It's been 2 and a half years come spring 2006 for my car without a polish job.. i was wondering if any detail guru want to give me a hand in helping me do the job.. im NOT swinging for a porter cable polisher, i will be willing to buy the proper and best polish for my car... im already a zaino user, primarily i want to take out blemishes in the paint... but besides my car.. i gotta take care of my much less careful mother's BLACK A4... Z5 didn't help cover up the swirls... anybody want to chime in what should i get to get started?

i was looking over at mini car care.. and i ran across sonus SFX 1, 2, and 3.. is that what i need? which pad should i use? if i do have to crack down to get a orbital polisher... is there a more economical solution than getting the 199 dollar package on mini car care?

currently, i have 4 sonus applicators... all of which are used for zaino only.. would those be good enough for sonus SFX?

thanks in advance

 

The Sonus 1, 2, 3 line is great. Autopia-carcare also sells a 3 color hand applicator that should do the job nicely.

I think there is polishing information in the sticky thread "My Detailed Detailing Process"

 

I've had great luck with the Sonus system, but I do think the PCDA makes a big difference especially if you are trying to take out significant marks in a black car. Going by hand it will take a long time to do well.

The other option I am thinking about trying, and being a Zaino guy you would appreciate, is the Z-PC from Zaino. Try it dry first, and then if that isn't cutting out the scratches and swirls add a bit of misted water to the paint surface as Zaino recomends.

Think I am going here next just to try something else. I really highly recommend the Sonus system and the $200 setup as it provides all the pads and equipment you need. The only things you need over that kit are a bottle of SFX-1 and SFX-3 or the Sonus pain polisher 1-step stuff.

Good luck, and enjoy working on the black car, man are they tough!

Joel

 

This all depends on what kind of "blemishes" you have. You are not going to get swirls with any depth out of the paint with just your hand. Let me rephrase that, it would take hours and hours and hours of hand polishing to get any significant marring out of your paint.

You will, however, be able to "mask" or "hide" them with polishes, cleaners, and a final step protectant.

I would attack your paint (2.5 yrs. no polish) by hand like this:
- wash with a citrus degreaser or dawn to strip off any protection.
- take a plastic bag, put it over your fingers and feel the paint. What do you feel? If it's bumpy, you need to clay. If it's perfectly smooth (doubtful), you don't need to clay.
- Then I'd clay.
- Wash car again.
- If you're going with the SFX line, use the most aggresive first and see if it does the job.
- Some other products you might need or find useful: Meguire's scratch-x, 3M imperial hand glaze, poorboy's SSR3, 2.5
- Polish away
- Check in different lights to see if the scratches are gone.
- If they are, hit it with a gentle polish/cleaner for the final step before protection.
- Apply your zaino.

I've never had a PC until a few weeks ago, and my car is mostly unmarred because I wash very carefully and polish/wax whenever I need to. Hopefully the PC will help me actually get RID of the swirls that are present.

I think you're making the right decision for you regarding the PC. If you don't want to spring for it, then you don't need to. If you wanted to detail other people's cars or try to reverse serious marring, you'd have to seriously consider it. Even a PC has difficulty getting out very deep marring - although there are people who work wonders with it.

mb

 

see my only worry is that ill mess up and wound up with a 2000 dollar paint job for my mother...

my car is alright... its constantly protected with zaino.. even during the winter, but its hard to get my mother's car to stay stasis for a day... ill try to get the zaino on during christmas on her car while she's on vacation... hopefully 2 layers of Z5 will cover some of the swirls (she has mostly swirls)

 

The PC (aka Dual Action Polisher) is a very safe tool. You won't burn through your paint, and it takes a lot of the work out of keeping your finish swirl free. I consider it a finishing tool that works great for beginners and as a final pass when using the Rotary buffer.

The Rotary is the one to be scared of. It'll go through your paint really fast, and do all kinds of damage. However it also removes bird poo etchings, clear coat scratches, and swirls! But it also leaves behind buffer swirls, unless you finish it off with a PC.

Just look at a passing black BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche and see if the light reflecting off it, looks like someone went with a brillo pad in a circular motion along the side. I see it ALL the time.

As has been mentioned, working swirls and paint blemished by hand is plain hard work and I agree that you're better off using products with fillers to fill in scratches. Although it's a temporary fix, they work surprisingly well, atleast until you wash your car again!

The PC is a tool that's worth owning and I highly recommend it. It's safe, and works with a number of products. Of course I like Meguiar's, so I would use M80 or M83 with a PC depending on the severity of the blemishes. With Meguiar's you always start with the least aggressive product combo for the job.

Richard
(Professional MINI Detailer)

 

Another point: as great as Zaino is, and it apprently is great, it will not protect your car from scratches, chips, or other sorts of major marring. Niether will any other wax or polymer protectant. It will protect from water spot etching, bird crap damage (if taken off quickly), uv rays, and other minor issues. This is why people crazy about their cars' appearence strip the paint down and polish more than once a year.

mb

 

3M makes a great product... a swirl remover with fillers. Look for the one labled 'for dark cars' or 'for light cars'.