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Hey everyone. It's been a while since I've posted on here. I just wanted to make this thread to clear up any future confusion/headaches for people with black/dark and/or soft paints.
I am by no means a pro (yet) at buffing/detailing. But anyway I keep my 300zx in my garage all winter. And this last winter I went to town on buffing out old swirl marks and trying to get it looking its best. My main problem was that no matter what I used (as far as compound/polish/pads) I still had swirls everywhere. My main polish I was using (after compounding) was Meguiars #80 (Professional Speed Glaze). But it seemed no matter what pad I used, the swirls were still there. I was persistant to stay with #80 because of all the good results I've heard from other people. My mistake was that I was also following other people's advice and using the LC Orange/White/Green pads. The orange was just too harsh for my soft black paint. I used the white pad at least 2 to 3 times over the same areas with little results (because I was told by a local paint/body shop owner that combo would be perfect). So when I switched to the Green pad, I noticed it erased a lot more swirls, although they weren't completely gone yet.
So after much frustration, blood sweat and tears I skipped over the LC gray pad and went to the blue pad. I have never heard of anyone using a Blue "finessing" pad to remove swirls. But I figured that my car just has SUPER soft paint. It was worth a shot anyway...After going over a decent section of the hood, my halogen gun couldn't find ANY swirls. Even after wiping with 50/50 water/alcohol.
So the lesson here is that when most people tell you that you need a more harsh pad/polish combo, it isn't always the case. It really is dependant on how hard/soft the paint is.
These pics are after buffing/polishing, no wax. Right after the #80/blue pad combo.
I am by no means a pro (yet) at buffing/detailing. But anyway I keep my 300zx in my garage all winter. And this last winter I went to town on buffing out old swirl marks and trying to get it looking its best. My main problem was that no matter what I used (as far as compound/polish/pads) I still had swirls everywhere. My main polish I was using (after compounding) was Meguiars #80 (Professional Speed Glaze). But it seemed no matter what pad I used, the swirls were still there. I was persistant to stay with #80 because of all the good results I've heard from other people. My mistake was that I was also following other people's advice and using the LC Orange/White/Green pads. The orange was just too harsh for my soft black paint. I used the white pad at least 2 to 3 times over the same areas with little results (because I was told by a local paint/body shop owner that combo would be perfect). So when I switched to the Green pad, I noticed it erased a lot more swirls, although they weren't completely gone yet.
So after much frustration, blood sweat and tears I skipped over the LC gray pad and went to the blue pad. I have never heard of anyone using a Blue "finessing" pad to remove swirls. But I figured that my car just has SUPER soft paint. It was worth a shot anyway...After going over a decent section of the hood, my halogen gun couldn't find ANY swirls. Even after wiping with 50/50 water/alcohol.
So the lesson here is that when most people tell you that you need a more harsh pad/polish combo, it isn't always the case. It really is dependant on how hard/soft the paint is.
These pics are after buffing/polishing, no wax. Right after the #80/blue pad combo.
I've been told I'm obsessed with my car, but I've got the cleanest car on the block!
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