Hi Everyone!

Well one of the problems that I had with the car when I took delivery was the condition of the A-Pillars and C-Pillar Black plastic areas. They were swirled insanely on the front and minor swirling on the rear bumper/C-Pillar. This was probably all due to the "detailing" that was accomplished after the car was on the lot for a few weeks.

Here are the before pics:







Here are the after pics:





I had ordered a PC 7424 and pads along with some polishes. I also have some polish, Black Wow, and some other goodies on the way from OctaneGuy as well. I spoke with Richard (OctaneGuy) this weekend and he gave me some advice on how to remove the swirls. He stated that the pillar is plastic and is soft and prone to swirling if you are not careful. He said that the white finishing pad and fine polish should rectify the situation. Boy was he right! Anyhow I just wanted to show you all that it's pretty easy to take care of this but you NEED to take care with the types of things you place on the pillars....Detailing 101....ensure that you minimize any things that could swirl/scratch your paint.

I am not done by any stretch on the detailing as it will go on over the next week as I have time. Please excuse the dirt on the glass and such as she is not completed yet!

 

95% improvement. well done!

 

Yup as I said it is not done yet....just wanted to test a few things out with the new "detailing kit" I got. Once I get all of the swirls out (there are a few of them that you see if you get really close), then it's sealant time, and wax!

 

95%??? Wait, I'd say more like 300% improvement!! Looks good enough to me..no need to get it 100% when it's just going to swirl out again later. Slap on some Banana Gloss, Amigo, or Hydro to make it 100%. Good job!

Richard

 

Thanks Richard!!! Your advice on the phone on Saturday really helped! Cant wait to continue with this project and then move on to the other vehicles! Can't wait to get the DVD and Black Wow as well!!!! Thanks again!

 

Yep, A-pillar polishing is one of the most satisfying detailing jobs you can do on a MINI - relatively easy and makes a huge visual improvement, because those black glossy A-pillars just scream "SWIRLS!!!!" in the sunlight when they have them.... then you start seeing all the other imperfections in the car. When they're not swirly, you don't notice them... which is the way it's supposed to be.

 

Very nice... you're well on your way to being an OCDetailer !

But hey, I'm going to try really hard not to dislike you for wearing a NE Patriots t-shirt.

 

SOOOO glad I took the plunge and attacked them...A-pillars that is...LOL. Come on now I grew up in Mass and have been a Pats/Red Sox/Bruins fan for evah.....hehehehe!

 

Okay... as long as you're not a bandwagon fan.

 

nice job, Mike! that is one improved a-pillar for sure.

 

NO WAY a bandwagon guy! Grew up with my teams going on 41 years now and have NEVER ONCE STRAYED! It stinks when you are out of the "home" market and have to get Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings to be able to see all the games!

Thanks Kenchan.....I am actually taking the rest of the week off....have a Dr appt in the AM early and then I will have "Clubbie" up to speed! The only thing I will be missing is the Black Wow but have an order in with OctaneGuy for a few things so if anything the BW can be put on next week if it does not get here this week. I have heard so many good things about BW I had to take the plunge and get a bottle!

 

Mike1968NM

That is an amazing job you did there. I'm seriously impressed!!! My Mini came like this as do most from where I bought it. These swirls really irk me.

I bought Zaino PC for this and I have yet to try it. Did you work them out by hand or did you buy a motorized buffer?

 

1992...thanks for the compliments! It was 10000000000% easy! I have a Porter Cable 7424 DA polisher that arrived on Friday. At Richard's suggestion I used the white lake country pad that came in a kit and the "least cut" polish that I had on hand....Menzerna Final Polish. I am getting some Swirl from Richard as well for future use. You could probably use scratchx as well on it.

I applied the polish to the pad and dabbed it on the pillar then spread it around. Then I started the polisher at 2.5 and moved up to 4.5 and just worked it in back and forth with no pressure....just the weight of the polisher. Wiped it down after a few minutes and voila! The difference is simply amazing and it is SUPER easy! Next step is to use a sealant and then wax.

 

I don't have a motorized polisher. I'm afraid I might make things worse. I'm wondering if it can be done by hand or if I should just buy a polisher. I might be able to borrow one at least. I know two people that have a PC.

 

Borrow one - while you could EVENTUALLY get it done by hand using ScratchX or something similar, it would take a while and you wouldn't have the "wow, that was easy and it looks soooooo good" feeling when done...

 

Since I'm not at work today I thought I'd give the Z-PC a try with a polishing microfiber applicator. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get the swirls out of the right back A piller and I got nowhere. Very disappointed.

 

I've heard Z-PC is VERY mild... you'll probably never get there by hand with that product. Scratch-X would work better - but not as well as a polisher w/foam pad and polish.

 

SwirlX with a PC works good on the pillars as well.