Swirl marks in fresh paint

bronco78 · Sep 23, 2006

My 05 is just back from the body shop (what a nightmare, three attempts to fix a small issue /collision with a deer) On the last try, they at least got the paint and clear coat on with out runs, drips, modeling, bugs and dirt in the paint) How ever.... The fresh paint has a ton of swirl marks in it, from a hasty polish to clean up there mess.

I seem to remember not to wax fresh paint for some time to allow it to fully cure. Body shop said 30 days, a Body man at my wife’s place of work I trust (at a Ford Dealer) recommended 90 days. In either case I would prefer not to have the swirl marks on they hood, fender and door for the next few months.

Can I safely remove them from fresh paint? If so how? Using what?

No it's not going back to the body shop, though, if home removal by a show and shine newbie is not recommended, I'll find a quality place to have it done (note to self, shops with the word "Quality" in the name, are not)

4point6 · Sep 23, 2006

Do not touch it yet, let it cure or you may make more problems. I've heard about 3 months is the recommended time to cure, and btw that sucks

justin · Sep 23, 2006

I would not touch it until the paint fully cures. You should wait 90 days to be safe. Do you have a Porter Cable polisher? You could use that and a swirl remover to fix them. Do you have any pictures of the swirls?

bronco78 · Sep 23, 2006

justin said:
I would not touch it until the paint fully cures. You should wait 90 days to be safe. Do you have a Porter Cable polisher? You could use that and a swirl remover to fix them. Do you have any pictures of the swirls?

No pics, yet,, thunderstorms right now, but as soon as they let up, I'll wash the toy, and get some pics. No I have not yet bought a PC polisher... it's on the short list. I leave the country in just a few weeks, and had wanted to give the whole car a great wax, to help protect the car for the next year or so. The wife will wash it as needed. But the wax job was on me to do, then the damage happened, and 6 weeks to get it fixed right.. now I'm out of time to let it cure..

I have a detail shop in mind.. Think I'll have the wife take it to them in a few months. She is pretty damn smart, and knows cars, just no time to do the work. 14 hours a day as a Service Adviser is more then enough dealing with cars for any one day.

Thanks all fro the confirmation on paint curing time.. Guess it'll just have to wait.

iskwezm · Sep 23, 2006

Use a hand glaze and just keep glazing. Waxing the paint is a whole different process then glazing.

justin · Sep 23, 2006

If you are looking for a porter cable let me know. I will give you a good deal.

Unclemilti · Sep 25, 2006

Actually the longer you wait, the harder it will be to get the swirls out.

You should wait 90 days to WAX, not polish with compound.

Most paint can be polished 30 minutes after its baked, or 3 hours after its put on in the case of the new-generation hyper-clears.

An orbital won't remove the swirls, only a rotary powered buffer with a wool pad, followed by a foam pad with the right compounds.

SMRcalidiv · Sep 25, 2006

you can use scratch x by hand, or meguiars #80, both are safe for fresh paint, I was in the same situation as you are now.

Turbo92PGT · Oct 23, 2006

is the paint dull because the swirls are so bad? If so, youre gonna want to use a rubbing compound (3m perfect it) or meguiars diamond cut. Apply very little and work into the paint with the high speed buffer on a wool pad. When it starts to look a little better, wipe off and redo. Do that untill the majority of the deep swirls are gone. Then go over it with a machine glaze on a foam pad.

house302 · Nov 17, 2006

does the paint look like an orange peel if so the painter probably didnt wet sand the car. a friend of mine wet sanded mine and not only did the swirls go away, but so did the orange peel. it also added depth to color made it a deeper red. it was a night and day difference. when he first started i looked at the spot and the reflection was so clear, i moved to an unfinished spot and the reflection was so distorted. i thought i needed new paint, but wet sanding did the trick. dont know if this helps, but its worth a try. dont try it yourself unless you have done it before.

danistanggt · Nov 27, 2006

house302 said:
does the paint look like an orange peel if so the painter probably didnt wet sand the car. a friend of mine wet sanded mine and not only did the swirls go away, but so did the orange peel. it also added depth to color made it a deeper red. it was a night and day difference. when he first started i looked at the spot and the reflection was so clear, i moved to an unfinished spot and the reflection was so distorted. i thought i needed new paint, but wet sanding did the trick. dont know if this helps, but its worth a try. dont try it yourself unless you have done it before.

my old man just painted a 65b fastback. it was wet sanded and then color sanded.. iit still orange peeled and he got some stuff somebody recommended and it is made by the wax shop... it has carnuba in it and when he went too polish it out after rubbing the car it is all hazy now... grrrrrrrr
so now i have to go get the 3m super duty rubbing compiund and redo it.

justin · Nov 27, 2006

Have you thought about using the Optimum HyperCompound. It can be worked longer than the 3M and it has no dusting. Very easy to work with.

Figment · Nov 27, 2006

Unclemilti said:
Actually the longer you wait, the harder it will be to get the swirls out.

You should wait 90 days to WAX, not polish with compound.

Most paint can be polished 30 minutes after its baked, or 3 hours after its put on in the case of the new-generation hyper-clears.

An orbital won't remove the swirls, only a rotary powered buffer with a wool pad, followed by a foam pad with the right compounds.

your right and wrong, no need to wait to polish the paint only to seal(wax) it. but you can take out swrills with a PC orbital, i do it all the time.

san~man · Dec 14, 2006

I wouldn't use anything other than an Porter Cable DA, unless you're adept enough to use an orbital.

My PC, along with my Pinnacle and Menzerna, took almost all the swirls out of my paint.

Scott 96Cobra · Dec 24, 2006

If the paint was baked YOU ARE FINE. No need to wait.

This same thing happened when I got it cleared after my custom paint. It's because the dealer I go it done at hit the clear with a rotary and didn't know WTF he was doing.

A PC with Poor boys #3 #2.5 and #2 fixed it completely. It was REALLY bad - swirls and holograms all over the place.

It can be fixed no problem.

jspbullitt · Jan 16, 2007

i got you covered

I detail cars for a living and also have a black mustang...to solve your swirls you need to wait the 3 months that everyone keeps repeating id recommend using 3m's perfect-it 2 foam polishing pad glaze-dark. its awesome to use for removal of compounding swirls that the idiots at the bodyshop did. its easy to apply and take off.

mustang90 · Jan 25, 2007

The paint is swirled because the body shop probably wet sanded the paint to remove dirt, grud and orange peel. However, by the sounds of it they compounded it but never used a good polish. What you want to do is get a one way buffer with a foam pad (snap on). Use the 3M polish and keep the pad wet. Don't go any higher than 1500 rpm. Be very careful and keep moving the buffer. Go back and forth and up and down to eliminate the swirls. When your done your paint will look like glass. I use to take autobody in high school and have done this countless times. Oh yeah, wear a mask cause the spatter doesn't taste good. Hope this helps.

mxer24 · Jan 26, 2007

i work in 2 body shops right now, one with collision repairs only, and another one that does more custom. Some cars in the custom shop right now are a 73 stang(full restoration),i think 92 Galant VR4(one of 8 badgeless),72 Charger(not sure of the year, and a classic jeep that is staying with the Chrysler V8, something you don;t see very often, and a Hurst Olds. Basically, tkae a sheet of 1500, 2000 if you have a heavy hand, and a sanding block. Lightly scuff the clearcoat, but do not go through. Keep wiping the water away to check yourself so the the dirt and random crap gets sanded out. Next, get some polish(3M makes a good series of polishes and compounds in bnlack squeeze bottles), and a one way buffer. Use a wool wheel first, not the foam wheel. Be generous with the compound but not too much and apply it directly to the panel. Start the buffer, and on a slight angle move the buffing wheel to and fro on the panel while going over the compound. Be careful not to hold the buffer in one spot too long, you can burn the paint and it will look like nicole richie 20 pounds lighter. After that, use the foam wheel, while damp, and some final glaze. After that wash it off and check it out.

matador91 · Feb 3, 2007

If you want to totally remove your swirl marks you must go to a place like Wesco Auto Body supply purchase the 3M black buffing pad, then you use the 3M SWIRL MARK REMOVER, then you use 3M final glaze with the same black pad as before, then you buy the 3M blue pad and the 3M swirl mark eliminater, and this fully removes swirl marks permanently and to use it you put about a 50cent peace size on the quarter and slowly procede to buff the quarter for about 2 minutes, this stuff goes a long ways so don't use to much, so when you think your done take a MICROFIBER TOWEL and gently remove the excess material to a lustry shine. After you repeat these steps wash your car, dry it really well, then get yourself some POLYMER SEALENT FROM MEGUIARS, OR EVEN THEIR PAINT SEALENT these are both safe doing to the fact that they still allow the solvents to come through, so you wont have to worry about solvent pop. PLUS ONCE YOU GO WITH A POLYMER SEALENT YOU WILL NEVER GO BACK TO A WAX. However this process is not cheap by any means.

Swirl marks in fresh paint

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