will just take you longer. Whether you use SMR for 6 hours or DACP for 20 minutes... what is the difference if the end result is swirl removal? Use the right product for the job is what I say. :bigups

[chip douglas]

Today, i agree that i will have to take it up a notch, as i tried it again today with the same product, upping the speed, applying a wee more pressure, and moving slower on the paint, but still they were there, so i stopped it all and concluded i needed something more agressive like 3M`s fine cut.



I fully agree with what you say Jngrbrdman

, yet since im a beginner with the rotary i wanted to err on caution side.



take care !:up

[2wheelsx2]

When you`re learning, it`s best to be a bit cautious. When I first got the PC, I used nothing but 3M SMR. Now, if I see the paint needs something more aggressive, I pretty much go to DACP or Heavy Cut cleaner right away.