Need Help with swirls on black car

bkchang79

New member
I just purchased the Griots Random Orbital kit with the 6 and 3 inch orbitals along with polish 3 and best of show wax that came with the kit. The kit removed some but not all the swirls on my black car. What polishes can I use to completely remove the scratches? I was thinking about going with griots again, but if there's something better, I'll try it. So far I have Griots polish 3 and klasse AIO.
 
You will probably need something more aggressive than a polish to remove them, try a cutting compound and cutting pad first, then follow up with the polish on a polishing pad.
 
What type of pad did you use? You should be using a light cutting pad (at the very least) if your current combo didn't work. What speed did you use on the DA? You should be using speed 6 for defect removal. What make/model vehicle are you working on? Some paints are tougher than others.



I'm not sure where Griot's polish 3 stands on the aggressiveness scale but Tileman is right - If you didn't knock down the swirls, either your pad/polish/speed combination was not aggressive enough or you simply didn't work the area long enough.



Again, I'm not certain how aggressive the Griots polish is as I have never used thier line of polishes. Someone that has used it will chime in and give you some more detailed guidance I'm sure.
 
Tileman said:
You will probably need something more aggressive than a polish to remove them, try a cutting compound and cutting pad first, then follow up with the polish on a polishing pad.



dschribs said:
What type of pad did you use? You should be using a light cutting pad (at the very least) if your current combo didn't work. What speed did you use on the DA? You should be using speed 6 for defect removal. What make/model vehicle are you working on? Some paints are tougher than others.



I'm not sure where Griot's polish 3 stands on the aggressiveness scale but Tileman is right - If you didn't knock down the swirls, either your pad/polish/speed combination was not aggressive enough or you simply didn't work the area long enough.



Again, I'm not certain how aggressive the Griots polish is as I have never used thier line of polishes. Someone that has used it will chime in and give you some more detailed guidance I'm sure.



I'm using this pad

Griot's Garage 6 Inch Orange Polishing Foam Pad

I set the machine at speed 4, maybe I'll try again at speed 6. The car is a 2011 BMW m3, the dealer really did a number on the paint.



Does this mean I have to start the whole process of claying and stripping old wax off? Or can I just wash and start polishing?
 
I would like to think that the paint wont be all that hard to begin with--I would certainly try a test spot with a polish as opposed to a compound...someone correct me if i'm wrong but it almost seems as though to cut costs or w.e., the clear coats seem to get softer and softer...



My vote is likely polish with maybe spot compounding where needed.
 
bkchang79 said:
I just purchased the Griots Random Orbital kit with the 6 and 3 inch orbitals along with polish 3 and best of show wax that came with the kit. The kit removed some but not all the swirls on my black car. What polishes can I use to completely remove the scratches? I was thinking about going with griots again, but if there's something better, I'll try it. So far I have Griots polish 3 and klasse AIO.



The Griot's orange pad is good, but it's also pretty gentle.



Their MP#3 is *VERY* gentle, generally too mild to do any real correction.



Almost certainly the pad/product combo is too mild for what you're doing (well...unless you do have Jet Black).



I'd get some more aggressive pads (probably somebody else's "orange pad", which will be a light cutting pad and thus more aggressive than the Griot's), and a more aggressive product, something like Optimum Hyper Compound. I'm not sure, but you could *probably* go from OHC to Griot's MP#3, I don't *think* that's too big a jump.



But if you do have Jet Black...that might be different, that's one very soft paint. In that case, you need to see whether the marring you have now is old marring that wasn't completely removed, or new marring (the result of your efforts). Maybe, just maybe, with Jet Black you could get away with multiple uses of the MP#3; I used it on some problematic ultra-soft paint with good results, but I had to do it over and over and over and buffing it off without causing new problems was very tricky.
 
As one who works on jet black frequently and is frequently frustrated, the only thing that has worked on my own car is Griots, yellow Megs. foam, 205 and speed of about 3-4. PRESSURE to where it almost does not spin, just vibrates. I have tried a lot of methods and this one is the best so far- KBM. I am going to try a different pad and product combo since I feel it's the mechanics that are working- not just because of the product and pad choice. My new UNO pads and UNO are here and want the same or better results with the green and UNO. Will see. I was doing a normal Flex polishing and Griots deal for sometime, but kept seeing micromarring from my polishing- also, do not have any 85 polish as I was told that might help for a 2nd step.



Thus, maybe slow speed and pressure might work on that soft paint.



Rob
 
Yes my car is jet black. I'm going to wash the car with dawn and try Griots #3 polish on a higher speed. The #3 did take some of the swirls off, but as anal as I am it's not enough. Thanks guys
 
I really hope that I don't sound mean, but if you are an "anal" guy, why on earth would you buy JB?



You will never be able to keep it in fantastic shape. Ever. Didn't you read the C&B and pro detail sections? :wall



I am so sorry for you. That paint is terrible.





bkchang79 said:
Yes my car is jet black. I'm going to wash the car with dawn and try Griots #3 polish on a higher speed. The #3 did take some of the swirls off, but as anal as I am it's not enough. Thanks guys
 
tdekany said:
I really hope that I don't sound mean, but if you are an "anal" guy, why on earth would you buy JB?



You will never be able to keep it in fantastic shape. Ever. Didn't you read the C&B and pro detail sections? :wall



I am so sorry for you. That paint is terrible.



My previous cars were all dark greys, I got the jet black because I got an incrediable deal on the car. It was too good to pass up on.
 
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