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**Murr1525** · Feb 3, 2009, 01:25 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

SwirlX would be the mildest product to start with, so probably a good idea to try it, esp since the paint might be softer.

Any of the washes will provide good lubrication, though Gold Class seems pretty top of the line.

**Justin Murphy** · Feb 3, 2009, 01:46 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

I would definitely wait if the body shop said so. After, I would use #80 from the Pro Line. It's rich in polishing oils and I simply love the look it gives to new paint. You can then use NXT 2.0 over it.

**gjohn28** · Feb 3, 2009, 02:13 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

As Murr said, any of the Meguia's wash products should be fine. However, if you are still concerned about your fresh paint, I've read on some threads where many say M00 and M62 are exceptionally gentle.

New Paint - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5715&highlight=m00

General Auto Detailing Discussion. Participate in existing discussion or start a new thread with your question.

least aggressive car wash on lsp's? - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10254&highlight=m00

General Auto Detailing Discussion. Participate in existing discussion or start a new thread with your question.

#00 vs. #62 - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5778&highlight=m00

General Auto Detailing Discussion. Participate in existing discussion or start a new thread with your question.

In addition to Swirl X, you could also go with M205 if your swirls aren't too bad. It's my understanding it may be a tad less aggressive.

**Megafast13** · Feb 3, 2009, 07:51 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Okay are you working by HAND or MACHINE

By Hand:

1. Wash (GC or NXT Wash, 2 grit guard/buckets)
2. Clay (IF PAINT IS RUFF TO TOUCH) if not Try ColorX or SwirlX
3. Ultimate Coumpound
4. NXT 2.0 A couple thin coats
5. Ultimate Quik Detailer

By Machine:

1. Wash
2. Clay or ColorX, other Paint Cleaner
3. M105
4. M205
5. NXT 2.0 Wax
6. UQD

M105/M205 have bumped M80/M83 but they both work well. (By Machine)

30 days is recommended before waxing the car. Some will say a week, 30days, 60,days, 90days, etc.

Ultimate Compound is a great new product that is aggressive enough to get the job done by hand. You could follow it with SwirlX or ScatchX 2.0

**stevenk2** · Feb 3, 2009, 11:40 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Thanks for all of the input, I appreciate it! My concern is that I not get too aggressive with the paint - keep in mind that the majority of the car is still fairly new factory paint, with the remainder being only 90 days out of the body shop, and both paints on the car are still in really good shape (aside from the swirl marks, of course). The guy at the body shop had mentioned something about a glaze being the way to go for getting rid of the swirl marks at the time I picked up the car. Is SwirlX a type of glaze, or is it more or less in a class by itself separate from the glazes? Can or should I use both SwirlX and the M80, or should I just pick one to try?

I'm a bit hesitant to try anything too harsh (like Ultimate), since the paint really isn't in that bad of shape - I just want to get rid of the swirl marks and get a decent wax on it to protect the paint/clear once I get done putting the work into it.

Also, just FYI, the work will be done by hand, mainly because I have no experience with a machine buffer and don't want to risk ruining my paint.

Thanks again for all of the info.........

**Murr1525** · Feb 3, 2009, 11:56 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

The body shop guy is using a bit different terminology that Meguairs uses. Meguairs calls a product that removes swirls/cleans paint a cleaner. Other people have different names for that type of product.

But yes, SwirlX would be the mildest swirl removal product. ScratchX would be next, and Ultimate Compound would be the strongest.

The #80 would be good by machine, but I think you will the above products better by hand.

**Mike Phillips** · Feb 4, 2009, 07:47 AM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

For fresh paint, that is paint that is less than 30 days old, you want to stick with body shop safe products.

M205 is a light cleaner/polish for removing light swirls and is in our Professional Line for use on fresh paint in body shops.

If the swirls are not to deep then this product with one of our yellow foam polishing pads on a DA Polisher should remove the swirls. If it doesn't that tells you the products they used to buff out your paint left deeper scratches, (swirls are scratches), then the ability for M205 to remove with a DA Polisher. (Bad reflection on the body shop no pun intended)

Do you own a DA Polisher like our G110 or a Porter Cable unit?

If not and you want a show car finish you should consider investing in one as I'm sure all the owners of this tool on this forum will testify it is superior for removing swirls and creating a show car finish as compared to working with your hand.

**Megafast13** · Feb 4, 2009, 09:35 AM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Yeah, I would study some of the threads on MOL and then get a DA. I never regret getting one. It can truly do SO much more than what any man can do by hand!

By the way, I love the new Challenger. Get some pics up soon.

**akimel** · Feb 4, 2009, 11:33 AM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Originally posted by Megafast13 View Post

30 days is recommended before waxing the car. Some will say a week, 30days, 60,days, 90days, etc.

Always best to do precisely what the body shop has instructed; otherwise one risks voiding the warranty, as the bodyshop owner told me quite clearly last week when I picked up my car from him. Fortunately, I only had one door repainted, so I'm still free to wax "most" of the car in the meantime.

**stevenk2** · Feb 4, 2009, 08:14 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

I think that I know better than to ask, but what's special about the Meguiar's DA buffer/polisher? Why do I not want to go with one of the $30/$40/$50 specials at my local auto parts store? $149 for a buffer seems a little steep.......somehow I have a feeling you get what you pay for though..........

**Tuck91** · Feb 4, 2009, 08:23 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Originally posted by stevenk2 View Post

I think that I know better than to ask, but what's special about the Meguiar's DA buffer/polisher? Why do I not want to go with one of the $30/$40/$50 specials at my local auto parts store? $149 for a buffer seems a little steep.......somehow I have a feeling you get what you pay for though..........

The buffers you see for 30 bucks at Walmart and Target or Kmart are called orbital buffers. OB are good for spreading out a coat of wax but not ideal for removing swirls or scratches. The Meguiars G110 can also be used to put out a coat of wax but it can also be used for removing swirl marks out of the finish. I know theres a couple of good threads around here that can explain this topic better than I can

**stevenk2** · Feb 4, 2009, 10:10 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Okay, I understand about the buffer now after reading up a bit more on it. What bonnets do I need to purchase to get started? Also, Mike mentioned something about using M205 - for some reason, I'm not finding that when I search the online store for it. Does it go by another item number?

Also, I'd seen on other forums where they recommend doing an initial wash of the car using Dawn dish liquid to strip any old wax or other compounds - would this be something that I should do first before I start with the whole process?

So here's what I have for the process that I'm going to try:

1. Wash car (proper wash liquid TBD)
2. Garage & dry with microfiber drying towel
3. Do entire car with either M80 or M205 to remove swirl marks
4. One or two light coats of NXT wax
5. Follow up as needed with Gold Class washes and Quick Detailer Spray

Comments/suggestions?

**Markus Kleis** · Feb 4, 2009, 11:33 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

I highly recommend getting the new DA buffer (Dual-action, the kind Meguiar's makes, the G110, which also has 30% more than other brands) and some Meguiar's M105. Make sure it is the new "DA approved" formula as the original formula was not made for use with that type of polisher.

Also grab some of the Yellow 7 inch polishing pads, at least 3, preferably 4. You will also want at least 1 black pad for spreading your wax.

I would do the wash, followed by a clay bar session, and then do a TEST SPOT with the M205 and yellow polishing pad. After testing a small section determine if that combo will be sufficient, if not, try M105 instead as it has more bite to it.

The M105 will most likely need to be followed by M205, also most likely on the yellow pad.

Then once you get the finish to an acceptable state, try a coat or two of NXT 2.0 wax.

**stevenk2** · Feb 10, 2009, 11:39 PM

Re: Best product(s) to use for new paint

Again, thanks for all of the pointers/advice everyone. Last Saturday afternoon, after taking everything into consideration as well as what was available at my local auto stores, I settled on some SwirlX and some NXT 2.0 liquid wax to try by hand as a start. I also grabbed a 6-pack of microfiber applicator pads and a microfiber buffing cloth. Got home, washed the Chally with some Gold Class car wash, garaged and dried it. Then the fun began.......I started with a small area on a repainted portion of the rear quarter panel with the SwirlX, working it in for a couple of minutes with moderate even pressure on the pad, then wiping off & lightly buffing with my microfiber buffing cloth. Unfortunately, under the bright light of my halogen worklight, I could see more swirl marks where I'd been working with the pad. I tried another pass with some more SwirlX on the same spot, but still no luck - I could still see where I'd been working. At this point, I was a bit concerned, but I remembered that I had some Deep Crystal polish in my cabinet. I went ahead and grabbed it and applied some with a new clean pad to the same area that I'd been working with the SwirlX, and again buffed the area with my microfiber. Much better results this time - most if not all of the swirl marks were gone. I continued on this way with the rest of the rear quarter, working a small area each time until the entire fender was done, then applied a light coat of the NXT wax to the fender. After the wax had cured a bit, I went ahead and buffed it off - very impressive! Under the halogen light, the paint had gone from having a ton of swirl marks before I had started working to wet and mirrorlike afterwards. I went ahead and repeated the same process on all of the body panels - it took me until 2:30AM Sunday morning to finish, but I have to say that my Challenger looks very, very nice, and it was well worth the time and effort. Now I just have to wait for some nice weather again to pull it out of the garage (which is a tall order here in Oregon in February)........

After my experience last weekend, I would like to try this process again at some point, but with a DA buffer and some different swirl treatment compounds. My reasoning is, first off, it was a heckuva lot of work to do by hand - I think that I could've saved a few hours and my arm by having the buffer; second, under the flourescent lighting in my garage, I can still detect just the slightest amount of haze or light scatter from the repainted portions of the car, especially on the portions that sit somewhat more vertical (ones that are more parallel to the light source). On other cars that I've owned that have been repainted due to accidents, I've noticed this as well, though more pronounced due to my lack of experience/knowledge with detailing cars in the past. Is this due to the paint/clearcoat needing more work on my part (and/or work with the DA buffer), or is this just part & parcel of body shop paint jobs vs. factory paint? Also, how long can I continue to try working on this (especially with the DA buffer and compounds) to get it right before I am doing damage to my paint job?

(And my apologies for lack of proper photo documentation on all of this - other posters and moderators have done an excellent job on their posts documenting their before & after results. I was just trying to get the job done on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and didn't have the time to do the photos like I should have.)