Here's what I'm doing, what's wrong?

[dougaross]

A good polish Megs 205

[Kristopher1129]

I think that you aren't fully removing all of the defects to begin with! The reason they are coming back is because the Megs show glaze is just filling them in and after time this product wears off and thats y they are reappearing.....JMO here!

Agreed. If they are showing back up...then obviously they were never gone. Plus, you can plainly see compound swirls in your paint. I think you need to follow that compound with a swirl remover. 205, or something of the sort. Then lay some sealant down. That should protect it pretty good.

Showroom is not a good product to follow compound. It will hide things...but not get rid of them. IMO...of course.

[slickooz]

To me it looks like a little of both: Need further correction, and needs further refinement.

The paint will always have some RIDS. It looks like the very small things might be deep (hardly noticeable in the pics as you see mostly the marring). I would tape off a section and go back over with UC under orange. If you see no difference, then you can decide whether to chase them out or leave them for future details. If they do come out some, then another pass should help clear things up really good.

Once done with the UC, though, you will need to finish down with a lighter pad and polish. The car looks like an 80's XJ Jag from the fuel door. Their factory paint is a 2 stage paint, and is rather hard. So even the ScratchX you have should be able to finish down better. Try a black pad, again, taping off a section to see your progress. If marring remains, a lighter polish might be needed. The black pad should be able to work with any finishing polish, though.

The glaze is a great way to bring out the best in your car, but you must understand it can hide the marring you see until after the washes. If you can eliminate the marring and RIDS, though, Glaze is fine to use. But it does not replace a wax. If you do glaze, make sure to wax over. You do not have to glaze once the finish is to your satisfaction, though.

+1 I would also recommend getting M105/M205 GREAT COMBO, some orange pads and white pads. And if you looking for a show room finish get a lighter polisher with black pads to finish the car. Also what MF are you using?

[TopHatChef]

Okay, I think I've got it. ScratchX or UC with Orange pad, then lighter polish with black pad, then sealant/wax.

I'm just using some cheap microfiber towels, but they do pass the CD test, and haven't seemed to attributed to any more swirls on the paint.

[TopHatChef]

Well, I went after the car with some SwirlX and then some Gold Class. The last few pictures are taken through the lenses from my sunglasses to reduce the glare. You can still see some slight swirls, but I suppose I'll have to accept it since the car is my daily driver. I'll use some filler for the auto show I'll be part of in April, but overall, I think it turned out pretty well.
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