Can't remove the swirls in the vette's paint.

corvettelover

New member
Okay, I just bought a 1998 torch red vette, and I wanted to clean the paint up. It's in really good shape, but the previous owner didn't do the best job protecting the paint.



I have a PC 7336 with the PB product line. I clayed the car, ran the SSR 2.5 on the paint "several coats", put three coats of PB polish, followed by 2 coats of the sealant w/carnauba and finished up with a coat of Natty's wax. The car look soooo much better, but when your in the sun, I can still see the very small spider web swirls, and it's driving my crazy!! What would you guy's recommend to remove the swirls? I'm on the fence about fillers, and as of right now I'd like something without the fillers, and if the swirls beat me, I might reconsider.



I'm not really sure why I only used the PB product line; I guess I thought they work better together than by mixing with something else, but after reading this board, I can see I made a mistake. I think PB is okay, but I’m hoping their is better out there that will land me better results. I'm going to keep reading this board and try to find a solution, but if anyone would like to recommend any options PLEASE DO SO.
 
What speed were you running the PC on? One of my early mistakes was running at 3-4. It seemed that bumping it to 6 worked better.



I don't have much experience with different brands of polish. Someone else will surely chime in on that.
 
To be honest from what I have read and seen the PB is pretty good if not fantastic seeing some of the results people achieve with it. Sounds like you are not using enough pressure, not letting the product breakdown, or you need to up the speed. It could be only one of these factors that is not allowing you to achieve the desired results. Also I would follow 2.5 with 1 as I think 2.5 still leaves a bit of a haze.
 
Hey said:
What speed were you running the PC on? One of my early mistakes was running at 3-4. It seemed that bumping it to 6 worked better.



I don't have much experience with different brands of polish. Someone else will surely chime in on that.





I had the PC on speed 6 when applying the SSR2.5.
 
Here's my take having dealt with some of the vette clear....



You are never going to be able to produce 100% swirl free paint with the PC on the vette--unless you have days and days to polish. You can have 85-90% swirl free paint, but IMO with your clear, a rotary is needed.



The Meguiars line works great on vette clear. I would look into some #83 and follow it with #80, both with polishing pads and @ speed5.5-6.



Hope this helps, don't give up!!
 
ebpcivicsi said:
Here's my take having dealt with some of the vette clear....



You are never going to be able to produce 100% swirl free paint with the PC on the vette--unless you have days and days to polish. You can have 85-90% swirl free paint, but IMO with your clear, a rotary is needed.



The Meguiars line works great on vette clear. I would look into some #83 and follow it with #80, both with polishing pads and @ speed5.5-6.



Hope this helps, don't give up!!



Thanks for the reply, and this brings me to my next question. What's so different about the vettes paint? I've had several people tell me it looks wet even when it's dirty.
 
Okay, here is what I'm thinking of going with, and in this order. Are any of theses products other than Natty's non layerable?

wash

clay

wash

Meguiars #83

Meguiars #80

Klasse Twins

Natty's wax



What do ya think!
 
You don't "layer" polishes. They are abrasive and don't leave anything behind. You can use/apply them as needed, but there won't be any layers of them.



Klasse SG and Natty's should "layer" to an extent.



I've corrected many C5 finishes with the PC. What pads are you using with the PC?
 
ZaneO said:
You don't "layer" polishes. They are abrasive and don't leave anything behind. You can use/apply them as needed, but there won't be any layers of them.



Klasse SG and Natty's should "layer" to an extent.



I've corrected many C5 finishes with the PC. What pads are you using with the PC?





I thought Natty's was non layerable?



When I received Sonus pad kit I follow the recommendation from the piece of paper that came with the kit. I know for a fact, that I used a orange, or yellow pad for the swirl remover.
 
corvettelover said:
Thanks for the reply, and this brings me to my next question. What's so different about the vettes paint? I've had several people tell me it looks wet even when it's dirty.





I have a Torch Red C5 (2001) and the clear is very hard and also very shiny.



The base color coat is also very color hue rich.

C5's, especially Torch Red, look nice (wet and glossy) even when slightly dirty. :cooleek:



I have only had success with C5 blemish removal using a rotary with a polishing pad. My PC just does not cut it in a timely manner without using quite abrasive polishes (compounds).



Rotary + Menzerna IP followed by Z-PC Fusion has worked for me to remove 95-100% of light swirling.
 
Here is a TR vette that I worked on. I used rotary @ 1600, Menzerna PG and a wool pad. This was after 2 passes:



IMG_0790.jpg




Buy your description yours does not sound this bad.
 
gmblack3a said:
Here is a TR vette that I worked on. I used rotary @ 1600, Menzerna PG and a wool pad. This was after 2 passes:



IMG_0790.jpg




Buy your description yours does not sound this bad.





Honestly, I think the paint look as good as the left of your picture. I was amazed at what I accomplished with what I had, but it still has very fine spider marks in the paint, and if you wern't dirrectly two or three inches on top of the paint you would not ba able to see it. It however does have a six-eight inch V shaped scrach on the hood. It's not very deep and I think it's just in the clear, but the PC with the orange pad, or yellow pad (can't remember) with pressure and SSr 2.5 didn't touch it. Maybe I should take it some where and have a professional with a rotory go over the car, and then I can maintain the scrach free shine :o Anyone now of a good detailer in the Virginia Beach VA area?



I'll post up pics tomorrow and let you guys tell me what you think. I don't have before pics though. This is my new baby...I've always dreamed of owning a vette, which came true a few weeks ago, and I want the paint to look like a sheet of glass....if that's possible. Thanks for all the responce! I'll tell ya...I'm so confused on what stuff to try on the car since the ssr 2.5 didn't work like I had hoped...a few hours ago I was set on Mendona twins (spelling) then the klasse twins with...will tons of other stuff. I have a headache now, and still can't figure out what to buy. :sign
 
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