Help with removing moderate swirls

[newnmpr0ved]

this is my very first post so please bare with me.... i love to take care of my car along with my parents car... i just recently purchased a porter cable 7424 from the autogeek store and i just put it to use earlier today... i'm nowhere near a pro but i'm trying to get there... i performed a basic wash, dry and clay on my moms black 2004 lexus es330... once done with the drying, it revealed all the swirling thats all over the paint from front to back (which i already knew was there)... so i decided i'd try to buff them out with my new 7424... the products i used are meguiars swirl remover 2.0 with orange pad followed with meguiars hi tech yellow wax with a white pad... after going thru a lil surface for about 3-5 minutes of buffing jumping from speed 3-6, the swirls are STILL THERE !! do u guys think i should step up to a more aggressive pad ?? or use a different polish with the same type of orange pad ??? i'll post up pictures tomorrow when i upload them to reveal the swirls after my slight detail


if this helps at all, i currently have:

Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound
Mothers Plastic Polish
Mequiars Hi Tech Yellow Wax
Meguiars Cleaner Wax
Meguiars Clay Kit
Meguiars Swirl Remover 2.0
Lake Country White Pads x 3
Lake Country Grey Pad x 1
Lake Country Orange Pads x 4
and the porter cable white pad which came in the box

[SanAndreas]

Meguiar’s website says Swirl Remover 2.0 is for fine scratches and swirls. Yours may lean toward medium scratches. I don’t use their polish so I don’t really know.

Or you might be moving the PC too fast.

The LC orange should be plenty aggressive.

[square24]

Check out the Pinnacle Wax kits. I have a black 07 G35 and it works great.

[newnmpr0ved]

Originally Posted by SanAndreas

Meguiar’s website says Swirl Remover 2.0 is for fine scratches and swirls. Yours may lean toward medium scratches. I don’t use their polish so I don’t really know.

Or you might be moving the PC too fast.

The LC orange should be plenty aggressive.

you're right... i didnt notice they were medium swirls/scratches til i used the product... i'm doing everything by trial n error... and with that said, money going down the drain with products that arent doing what i need them to do... so i guess i'll look into the xmt intermediate swirl remover since its cheaper in price than the pinnacle products... thanks for your replies

[newnmpr0ved]

can i get everyones input on what u guys think i should get... i looked at the wolfgang swirl remover 3.0, but according to the description it says its for fine swirls which seems very similiar to meguiars swirl remover 2.0... is the wolfgang SR 3.0 the same as xmt swirl remover #3... i'm curious as to the numbers on what they signify... 3 for more aggressive than 2 and 1.. or just the series number for wolfgang

[antekaudi]

Try to move PC more slowly. (that was my mistake)

You can try to go over same place 2 times.

If that doesnt help get something more agressive.

[builthatch]

Originally Posted by antekaudi

Try to move PC more slowly. (that was my mistake)

You can try to go over same place 2 times.

If that doesnt help get something more agressive.

It might help to check out the autogeek youtube DA polishing videos; they give you a pretty good idea about speeds. here is an example -

YouTube - Car polishing featuring Porter Cable...

I am currently working on my wife's dark blue metallic '07 Si that has some pretty incredible water spot damage and spiderwebs from neglect, combined with the overall horrendously lame and soft Honda clear, so i'm working quite a bit slower and longer than what's in the vids, and i'm using Optimum's compound with an orange pad. I am being very cognizant of temperatures. I think the suggestions about speed are probably accurate for you too.

it's important also to check your work as you go along, and use some decent MF towels to remove product. i'd make sure the finish is where you need it before you apply any type of wax.

I hate to recommend you to spend more cash, but i have to say that Optimum's stuff is pretty awesome, affordable for the amount you get and it's simple to understand what you can use for what. i fear that the stuff you are using might be useable, but contains stuff that will fill/hide as well as remove, so you might not get the true correction you are looking for, esp after some time goes by and it wears off from washing, weather, etc. what you've worked to remove, and thought disappeared, might reappear due to the hiding characteristics of alot of the OTC "scratch/swirl" stuff.

as far as Optimums stuff- orange pad for pretty much everything except final wax, compound for major stuff and hefty swirls, their polish as a follow-up to get the finish PERFECT and/or minor swirls, and then hand apply their sealant or i happen to use the Pinnacle SVN liquid. i like that their stuff doesn't fill or hide anything. it corrects, and...that's it. what you see is what's really there. i used the polish with orange pad on my mazdaspeed3, in a less aggressive manner than, say, what's on the video, and the finish is absolutely perfect. i mean, perfect.

i'm by no means an expert, and a real n00b on this forum (obviously), but i've been spending alot of time doing this and reading, so take it for what it's worth ; )

good luck.

[newnmpr0ved]

^^ thanks alot bro, i'll look into everything u just mentionend esp the liquids u mentioned... i tried lookin for flaws on my silver 06 rsx type s and its very very hard to see imperfections... LoL... but anyways, thanks for your long reply as it was everything i was looking to hear... thanks again

[builthatch]

Originally Posted by newnmpr0ved

i tried lookin for flaws on my silver 06 rsx type s and its very very hard to see imperfections...

this is why i've pretty much only owned silver metallic cars. it's a VERY forgiving color with detailing, but quite a ##### when it comes to repaints/blending, etc so it's a toss up. as long as you can keep the car out of the body shop, you are good!

but, on a serious note, you should probably be able to see the condition of the surface by parking near some street/parking lot lights at night and peering from the sides, in a driveway with spotlights or flood lamps, or, in a garage with flourescent lighting overhead. silver damage is hard to see at many angles, the easiest are roof, fender tops, roof and trunk (if you have one ; )

if they are still hard to see, then i'd just go over it with some moderate passes and a quality polish (like that Optimum) just to assure a good finish to work atop. then seal or wax, or both. no need to spend too much time on it if you can't see anything obviously wrong and you don't want to hack into the clear if you don't need to.

atleast that is what i'd do, but again, i'm no expert