Silver paint, Sunlight = no swirls .....nighttime under street lights = swirls

**duffman** · 03-03-2007, 08:49 PM

Will i be able to see if i am removing swirls when i work outside in my driveway (i dont have a garage)

Because my paint looks great during the day, but at night if you look at it right you can see swirls all over

**schoi** · 03-03-2007, 08:52 PM

weird... also interested in this for when I finally do get into a silver car.

**docker** · 03-03-2007, 08:56 PM

Yep, my magnesium metallic is like that. Very forgiving of swirls during the day, but under the lights at the gas station at night - ugh.

**sevenrd** · 03-03-2007, 08:59 PM

I had that problem when I had a silver car. I thought I`d gotten the finish perfect, but under certain lighting at night I`d see swirls.

The way I was able to tackle them was with a halogen work light (in my garage). Even with that I had to position the light and myself at the right angle to catch the swirls.

Since you don`t have a garage, perhaps you could pick up a halogen work light, wait for a nice night, and polish it then.

**sQuashed** · 03-03-2007, 09:11 PM

When I detail my silverstone Z under my carport I use a flashlight (mag light) to see if the swirls are still there. it really works good if you use the correct angle.

**BigHonu** · 03-04-2007, 02:20 AM

yup, frustrating. Accumulator should chime in soon. I know he has some experience with this.

**spotpad** · 03-04-2007, 03:36 AM

Same experience here. The metallic flake sure helps hide the swirls during the day.

BUT it`s still better than having a black car.

**deathlok** · 03-04-2007, 06:23 AM

I have a silver car use sunglasses when you examine in the direct sunlight. The metallic flake tends to blind you and cannot see clear.

**Accumulator** · 03-04-2007, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by BigHonu

yup, frustrating. Accumulator should chime in soon. I know he has some experience with this.

Yeah...this is one of those topics I always chime in on. Sorta puts to rest that old "silver doesn`t show marring" BS huh? Just takes the right lighting and there you have it.

duffman- Hope this doesn`t sound too pessimistic, but I dunno if you`re gonna find a good solution since you don`t have a garage. It takes me an incredible amount of work to do that kind of inspection and I have a swell shop setup with all kinds of lighting (and enough experience that it amazes me that I still have to work so hard at this!).

You could try coming up with some means of providing shadow...perhaps an EZ-Up canopy. Get things dark and then use an incadescent trouble light (you might check out one of my innumerable posts on this subject). I work under halogens, but inspect using incandescents.

But honestly..warning, more of my Autopian Heresy follows...I`d just not worry about it until you do have a garage. Gotta be reasonable about this stuff. I`d use a glaze/filler/etc. product and top with a heavy carnauba and then not stress over it.

FWIW, I was never able to get the exact finish I want until I got into this current shop, which I had built specifically for detailing- I would always have some kind of nasty surprise under some kind of weird lighting condition at night. Nobody except me ever saw the flaws and my vehicles still looked great...well, 95% of the time. I simply couldn`t duplicate the lighting conditions that showed the minor flaws until I had the shop set up just the way I wanted it. I`m not saying it can`t be done, but I do think you gotta give its importance to you some thought as there aren`t any easy answers.

FWIW (probably very little, but anyhow..) I`ve always had the nicest-kept cars of anybody I know (that`s in real, daily life- not considering the people I know from here, etc.). But I never got rid of that last bit of marring on silver until I was in my 40s, when I moved into this house with the current shop. It *never* really mattered any more than I *let* it matter to me so I didn`t lose sleep over it. Yeah...this is one of those topics I always chime in on. Sorta puts to rest that old "silver doesn`t show marring" BS huh? Just takes the right lighting and there you have it.

duffman- Hope this doesn`t sound too pessemistic, but I dunno if you`re gonna find a good solution since you don`t have a garage. It takes me an incredible amount of work to do that kind of inspection and I have a swell shop setup with all kinds of lighting (and enough experience that it amazes me that I still have to work so hard at this!).

You could try coming up with some means of providing shadow...perhaps an EZ-Up canopy. Get things dark and then use an incadescent trouble light (you might check out one of my innumerable posts on this subject). I work under halogens, but inspect using incandescents. IMO it`s all about using "point source illumination" in an otherwise dark environment.

But honestly..warning, more of my Autopian Heresy follows...I`d just not worry about it until you do have a garage. Gotta be reasonable about this stuff. I`d use a glaze/filler/etc. product and top with a heavy carnauba and then not stress over it. Spend enough time at Autopia and you can start to think that only a 100% perfect finish is acceptable...ain`t necessarilly so

FWIW, I was never able to get the exact finish I want on silver until I got into this current shop, which I had built specifically for detailing- I would always have some kind of nasty surprise under some kind of weird lighting condition at night. Nobody except me ever saw the flaws and my vehicles still looked great...well, 95% of the time. I`m not saying it can`t be done, but I do think you gotta give its importance to you some thought as there aren`t any easy answers.

And of course being able to do the inspection is only the part of it, you still gotta get the flaws out and then not reintroduce them

**Accumulator** · 03-04-2007, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by BigHonu

yup, frustrating. Accumulator should chime in soon. I know he has some experience with this.

Yeah...this is one of those topics I always chime in on. Sorta puts to rest that old "silver doesn`t show marring" BS huh? Just takes the right lighting and there you have it.

duffman- Hope this doesn`t sound too pessimistic, but I dunno if you`re gonna find a good solution since you don`t have a garage. It takes me an incredible amount of work to do that kind of inspection and I have a swell shop setup with all kinds of lighting (and enough experience that it amazes me that I still have to work so hard at this!).

You could try coming up with some means of providing shadow...perhaps an EZ-Up canopy. Get things dark and then use an incadescent trouble light (you might check out one of my innumerable posts on this subject). I work under halogens, but inspect using incandescents. IMO it`s all about using "point source illumination" in an otherwise dark environment.

But honestly..warning, more of my Autopian Heresy follows...I`d just not worry about it until you do have a garage. Gotta be reasonable about this stuff. I`d use a glaze/filler/etc. product and top with a heavy carnauba and then not stress over it. Spend enough time at Autopia and you can start to think that only a 100% perfect finish is acceptable...ain`t necessarily so

FWIW, I was never able to get the exact finish I want on silver until I got into this current shop, which I had built specifically for detailing- I would always have some kind of nasty surprise under some kind of weird lighting condition at night. Nobody except me ever saw the flaws and my vehicles still looked great...well, 95% of the time. I`m not saying it can`t be done, but I do think you gotta give its importance to you some thought as there aren`t any easy answers.

And of course being able to do the inspection is only the part of it, you still gotta get the flaws out and then not reintroduce them

**imported_DieselMDX** · 03-04-2007, 04:11 PM

Accum do you have any pics of your garage setup?

**holland_patrick** · 03-04-2007, 04:12 PM

I have to second that as a owner of a silver/grey daliy driver with out a garage. the best you can do is what you like best and not worry about anyting else..

PS those swirls you see from the silver hilide lights.. those are just shadows from thier dirt bulbs... (you know what i mean)

**Accumulator** · 03-04-2007, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by DieselMDX

Accum do you have any pics of your garage setup?

Nah, same old same old- I`ve yet to figure out digital imaging...never posted a pic here yet

The big thing about the current shop is that I can turn out all the fluorescent lights and turn on 1-3 separate banks of high-wattage incandescents. If/when that doesn`t get it, I turn out everything and move around with a hand-held incandescent trouble light. My previous shop had a zillion fluorescents and some halogens, but not the incandescents. Turned out that the cheap, old-fashioned lights show marring on silver better than fancier, more modern approaches! So I had three rows (three lights each) of incandescents mounted in the new shop, hanging from the ceiling. Simple and effective.

holland_patrick-heh heh, that was a good one about the lights causing the swirls :chuckle:

I also like your advice to "do what you like best and not worry"..IMO it`s easy to get so "serious" about this stuff that you take the fun right out of it.

**holland_patrick** · 03-04-2007, 05:45 PM

yes while it`s excellent to achine the Ultra swirl free finish..

after a 60 mile ride to work and some dopes in any parking lot.. you`ll be polishing till the cows come home

**schoi** · 03-04-2007, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by Accumulator

But honestly..warning, more of my Autopian Heresy follows...I`d just not worry about it until you do have a garage. Gotta be reasonable about this stuff. I`d use a glaze/filler/etc. product and top with a heavy carnauba and then not stress over it. Spend enough time at Autopia and you can start to think that only a 100% perfect finish is acceptable...ain`t necessarily so.

And even then, it may not warrant stress.

I think that a lot of us here forget that while we`re obsessing over a missed swirl, hairline scratch collection, a minor glass streak here and there, or uneven application of an LSP, our cars still look better / are in better aesthetic shape than the vast majority of what you will see over the course of a day.

Maybe it`s just me, but I find some solace in that, black car and all.