Keeping up with black paint

[quicktwinturbo]

Hi,
I recently purchased a car with (MB slk55 black) black paint job. This is my first car with black paintjob and as you guessed it, I have swirl mark issues.

Previous owner must took the car to crappy local car wash instead of doing it himself.

I spend a lot of my time to keep my/family rides in great shapes. I would like to know if ya can give me some tips on how to keep the black paint swirl free.

Current condition of the car isn't too bad. I already hand washed the car couple times, used clay bar, and used ultimate compound + gold class wax. That helped a little bit but I still see a lot of swirl marks under the sun light.

My next move is to try Swirl X and use a glaze products.

Do I need to wax the car before using the glaze? Or use wax afterward?

Please share some tips / your thoughts

Thanks

[stamford]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

It also depends on what type of Black it is. Does it have a metallic or a Pearl effect?

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

If swirls are that bad, it probably needs to be cut. Whether you wanna learn yourself and get a buffer, or pay someone to do it. I myself bought a buffer and some good supplies and will be fixing it myself. I spent a good year really learning how to do everything by hand but ultimately for a whole car I am not going to try de-swirling it by hand. Frig that noise.

FYI I have done swirl removal by hand, but in small sections and due to time restaints, its IMO not feasible for cars that I do not own or if they need to be daily driven.

[akimel]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Polishing a car by hand is hard, time-consuming work. Whether you will be able to remove all the swirls by hand all depends on the particular paint that you have. If you are serious about this, I suggest that you consider investing in a dual action polisher and pads. It's more efficient and more effective.

Is it possible to keep a black daily driver swirl-free? I seriously doubt it! I won't say it can't be done. All I will say is that I can't do it--and God knows I tried. I use the two-bucket method. I use good quality products. I rinse my wash mitt frequently. I blot the paint to dry it. But the swirls eventually return, thus requiring further polishing. It is an eternal battle.

All black car owners need to embrace the three-foot rule: If your black car looks good when you're standing three-feet away, rejoice and be glad!

[Black1]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Nice car... with good paint too. But, no Mercedes is truly "black". They have always used a metallic paint. This actually helps hide very fine swirls.

Buy a DA polisher. Either Meguiar's model (if you can find one), or a Porter Cable 7424XP. They are actually the same polisher, or very similar. Order yourself some SoftBuff Pads for it too. You just need two cutting pads and one finishing pad.

Apply Ultimate Compound first with a cutting pad. Set the variable speed dial on the machine between "4" and "5". You want to work in a small (one panel at a time) space, moving side to side then up and down (several passes) with moderate pressure and moving fairly slowly. Wipe off the excess.

Next, switch to a clean cutting pad and use Swirl-X 2.0 in the same pattern and machine settings... you will notice the product change from white to dark as you work it into the paint. Once this happens, you should be good to wipe that off. Check your work over all panels in good light to see if you missed anything, or if certain areas need more work. If so, work another coat of Swirl-X on them.

If you are satisfied with what you have, then switch to the finishing pad and apply the wax of your choice. I would suggest either Mirror Glaze #26 (High-Tech Yellow Wax) or Gold Class. Set the variable speed to "2", and work in the same pattern but with NO PRESSURE on the machine. Just let the weight of the polisher work the paint with just enough pressure to keep the machine steady and moving. Go slowly, take your time.

Let the wax sit on the surface for about 1 hour or so. Then use a good quality plush microfiber cloth to wipe off the excess. You should be all set.

TIP: Always turn the machine on while the pad is touching the paint surface. And shut the machine off when moving from one panel to another panel. If you let the machine "free spin" off the surface, the pad will eventually fly off. And, ask my Bro-In-Law, that thing can fling a pad about a mile to find the nearest dirty spot on the floor... hehehe

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

All black car owners need to embrace the three-foot rule: If your black car looks good when you're standing three-feet away, rejoice and be glad!

Being a Black car owner and a owner of MANY dark cars. This is something I completely agree with.

[quicktwinturbo]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Thank you for your inputs!!!
As of now, the car doesn't look too bad. It's hard to see the swirls unless you are very close to the car under sunlights.

I don't really trust myself with polisher..haha.. I'm going to try the swirlx by hand and probably take the car to professional for throughly detailing

Heres couple picture after washing, clay'n, washing, ultimate, then wax'n

[rapport25]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

If your black car looks good when you're standing three-feet away, rejoice and be glad!

Yes, I agree. Same here. . I will change my view to three feet away .

It always bugs me when you have spent x amount of hours. Then the sun decides to light swirls up like a christmas tree. My car has had 50 plus hours spent on it.

Just to add insult to injury my car went in to the garage for some work and they washed the car. I asked them not to. but they did. And yes it was a car wash. Now my ride is covered in swirls even more

[quicktwinturbo]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Yes, I agree. Same here. . I will change my view to three feet away .

It always bugs me when you have spent x amount of hours. Then the sun decides to light swirls up like a christmas tree. My car has had 50 plus hours spent on it.

Just to add insult to injury my car went in to the garage for some work and they washed the car. I asked them not to. but they did. And yes it was a car wash. Now my ride is covered in swirls even more

Ugh, I hate when that happen

So back to my question

Wash -> Clay (If necessary) -> Swirl X / ultimate compound for heavy swirl -> Wax -> glaze?
or skip the wax?

[angeloaa]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Ugh, I hate when that happen

So back to my question

Wash -> Clay (If necessary) -> Swirl X / ultimate compound for heavy swirl -> Wax -> glaze?
or skip the wax?

I've got a black Honda Prelude and these were my steps.
Wash
Clay
SwirlX
IPA wipedown
If you experience any hazing try using ColorX
DC Polish
NXT (2 coats)
Gold Class (2 coats)

you don't really have to apply both ColorX and DC Polish, its up to you. If you wanted to do a few test spots on the hood that would tell you if you need both or not.
I did 3 small test spots, one with Color X, second with DC Polish, and a third with ColorX topped with DC Polish, I liked what I saw on test spot 3, so I chose to apply both ColorX and DC Polish.

[BS MXRacer]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

A glaze is a polish and so should be applied before you wax. Typical steps
1. Wash
2. Clay (if necessary)
3. Wash again (if prefer but not necessary)
4. Paint Cleaner (if needed)
Your example: Ultimate Compound before Swirl X but check out "least aggresive method"
5. Polish
6. Wax/Sealant

you may also want to look over meguiars 5 step paint care process and always before a Test spot before using a product on the whole car to see if you achieve desired results, check out how to do a test spot.

[quicktwinturbo]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

Thanks for the tips
I will try them this weekend~

[the_mighty_bucket]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

All black car owners need to embrace the three-foot rule: If your black car looks good when you're standing three-feet away, rejoice and be glad!

true, so true!

i own a black Audi S6 and a dark merc W212, i used to inspect the paint every day with a flashlight, and guess what, it's never that perfect no matter what i do and how careful i drive the car. i get swirls and fine scratches from all kinds of things.

well, guess i must learn to live with some of those daily swirls and scratches, otherwise the clearcoat'll be completely polished away in a year, if not sooner. ha ha ha.

[stamford]

Re: Keeping up with black paint

I personally feel that polishing a new black car is not necessary.. However, claying surely is!! People say that M26 is suited for black cars. But it obviously doesn't have that wet look of NXT 2.0.