Black w/o clearcoat advice

[Rev_sb]

Hello all,



Great info on this forum!

I bought a 92 Brilliant Black (NO CLEARCOAT) Miata last may that only had 7400 miles. The car was washed and waxed every year, garaged, and only driven on nice summer days. The paint is in fairly good condition, but there are a few mild-moderate swirls and scratches. Can the experts here recommend a good product sequence and selection for this kind of paint? I plan to wash (of course) and clay, but beyond that there are too many choices. I`ve seen many recommendations, but since it is black w/o clear, and 13+ years old, I wonder if there are any products that would work extremely well compared to others. I also don`t mind hiding some of the minor swirls and scratches instead of totally removing them, since this car will remain a summer-only, garaged car.



Thanks for your help!

[Accumulator]

Rev sb- Welcome to Autopia!



I had a scad of black, single stage cars back in the day, but "modern" ss paint like on the Miata is a little different. Mainly in that it isn`t as thick so you have to take it a little easy.



The biggest differences you`ll notice between ss and basecoat/clear are a) the ss will be softer and easier to work, and b) your pads/etc. will get stained with the black paint. Don`t let the latter point freak you out, it`ll look like *all* the paint is coming off but it`s not really that big a deal.



Your plan to *not* remove every flaw is smart :xyxthumbs



I`d first try Meguiar`s #80. It`s mildly abrasive and does a little hiding too. If it`s not aggressive enough for you you can try something stronger, I`d use 3M PI-III RC (pn 05933) but it`s getting hard to find.



Another route would be 1Z products. The stronger Paint Polish followed by Metallic PolishWax.



Top whichever of the above combos you try with a wax and it should look infinitely better.



And see what others post, everybody has their personal faves and there aren`t too many *bad* combos that`ll get recommended.