Best Product for swirl mark removal???

[RADA]

Hi Guys,

Just got my 01 GT on Friday. Looks like the detail shop at the car dealer dried my baby with some 800 grit sandpaper!!!

The swirl marks can be seen, but not felt (whew!).

Can anybody tell how well Meguiar's Scratch X works? Or can you recommend something else that will do the job?

Thanks,

RADA

 

[rjstaaf]

ScratchX is a pretty good product. There is also Meguiars Body Scrub Paint Cleaner. There are some even more agressive products if you have access to the Meguiars professional or body shop line. Just keep in mind that it is very hard to remove even light swirls by hand, it could take several applications to remove them.

I would try ScratchX and/or Body Scrub Paint Cleaner first and if they don't work than I would try to find the Meguiars professional or body shop line. I would look specifically at Meguiars #82 Swirl Free Polish for hand application and #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish for machine application.

http://www.meguiars.com/store_megui...ore=pro&line=proauto&catagory=3&subcatagory=1

One of the best investments I made in keeping my paint looking new is the Porter Cable dual action polisher. It is perfectly safe for your paint, it will not burn it like a rotary could. You can find more information on the Porter Cable at the following link

http://www.properautocare.com/porcabpolac.html

 

[Saleen4971]

PC

best investment EVAR!!

 

[oldmodman]

I just finished removing the swirl marks on a friends dark blue Jetta. They were so bad that just using a Porter Cable DA would have taken forever. Ended up using a Makita rotary with Meguiars #84 Then I used the DA with Meguiars #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish. That removed the hazing left by the #84 And finished up with Meguiars #9 swirl mark remover. By the way I tried just the # 9 first, then moved up to #83, but had to move up to #84 when the first two were not aggressive enough. It sounds like a lot of work and it is. But if you think a hand applied polish with Scratch Remover is going to do any good you will probably be dissapointed, I know I was. I started following the post on Meguar's forum and over on Autopia. And learned that if I really wanted to be able to get rid of the swirls on my Cobra I was going to have to use machine polishing to do it. Sure was scary the first time I put the rotary polisher on the hood of my car. But by starting really slow and checking the finish every few seconds I managed not to burn through the paint!

 

[JimC]

My understanding a rotary is best for removal swirls. However your can really screw your paint up if you don't know what your doing. That's why I stick with a pc.

 

[rjstaaf]

I also have a Makita rotary but, luckily so far the PC has been more than enough to remove the swirls and scratches I have encountered. Fortunately the paint on most Mustangs is pretty soft making the PC pretty effective with the right polishes. I have had great luck with the PC and #83. The wife's minivan is another story though The paint on that beast is very hard and the PC barely removes the lightest of swirls so the Makita is pretty much mandatory there. There is no one right tool for every job. You have to evaluate the surface and use the best tool to get the job done. Since this is a forum though and we can't actually evaluate the paint in person it really is best to suggest people start out with the most mild product possible and then work their way up the agressiveness ladder. Most people are working by hand and you would be suprised at what you can remove by hand with repeated applications and some elbow grease. I have removed some pretty nasty abraisions in my clear coat with ScratchX and #9 by hand.

When I moved the family from Orlando here to South Carolina I took a couple of trips with a 15' Uhaul. On the first trip I brought my son and towed the Mustang on a trailer behind the Uhaul. I wanted to protect it so I covered it with a tarp. Well after 9 hours of the tarp flapping a in the wind just about every surface of the car was abraded, she looked like a zebra. It took me a week of spending about 3 hours a night but, I removed every bit of it by hand with a combination of ScratchX and #9. It was shortly after that when I discovered the PC and have never looked back.

 

[Dark Knight GT]

I swear. It's like Meguiars has a list of products longer than my arm.

I have setting here Meguiars 2 and 9 for swirl marks. I also have 3m swirl mark remover for dark colored cars and 3m rubbing compound.

So far, I've tried all of them. The number 2 was the only one that worked in my case to get the swirls and scratches out the best although I will note this is some pretty strong stuff. I'm still not done with my paint. Here's what I got planned for the finale.

Meguiars 2 on the car where its needed.
Meguiars number 9 on whole car
3m swirl remover for dark colored cars(this stuff actually will chemically combine to the paint. I know, I've used it. Its more of a polish than anything).
Mothers sealer glaze(this is a hand polish that will increase shine while removing hairline scatches. On my car, it beats number Meguiars number 7. Sorry, just my opinion.

Finally, I'll seal it with some number 20 then a layer of 26. After that, I'm going to take a few pics of the car for memory then fall over and die of exhuastion from all the superb hard work.

 

[x2cstang]

I got a better idea. Take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix it!

 

[RADA]

I got a better idea. Take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix it!

I used to work there. The car detail people wouldn't know how to fix it, unless I showed them!

 

[rjstaaf]

The problem with the dealerships is they don't want to spend the money to hire good, experienced detailers. It is not a high priority for the dealership so not only do they not allow their people to spend a lot of time on the cars, they don't spend money on decent tools. Sorry but, this is the rule rather than the exception. Taking it back would just give them the chance to make it worse. It is rare (I do as much of my own work as possible) but, when I take my car to the dealer for servicing I make sure to tell them "DO NOT WASH MY CAR" and I make sure it is printed in large letters on all the paper work.

 

[ShootsHeScores!]

Any good auto detailer will tell you...

NEVER LET THE DEALERSHIP WASH YOUR CAR!

Tell them that you request them to not wash it. They do not wash cars with the proper care needed to prevent swirls or even worse. Take your car back and show them the damage to see what they say. They might even cut you a check for the repair. Try some Poorboys Super Swirl Remover 2 (SSR2) with a PC at speed 5.5-6. Work the product for a while and it should remove light surface swirls.

Poorboy's products can be purchased from:

www.poorboysworld.com
or
www.motorcitypoorboys.com

 

[MCABOSS]

swirl remover

Does any of this suff work on glass for water spots etc?