How to get that Perfect Shine

[93formulalt1]

Well, I was just thinking about it, which I often do when I'm stuck at work during these ridiculous hours, and I would like to find out how to get the best results from a detailing session. My car seems to have not been detailed thoroughly by the previous owner, only washed once in a while. I have noticed that there are very noticeable swirl marks in the paint, and I want to get rid of them, and get the car looking the best it ever has. I've heard a lot about "Color Sanding", what is it? I was thinking of buying a new buffer/polisher, but then I realized that I have one in the garage that I never use, it's my Dad's from when he used to paint cars. I'm going to pick up a pad kit for it next week, then I'm going to get started on the best detail my car's ever seen. I've found some really promising looking detailing products at my local Painter's Supply store, I'm going to be trying them out and reporting my findings here. I basically just want to remove all of the swirl marks, get the paint shining deeper than ever, and put a coat of glaze on it and take some pics after I get my new camera.

[meissen]

A lot of people will wet sand their car to get rid of the orange peel. Honestly, you can get a great shine without doing that IMO.

By far, claybar! My parents bought an 05 Grand Prix on Friday and the paint is like sand paper right now because of all the contaminates in the paint. I spent 2-3 minutes claybaring a section and WOW what a difference it made on the smoothness of the car.

After claybarring, get a good scratch & swirl polish. Scratch-X is an over the counter one that works great. Will work even better on a wheel rather than hand. Just make sure you know what you're doing, a polish and a wheel in the hands of someone inexperienced can do tons of damage. I burned right through the clear coat on a section of my rear quarter panel trying to buff a scratch.

If your cars paint really needs it, find a medium cut polish that will take off a little more than a regular polish would. Work your way from the medium to the fine cut, then a wax, and then a topper if you want.

Personally, I love to top my detailed cars off with a pure carnauba wax.

You'll have her shining in no time. I'm actually going out to detail my mom's car in a few minutes here. Never detailed a black car so it'll be interesting to see how hard the swirls are to get out.

[kammi10]

black is the worst B

[meissen]

Trust me, I already know that much. It'll be interesting.

[cjmatt]

Brian speaks the truth, give it a good wash with some dawn soap to strip the old wax, claybar it(with an actual claybar preferably), then hit it with a medium cut polish(dont skimp on polish), rinse and then wax...it should be as smooth as a baby's ass

[00firebird]

what kind of buffer is it ? i would be careful with the old machines.. i use the porter cable 7336 which is basically impossible to ruin the paint with even if you're trying.. also be careful with thoes heavy compound polishes ive heard mixed things

[JoeliusZ28]

rotary buffer. people will say "its not necessary" all day long, but i gaurantee anyone that says that hasnt used one (or hasnt used one properly). Multi-stage rotary buffing will get rid of all swirls, and possibly several scratches too. Its very time consuming and makes a mess, but the end result is so very worth it. Just look at some pictures of my car. My paint is 12 years old, and it looks better than most cars look brand new today. Rotary buffing is not something you can just pick up and do though. (although thats how you have to do it) If youre not experienced youll probably burn the paint at least a couple times. It also takes a while to figure out what kind of pads and compound combinations will give you what results.

detailing is all about paint prep. NOT what wax is best. if you clay and rotary buff a car properly, it will bead water just as good as a wax job. (wax makes water bead because it smooths out the microscopic surface of the paint). When I wheel a car the paint is smooth enough to throw a towel across the hood without even waxing it.

[meissen]

Amen on Joel's statement. I think Porter Cable buffers do just as good as rotary, personally, but then again I've never used rotary.

[SS4Matt]

wash, clay bar,
since it's an older car, i would be most certain it could use a good wool pad and some "fine cut" compound, like Wizards Finish Cut, being red a lighter color, you could probably cover up any wool pad wheel marks "wheelies" with a white waffle pad, i like vesco's flat foam pads though. then rinse your mess off and wax.

using a wheel is the only way IMO, i do it all day long and make cars look brand new again. i did a brand new black chevy SSR yesterday and it was so bad i actually 3 stepped it, wool pad, white waffle, then flat foam pad. waxed it with whatever was handy....looked brand new

color sanding....or wet sanding, there's really no need for that, you never really know how thick the clear coat on your car is...the only time i wet sand is with some 2000 to try to level some scratches or when people glob on touch up paint, knock it down some and wheel out the sand scratches

[JoeliusZ28]

color sanding....or wet sanding, there's really no need for that, you never really know how thick the clear coat on your car is...the only time i wet sand is with some 2000 to try to level some scratches or when people glob on touch up paint, knock it down some and wheel out the sand scratches

x2 to that