New car swirls

G

Greg Ayo

New member
<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Hey there, I just picked up my car about a month ago (I know it took me long to post) and I noticed some light swirls on the paint.
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<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">The car is a Black 2014 Mazda 3, I was wondering how I can get these out?
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<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Here is a picture of what I'm talking about, you can see the light swirls on  the hood
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KbSewba.jpg

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<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Using the porter cable machine, I have Menzerna SF4000, I was thinking of using that to get rid of the mild swirls that the car came with, do you suggest this product?  which colour pad should I use with it? Im thinking orange is too harsh, so perhaps a white pad with the SF4000, followed by a wax?
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<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Or Should I use Meguires MF system with orange or white pad.  I don't want to make anything worse, thats why i'm worried about what to do.
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<p style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">If  none of these products/combos are good, feel free to suggest other products, as Ill buy them and use those
 
I would go with the least aggressive method first which would be a polish (SF 4000) and a white pad. If that doesn't work you can try the same polish with an orange pad for more cut. You should be able to tackle those light swirls without having to use a microfiber cutting pad. Good luck and keep us updated on your progress!!
 
Greg Ayo- I'm not really familiar with the Menzerna SF4000, but isn't it a relatively mild finishing polish? Maybe a member of the "106" family?


 


I generally match my pads and products towards the idea of "more aggressive product, less aggressive pad" as those combos generally work better for me than trying to "force" a mild product to cut more by using a more aggressive pad.


 


With that product I wouldn't use anything more aggressive than a tangerine hydrocut/orange *Griot's* pad.  So, no...not at regular orange pad.


 


I've only used MF Cutting Disks, and I wouldn't recommend using one with your Menzerna.


 


I haven't had a Mazda for a while, but don't be surprised if correcting it takes more aggressive measures than you first expect.  Those "light swirls" might take some doing to correct.  And Menzerna 106-series polishes can do a bit of concealing (presumably due to oils), but IME the 106FF is the one that is downright problematic in that regard and I don't think that's what you have.  Still, you might oughta check your work by using IPA/Eraser/PrepWash to strip any polishing oils before you wax to make sure things really are the way you *think* they are (note that I'm not a fanatic about doing that stripping, but in this case I do believe it's justified).


 


So, short version- give it a try with a medium polishing pad and see if that's aggressive enough.  Expect to do about four tries before it's as corrected as it's likely to get (unless you plan to spend hours at this) as that's a pretty mild approach.
 
The P085RD polish has a lot of fillers but I have not had any problems with P0106FA (SF4000) on either my Guards Red Porsche or my wife's black MB E550.  I find that the P0106FA with a Lake country MF pad on my Flex DA has surprising cutting power with an exceptional finish.  I have never needed more than one step for the annual buff up and coat with GTechniq C1 and EXO.  I think you could achieve what you are looking for with a MF pad and the SF4000.
 
pmnewton- IIRC it was the PO106FF that did so much concealing for me.


 


Ah, yeah..I bet that MF/Flex 3401 combo did provide a fair bit of correction even with such a mild product.  The Flex can really ramp things up IME.
 
Thanks guys,


 


Accumulator - sf4000 is a finishing polish so it's pretty mild, I also have IS 1500 (super intensive polish) which is less mild then the 4000,


 


Do you recommend I use that?  Im trying to use what I have before buying new products. So what I have is Meg's MF system compound, Menzerna is 1500 and sf4000 in terms of polishes. In terms of pads i have all lake country yellow, orange, white, green,grey, and red pads. which combo would you suggest out of all that?


 


If need be and i can't use anything I have, then ill buy something else.
 
Greg Ayo- See if the sf400 does the job on  a white pad, if not I'd go with either the Meg's MF system compound or the 1500 using either the MF Cutting Disk (which I really like) or the orange foam pad.  I do *NOT* like/recommend the yellow foam cutting pads.


 


The sf4000 on either the white or green pad should do fine for the finishing step.


 


Again, don't be surprised if you have to work harder than expected.  I'd plan on doing numerous passes and I figure that it's generally better to do more tries with mild approaches than to get extremely aggressive and risk an "oops".
 
I've used SIP before and I only bring it out when I'm spot correcting a deep scratch.  It is also good for fixing CD/DVD's that are skipping or hanging.  You will get some micromarring with this product especially on a black car.  I really think you will get the results you are looking for with SF4000 and a MF pad.  That's where I would start anyway.
 
I'm gonna give it a try this weekend, I'm going to start with the white pad, then move on to the MF pad if its not working to my liking!


 


thanks guys!
 
Accumulator said:
Greg Ayo- See if the sf400 does the job on  a white pad, if not I'd go with either the Meg's MF system compound or the 1500 using either the MF Cutting Disk (which I really like) or the orange foam pad.  I do *NOT* like/recommend the yellow foam cutting pads.


 


The sf4000 on either the white or green pad should do fine for the finishing step.


 


Again, don't be surprised if you have to work harder than expected.  I'd plan on doing numerous passes and I figure that it's generally better to do more tries with mild approaches than to get extremely aggressive and risk an "oops".


 


 
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You were right, they were much worse then expected, I tried with the sf 4000, but to no avail. Ill be trying the 1500 on orange pad next weekend, to try to correct them..  PMNEWTON said that it would give me some micro-marring, would you recommend I try the MF system compound first? before I move to the 1500? 


And in both cases ill finish up with the 4000, and a good wax or two
 
Greg Ayo- I bet that both will leave some micromarring, just the nature of aggressive compounds.  No biggie as long as your sf4000 is up to the job (can't say as I've never tried it).  Don't switch to the milder finising pad/product combo until the marring is corrected to your satisfaction.
 
Accumulator said:
Greg Ayo- I bet that both will leave some micromarring, just the nature of aggressive compounds.  No biggie as long as your sf4000 is up to the job (can't say as I've never tried it).  Don't switch to the milder finising pad/product combo until the marring is corrected to your satisfaction.
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Would you go as far to suggest I use the Megs MF compound, then the SI 2500, and then the SF 4000, then wax?
 
Greg,


 


On my wife's black Benz I used SIP on a Lake Country cyan cutting pad (the dealership really trashed it, writeup in work) and finished with SF4000 on a Lake Coutry red polishing pad. That was the combination of cut and finish that worked out best on my test panel. The takeaway here is that the SF4000 on a very mild foam pad did an outstanding job of cleaning up after the SIP. Several full strength IPA wipedowns revealed no surprises.


 


- Patrick
 
Greg  -- I have no experience with Menzerna products and don't have as much experience with a DA as others who have posted here may have, but those swirls don't seem to be that bad from your picture.  And don't seem like they would require compounding and a 2 or 3 step process.   Our two VWs have rock hard clear and I'm able to remove light swirls similar to yours (from what can be seen in the photo) with a Griots DA, 5" bp, 5.5" orange Buff & Shine pad and HD Polish.   Using speed 5 or 6 with moderate pressure and slow arm speed it does take me 6 or so passes, but am getting excellent results.


 


Have you thought of trying a product with nondiminishing abrasives like HD Polish or if you want a little more cut ,without using a full compound, HD Adapt?
 
Grey Ayo- It's hard for me to make predictions/suggestions when I haven't used the products in question...But I generally do the vast majority of my work with a compound.  I usually use M105 though I'm trying to get HD Cut to work for me... seems awfully mild though, like Optimum's Hyper Compound.  So I'd plan on doing most of the work with your compound, then using the SI2500 to fix the micromarring, and then just burnish it with the SF4000.  I'd be stripping oils all the time for a better evaluation.  But contrast that with what pmnewton posted...you just don't know until you try stuff first-hand.


 


And along those lines, compare my adivice with pwaug's, he and I seem to have very different experiences though we have both come to really like the nondiminishing abrasives.
 
I'm going to go ahead and try the three step, with the LSP, I have nothing to lose, if anything it'll improve the paint. I was gonna order an HD product, people seem to be loving it... 


 


I'll report back everyone!


 


Theres also some deeper scratches and area where the paint is a lot more swirled.. almost looks dull... Mazda paint is REALLY soft, it scratches if you look at it.. would opti-coat strengthen this?
 
Greg Ayo-IMO the OptiCoat might indeed be more scratch-resistant than the Mazda clear.  Could be a very good idea in your case.


 


BTW/FWIW, it just occurred to me that the paint on my Mazda minivan was *incredibly* thin.  Now I never had any problems because of that, and your Mazda might be completely different in that regard, but I did think I oughta mention it when it came to mind (haven't thought about that POS for a while now).
 
I've never used opti coat, I'm sure it isn't so hard tho. Iv heard horror stories, but I feel like as long as I'm careful it shouldn't be a problem.

How many cars can one thing do?
 
Also, to everyone who answered above, are there any products that I don't have that I could buy that could be better for getting rid of swirls
 
There are allot of products that are "better for getting rid of swirls," but you only what to use a pad/polish compound that is aggressive enough to remove the defects in your paint and no more aggressive than need be.   So it really comes down to doing a test spot with the least aggressive product/pad combo and then bumping up the aggressiveness if it doesn't correct to your satisfaction.


 


I would think, if the Mazda paint is a soft as you say and if by chance it is thin as Accumulator experienced then you would be important to use the least aggressive process possible to remove the swirls.   A well known and respected pro who posts here often (who has used all three) responded to question of mine that Optimum Hyper Polish is a little more aggressive than HD Polish (but HD finishes down really well on black) and Rupes Kerimak polish is a little more aggressive than OHP.   So with those you would still be using a polish rather than a compound and you can vary their cut with the pad you use.  I think the next step up would be something like HD Adapt that is more aggressive than all three, but still only a medium cut compound that finishes like a polish.  


 


Another alternative would be to use Megs Ultimate Compound and Megs Ultimate Polish (both can be purchased OTC for about $10 US each).  UC is a little less aggressive than 105 and UP is a little less aggressive than 205 and both are easy to work with.   So perhaps you could just use UC on the deeper scratches and UP on the remainder of the car. 
 
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