I'm trying to restore the paint on my car so it can look nice when I sell it to get the downpayment for my MINI Anyways I got some polish (1Z medium cut) and after applying it MULTIPLE times, probably about 6 or 8 times to this one area, I still have fine swirl marks. I did the whole hood twice, but I did this one small area 8 times and I can see that there are less scratches in it, but still not enough.

I'm worried that I might be "stripping" too much clearcoat by using the polish so much. Is this normal? Or do I use a very fine polish (I have the P21S paintwork cleanser) to "fill in" or buff out the fine scratches?
Or should I use a coarser grade polish? My car isn't oxidated at all, just alot of swirl marks and water spots, so I figured a medium cut polish would do the job, but not working!

 

I haven't used the 1Z product you're trying, so I can't comment on its' abrasiveness. It does sound like it's not all that aggressive. I'd recommend trying 3M Perfect-In Swirl Mark Remover. It is highly effective. Yes, you are essentially grinding down your clear coat, however it would take massive effort to get through it by hand. (unless you're using sandpaper!)

Hope that helps,
Ryan

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm guessing that it's normal and I just have to work at it. One more question though, do I have to use alot of pressure? I'm using about light-med pressure, and buff off quite quickly. I heard some people say keep applying it until it's powdery then buff off. But on the bottle it says to buff off before it dries. Hmmm..

 

I don,t have lots of experince with car polish,but I do furniture finnish repairs
and I never let anything get dry before I rub it.
Using a detailing polish on my BRG for the last two months every few days
and there are no more swirlls,and the colour is very deep now,
HIGH reflection I rub with vigor but I don't get into a sweat

 

After much polishing (2hrs worth on just bonnet and boot!) with two grades of polish I think I need an PCDA. I just can't get enough friction to really get at those fine scratches. The fairly deep ones are taken care of and there is a HUGE difference between the parts that I polished and waxed and the parts that I just washed. For now I'll just polish up everything by hand just doing parts at a time since it takes so long! Next up are the driver side doors...

 

Go to autopia.org and ask the guys there. They are the most OCD car guys in the world and are very helpful.
-Anne :smile: