swirls aren't really gone

I

imported_tuffluck

New member
this weekend i used #83, #9, and followed up with one coat of nxt. some of the car did real well (the sides), but the hood didn't do so well. i can tell that there are probably 75% lesser amount of swirls than before, but there are still swirls. and light scratches too. the DACP just couldn't cut it out. i even did two coats on the hood. i was bearing down REALLY hard. it was a PITA. does it sound like i didn't do enough work, or does it sound as if my clear coat is in much worse shape than i think? my swirls were worse than this, and in these pics i can't even see light scratches. i have light scratches ALL in my clear coat and i have swirls as bad and worse than these. here are the pics:



http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32419&highlight=dacp



does anyone have any suggestions? the nxt, honestly, doesn't seem to be doing a damn thing to the finish. after i use #9, it doesn't seem like the nxt hides anything. do i have a bad bottle of nxt? i don't really know. a friend of mine has a bottle, and his seems MUCH thicker than mine when you shake the bottle. mine has the near consistency of water...really. what do you think?



i'm also going to get some #16 to put on top of the nxt. does this attempt to hide any swirls and/or light scratches? i'm glad the DACP worked enough for me to notice, but it didn't rid my car of swirls, and that's what i'm hoping to do. i am up for any suggestions. thanks.
 
try NOT pressing so hard with the PC (I am assuming thats what you used) Try to let the machine spin a little more and create a little more friction. Ummm if by hand you REALLY have to work the product hard to utilize the abrasives in the DACP. I havent used NXT yet so I cant help you out there.

You arent going to "fill in" any more swirls if you put a topper on the NXT wax. *I* say if you are going to hide swirls get a good glaze then add your topper.
 
"mine has the near consistency of water...really."



Well, that's not right! It should be bright white, and the consistency of a hand lotion. Call Meg's @ 800-347-5700. I'm sure they'll want to make it right.



Jim
 
As jimamary says, there's something wrong with your bottle of NXT! It should be like a nice thick rich hand lotion consistency. Call Megs or send Mike Phillips a PM. If you got it from a store, just take it back and ask for a replacement.
 
hrmm. that may make a difference. i should try that.



also, i used my hand to buff out the swirls. any other suggestions? for some reason i just have the feeling the nxt isn't going to be the cure for me, but i don't know.
 
also, i built up a LOT of friction with the DACP. i even tried one particular spot a third time, and this time i REALLY worked that DACP in. that one spot came out looking like the rest of the car. it didn't do anymore swirl hiding than the other parts. that seems odd to me - shouldn't the DACP continue to work? or is there a point where applying more DACP isn't going to resolve the issues?
 
tuffluck- Heh heh, we aren't all ScottWaxes, ya know ;) There are *many* things *I* can't get out without a PC/Cyclo/rotary. DACP is a "real" polish, it'll work every time you use it. But maybe what you're dealing with is just too much to do by hand with that product. Three passes isn't all that many, either. When doing stuff like that with a PC/Cyclo, I'll sometimes have to spend *hours* working one panel (that's why I finally got the rotary).



Don't feel too bad, as I said, we're not all Scottwax. It's like saying "plenty of people have run a four minute mile, why can't I?"
 
tuffluck........it seems your screen name is has a double meaning:D ........jus kiddin ya



If I am correct, NXT has cleaners in it and it may then be removing the #9.



#9 will fill the light scratches and swirls to a degree but if you are going to top it then use a paste carnauba like, S100, Trade Secret, Pizazz, or #26.



The DACP is a great product but will only do so much when applied with a PC. You need the heat and friction from a high speed rotary to level the paint down to where the swirls/scratches reside.



After this is done properly then you do not need #9 to "hide" but instead can use it as a gloss enhancer. I personally would prefer AIO and then either FMJ or UPP to seal, Trade Secret to wax.



I don't mean to hi-jack your thread but these pictures were lost when the Autopia computer crashed. They are of a red Honda S2000 I did last week. They show some nasty marring in the paint and the results after working them out with a rotary and the right product/pad combinations.
 
The polishes you used have fillers that are designed to "hide" the scratches. From what I've heard about NXT is that it is a cleaning wax or has some cleaners in it that are probably removing your fillers. Polish should be followed by either a glaze like Klasse SG, which gives GREAT results or a pure carnuba wax like souveran or p21s which I prefer.



Even klasse AIO will remove fillers which I found out the hard way like yourself. My advice would be just to start over, do what you did and apply carnuba or glaze.



Carnuba can be layered over synthetics but no vice versa.
 
do i have a bad bottle of nxt? i don't really know. a friend of mine has a bottle, and his seems MUCH thicker than mine when you shake the bottle. mine has the near consistency of water...really. what do you think?



Sounds like to me someone bought the bottle you had, used some and replaced what was used with water so they could return it. I'd return that bottle to the store and swap for another. I don't think Megs products come with a seal under the cap, do they?
 
they come with a seal under the cap, but mine did not. i don't know what happened there. but i've used over half the bottle, so returning it would do me no good. they would think i was just trying to scam them like the last guy did. who knows, maybe it did come with a seal and i'm just being dumb about it. it's not water-like, that was an over-exageration. the bottles at pep boys seem to be a lot thicker than mine though, and i don't remember the seal underneath.



so the consensus is that i should give the DACP another shot? i worked in round patterns, and really hard up and down patterns. maybe i should go side to side also? maybe diagonal patterns? thanks.
 
joblo1978 said:
Polish should be followed by either a glaze like Klasse SG, which gives GREAT results or a pure carnuba wax like souveran or p21s which I prefer.
Click to expand...



what about 3m's imperial hand glaze? that's really the only thing i can obtain locally. i like to stick to local products, but if that is crap and doesn't match well with DACP, #9, and nxt, then i guess i will have to order.



what do you guys recommend? what about scottwax, where is that guy when we need him?!?!?! :)
 
anthony, i need to see an after in-the-sun pic. those swirls in the first pic are VERY minor compared to what i was dealing with on my navy blue metallic car. here are what i like to call mechanical swirls in this pic. my car has two types of swirls - big huge ones (like you'll see in the pic) that look like grease smears (i call these mechanical) and then it has spider web swirls. i had (before the DACP) so many spider web swirls in my paint that i got arachnophobia just looking at a reflection of the sun/light in a body panel of my car. seriously, it was awful. i have no good in-the-sun pictures (like your first pic) because when i had a digital camera, there is no way i'd take a picture like that - too much of a disgrace.



swirly.JPG




now you guys know the type of paint (and color) that i'm working with. dunno if that helps any...
 
Accumulator said:
tuffluck- Heh heh, we aren't all ScottWaxes, ya know ;) There are *many* things *I* can't get out without a PC/Cyclo/rotary. DACP is a "real" polish, it'll work every time you use it. But maybe what you're dealing with is just too much to do by hand with that product. Three passes isn't all that many, either. When doing stuff like that with a PC/Cyclo, I'll sometimes have to spend *hours* working one panel (that's why I finally got the rotary).



Don't feel too bad, as I said, we're not all Scottwax. It's like saying "plenty of people have run a four minute mile, why can't I?"
Click to expand...



Accumulator, do you think 1ZEPP is as effective as DACP?
 
tuffluck --



It's not clear what pads you used, or what speeds on the DA polisher you used. Further, Meguiar's DACP is not the most aggressive stuff out there. It's an aggressive polish, but it's no compound. Grit needs heat to get the job done. A stronger chemical, pad and/or polisher seems what's needed for the swirls/scratches you are talking about.



Depending on the caliber of swirls/scratches you've actually got, pumping up the volume a little with a more-aggressive chemical and/or a more-aggressive pad might well do the trick.



As you have found out, you cannot simply press harder and expect to get a different result. (Assuming Lake Country pads, here.) White pad and DACP didn't do the job? Try an orange or yellow pad with either DACP or a moderate compound.
 
tuffluck said:
anthony, i need to see an after in-the-sun pic. those swirls in the first pic are VERY minor compared to what i was dealing with on my navy blue metallic car.
Click to expand...



By your above statement you will need to have your car buffed out with a rotary all the more. If the marring in my "before" picture is, in your eyes, not as bad as yours and I HAD to use a rotary to get them out then you will also need a rotary. A PC will not do it.



I was unable to get AFTER pics in the sun due to the weather. I do have though a MID picture of the hood after it had been buffed out with a rotary. There are two more buffing steps after this one BUT you can see where the major swirls have been leveled out.



You may need to either find a pro to do the initial buffing for you or buy a rotary and take a shot at it.



Anthony
 

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ocean - i'm not using any machine to do the job. this is all done by my two hands.



anthony - thanks for the advice. how does scottwax manage to do such good jobs with his two hands then?



it really bothers me that the person who had the car before me didn't take such good care of the paint. i guess that goes to show that MOST people don't take very good care of their paint, because the previous owner really respected this car; most people don't really respect the cars they drive all THAT much.



tonight i went and bought a new bottle of tech-wax. well, i hate to say it, but it really made a big difference. i think the bottle i had sucked.



IMPORTANT: does anyone know where i should store my nxt bottle - inside the house, or outside in a closet? i live in an apt. and have kept it inside. i don't know, but maybe that has something to do with why it hasn't worked so great lately...



i'll probably go buy some #16 this weekend, and stop there until i get really dissatisfied with the looks of my car again. it's not very logical or probable that i'll get any sort of machine polisher - i just don't have the place or time to use one. but that's okay, my paint is probably in better shape now than most cars out there aging nearly 5 years or so :) right? (motivational moment present) ;)



btw - where in texas are you from anthony, and how much do you usually charge? i'm in austin, tx, so i don't know if maybe i can make a drive to get some good work done sometime... :)
 
tuffluck,



I live just a few hours from you in San Antonio.



I have included yet ANOTHER:D pictutre of a Trans Am I am detailing for a fellow San Antonian who found out about me from another forum.



I was unable to finish the detail this last Friday due to the mother of all thunderstorms. I should finish it this Wednesday.



It had light to heavy marring, worst is on the tail and hood. I used my rotary with an orange Lake Country pad and Menzerna Powergloss. This will be a beautiful detail when done, awesome color! It has been about 8 years, or more, since I last did a Trans Am:D



To do the outside of your car I would charge anywhere from $100 to $200.



Anthony
 

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cool. i always loved that color. so how long does a detail such as this last? i'm just wondering if i would need to get my car polished every 2 months, or if this could last me a year or so if i properly maintain it? i have another friend in san antonio that details also.



also - where do i store the nxt??? anyone?
 
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