Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

[billswin]

Alright so a few months ago I purchased this 2007 350z solar orange. I wash it every week, and waxed it right away. However I have noticed in the garage under florescent lights there is really light scratches on the hood and some gray dots. At first it looked like over spray from spray paint or something which nothing goes near the car. I still don't know what they are on hood/bumper. I was able to remove a few with my finger but others won't budge hope its not a chip I can't tell. The scratches look like swirl marks but I think it might have been the crappy wash job I was doing. I never noticed them until this week. I used a $2 sponge and single bucket with a absorber chamois. The car still looks good but I want it perfect if possible.

My plan is to wash with 2 bucket system with microfiber sponge and dry with microfiber towel. Then use Meguir's Clay kit to remove clean and remove the stuff on hood and bumper which is the only place it is (should I use the clay over the entire car to clean it or just that area?). Then use Meguir's Scratch X since the scratch marks are so fine (not sure if this is the correct product?). Then use Meguir's NXT wax to finish it off.

Will the above step's get the new car shine I am looking for or is it in the wrong order or even wrong products. I have a 10" Random Orbital Buffer I was planning on using, never have used a machine buffer so didn't want to use high speed.

Any tips, advice or help would be great. Just looking for the BEST way to get the job done properly without skipping a step or over doing it.

[ChevyNick]

1. Your new wash method should be fine.
2. Yes, clay the entire car. The clay should also remove those grey spots. If you can put your nail in the gray spot and catch your paint with your nail, then unfortunately its a chip. Everyone gets them tho if you drive enough lol.
3. Scratch x may work. I have only used Ultimate Compound. In fact, many people seem to go straight to Ultimate Compound. Maybe you'll be lucky and a quick pass with it and you'll have a flawless finish.

Let me comment on your buffer. I'm not so sure that your buffer will do what you want. You need a higher speed with a D/A in order to correct paint. I would suggest getting a D/A made by Meguiars, Griots Garage, or even PC I guess makes a good one.

4. You may or may not need to polish, with something such as Ultimate Polish.
5. Your wax, such as NXT like you mentioned.

I really recommend getting a D/A like I mentioned above. I have Griots Garage random orbital and it has been great. I use the meguiars yellow pad for defect removal and black for waxes.

Hope this helps.

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

1. Your new wash method should be fine.
2. Yes, clay the entire car. The clay should also remove those grey spots. If you can put your nail in the gray spot and catch your paint with your nail, then unfortunately its a chip. Everyone gets them tho if you drive enough lol.
3. Scratch x may work. I have only used Ultimate Compound. In fact, many people seem to go straight to Ultimate Compound. Maybe you'll be lucky and a quick pass with it and you'll have a flawless finish.

Let me comment on your buffer. I'm not so sure that your buffer will do what you want. You need a higher speed with a D/A in order to correct paint. I would suggest getting a D/A made by Meguiars, Griots Garage, or even PC I guess makes a good one.

4. You may or may not need to polish, with something such as Ultimate Polish.
5. Your wax, such as NXT like you mentioned.

I really recommend getting a D/A like I mentioned above. I have Griots Garage random orbital and it has been great. I use the meguiars yellow pad for defect removal and black for waxes.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick help, the buffer was a concern for sure but anything faster seemed like it could do more damage than good with no experience? This buffer is one speed @ 3500 rpm which seemed pretty good, not sure if like you said it will remove scratches. The pads on this thing look terrible (terry cloth and polishing pad) was thinking of trying to find something better not sure how or where though. How would I know if I need to polish the car, it shines pretty good atm not sure what to look for?

[ChevyNick]

No problem.

Don't be scared to use a D/A, they are nearly foolproof as far as causing damage goes. I had zero experience with a D/A prior to buying one. I watched a couple videos and read the articles on here and had no issues learning to use the D/A I bought. Very easy to operate.

As far as knowing whether or not you need to polish, well only you can judge that. If the paint appears to have dulled slightly, then obviously you will want to polish. You could also just try a test spot with the polish and see if it improved your finish or not. You mentioned you wanted to do it right. If I were you, I would just polish anyway. It'll do something good whether you notice or not lol.

A last word with your buffer and the "pads" you have. 3500rpm won't be enough to remove defects I don't think. In all honesty man, and I believe that everyone on here will agree with me, if you want perfect/near perfect results, go out and buy one of those D/As I mentioned. Yeah they do cost some money, but the results they will help you achieve are absolutely amazing. You will NOT regret purchasing one.

Edit: Not sure if you wanted to know where to get a D/A. I bought my Griots Garage 6" Random Orbital off of Amazon. You can find a variety of buffers on there, including Meguiars' D/A and Porter Cables. All are good choices from what I've read, although people seem to opt for Megs or Griots Garage.

[Meticulous-Detail]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?



With ChevyNick in both posts.

I use to use a 10 inch 1/2 Wen buffer before I switched to a PC. If your going to stick with a buffer make sure you get good bonnets like SM Arnold. You want a yellow and white foam bonnet, 1 for compound and 1 for polish. I used it several times for paint transfer and scuff marks and it worked well but took a very long time.

So my advice is try it out on a test spot, do all the above mentioned steps and see your results. BTW here is the buffer and bonnets

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?52990-1-2-hp-10-inch-Random-Orbital-Waxer-Polisher-with-bonnets

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

alright well I am done, ended up claying the car which worked really nice - left a glass like surface. Then tried the Swirl X on a small spot and it did nothing at all (going to return that). Then took your recommendation on the polish and it worked great, actually removed or hid the swirl marks and shinned it up a bit (thank you for the tip). Then I waxed it but could not find the NXT wax guess its the older kind so had to go with the Ulitmate Wax which I saw mixed reviews. It went on easy and off easy, my only problem is I had my car sitting outside for a bit after and the condensation from getting cold was on the car and you could see the buffer patterns (not sure what that means). There is no marks or scratches, read some reviews where the wax was hard to take off maybe its that?

It turned out much better than I expected, very happy in all. I will have to see if those patterns stay or go away I wiped them off with a microfiber cloth and not back yet. The car looks brand new.

[ChevyNick]

Was it cold outside when you applied Ultimate wax? That could explain if it was some trouble to remove. Ultimate wax is highly rated as far as I have read. As for the buffer marks... That could be that whatever you applied with the buffer, you didn't wipe off completely.

But I'm glad everything worked out for you!

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

nah I live in Florida and did it in the shade in my garage was probably 70 when I did the wax, but cooled off to 50's when I noticed the condensation on it. I then wiped it off and put it into the garage. Could be that I didn't get it all off, I used the buffer with a lambs wool pad to remove it and then went over with a quick microfiber cloth. Will it hurt it if some is left on, does not look like any is on you should see the wax you would think.

[ChevyNick]

Oh ok yeah that explains the condensation showing the path of the buffer. No, leaving wax on doesn't appear to have negative effects, at least from my experience. I've left wax on my wheels before. I didn't notice I forgot until the next day at work.

[Mark58]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

Stay away from LAMB WOOL unless you really know what you are doing. Get yourself DA use Ultimate polish and that should do for you. Ultimate Wax gave me some problems on black car leaving it with patches . had to do it twice. Go to http://www.autogeekonline.net and get your DA. Tonight till 12:00 EST everything is 20% off and free shipping on anything over $150.00
In my opinion I would order G110V2 Meguiars DA and some pads.

By the way you are only 63 miles from Stewart Fl. (Autogeeks) I would look into going to one of their Detailing Classes. See for schedules here;

http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-boot-camp.html

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

Stay away from LAMB WOOL unless you really know what you are doing. Get yourself DA use Ultimate polish and that should do for you. Ultimate Wax gave me some problems on black car leaving it with patches . had to do it twice. Go to http://www.autogeekonline.net and get your DA. Tonight till 12:00 EST everything is 20% off and free shipping on anything over $150.00
In my opinion I would order G110V2 Meguiars DA and some pads.

By the way you are only 63 miles from Stewart Fl. (Autogeeks) I would look into going to one of their Detailing Classes. See for schedules here;


http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-boot-camp.html

wow thats pretty neat they are close but $450 is kinda steep for just home maintenance. I was wondering why is the Lamb wool a bad idea, I don't know what I am doing so now you got me worried lol. It seemed like the softest pad I could find for getting the wax off with a shine and it wasn't cheap. Searched online but could not find anything about them.

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

Ok just double checked says 100% lambs wool perfect for polishing, which I took as taking wax off. Should I just leave it or go over it again with a microfiber one?

[Mark58]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

Lambs wool will leave you with Holograms and swirls. Stick with microfiber.

[Mark58]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

wow thats pretty neat they are close but $450 is kinda steep for just home maintenance. I was wondering why is the Lamb wool a bad idea, I don't know what I am doing so now you got me worried lol. It seemed like the softest pad I could find for getting the wax off with a shine and it wasn't cheap. Searched online but could not find anything about them.

I did not know it was $450.00 WOW,,,why pay for something that you can learn yourself.There are many Videos and how to posted on this site. Make sure you explore and before trying or guessing something read,ask or whatever before you make same mistake I did with that WOOL PAD! I Burned the paint on a Cadillac DHS (2002) which I got rid of.Now I have a 2007 Black DTS and it looks better then showroom new thanks to all the people here.http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...s-Video-Series

[billswin]

Re: Orange 350z with swirl/scratch marks what steps to take?

I did not know it was $450.00 WOW,,,why pay for something that you can learn yourself.There are many Videos and how to posted on this site. Make sure you explore and before trying or guessing something read,ask or whatever before you make same mistake I did with that WOOL PAD! I Burned the paint on a Cadillac DHS (2002) which I got rid of.Now I have a 2007 Black DTS and it looks better then showroom new thanks to all the people here.http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...s-Video-Series

should i re-wax it with a microfiber pad or just leave it ?