Polishing then wax/sealant

[Hjfowler]

I'm a novice when it comes to polishing or compounding a car. I'm nervous to compound since the car is black. The swirl marks on the car look severe in direct sun, but I'm sure it's because the car is black and things just look worse on black cars. The paint is quite smooth. My question is, would polishing rather than compounding be smarter to start with for a novice? And isn't polishing/compounding cutting into/taking away some clear coat?

I don't want to ruin the paint job. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

[Kamakaz1961]

Hjfowler you should compound 1st and 2nd step polish. I would go with a mild compound if you are too nervous. I like the Menzerna PF 2500 and then Menzerna SF 4500. I would use an Orange Pad for the compound and white pad for finishing polish. Blackfire also has a Polishing Kit which is great too. After you finish that put a sealant on 1st and top off with a wax. Start off with the PC 7424 XP to begin with.

You will not ruin your paint with that combo. My car is a Black 2013 Mustang GT and I did everything I mentioned. As for a sealant I used the Pinnacle Black Label sealant and then used Dodo Juice Supernatural wax.

If you do not have a DA polisher AGO sells the kits for the 2 Step Polishing all in one with the DA Polisher. FYI

Also make sure you clay bar your whole car before the 2 Step polishing process. I posted a couple of pics and should be in photo gallery.

[CowboyTruckn]

Yes it will remove small amounts of clear, but you must level the clear to remove swirls.

TEST SPOT! Try the polish first in the test spot. Vary technique a couple times. If it doesn't work or not well enough bump up to compound. You'll probably have to polish after compounding to finish down beautifully. Least aggressive method first.