DaveKG

Good the hear the car is looking good mate!

Just a quick note on the Menzerna S34A Power Gloss that was mentioned... Please be aware that this is a very aggressive compound and should be used with care and only when absolutely necessary (that is, only if a few hits of PO85RD3.01 Intensive Polish is getting no where...). It will leave its own micromarring, especially when being used by PC as it wasn't really designed for use on a DA machine, and the PC struggles to effectively break it down. So do follow up with a finer abrasive such as Final Finish PO106FF to remove this marring. Also, the older Menzerna products, of which S34A is one and PO91L is another, suffer from dusting and drying out - they are best used with a slow cutting method to keep the polish lubed so you can fully break the polish down. Personally, I would kick off on a test spot by trying PO106FF Final Finish thoroughly worked, as if the swirls are light, chances are this is all it'll need even on harder paints. I have achieved excellent correction on hard paints with PO106FF alone when thoroughly worked. If the PO106FF doesn't remove the swilrs on the test spot, step up to PO85RD3.01 Intensive Polish and I would be surprised if this doesn't get you anywhere... Only if the IP really isn't getting you anywhere, step up to S34A Power Gloss on a 4" cutting pad, and follow with the 106FF.

For your first time using a clay, you are looking for a mild clay that is easy to use. Most cars only require a fiarly mild clay anyway unless they are exposed to extreme conditions, like being parked at the end of an airport runway where industrial fallout can be severe. If you are looking for an OTC clay, you only really have one choice and thats Meguiars QuikClay. Easy to use, mild clay that is very effective and comes with its own bottle of lube to use with it (quick detailer). If you dont mind sending off for a clay, I personally find the Meguiars Mirror Glaze Mild Clay to be a little better, or the Sonus Ultrafine Green Clay. Some tips for using clay: First and foremost, make sure the area of paint you are claying is well lubed with the quick detailer. Spray both the paint and the clay itself. Keep the clay warm and malable. If the clay gets cold, it will go brittle, and wont be anywhere near as effective as well as risking marring your paint finish. What I generally do is cut the clay bar into three or four, and use two pieces in rotation: one piece I keep in a cup of warm water to keep it warm, the other I use and I swap over periodically. Regularly fold the dirty side of the clay in (like folding paper) to reveal a clean side. Take your time and only use finger light pressure.

Cracking pics there Nathan, looks like a good meet.

[ QUOTE ] As a rule we always get our orders out the same day if physically possible, the customers really appreciate it! [/ QUOTE ] That we do, Alex - the Bilt Hamber Autobalm arrived very promptly thank you!

[ QUOTE ] Im due to pick the car up Saturday from the dealer - they have 'machine poliched' it so should I bother with DRP at all or just go straight for a pure wax??? [/ QUOTE ] Oh oh! The dealership have machine polished it for you? This may not be a bad thing, but many dealership machine polish jobs that I have seen have been dreadful, with cars coming out covered in holograms... Personally, I would have the SRP on hand.

Remember that the SRP is actually an all-in-one product - as well as being a very very lightly abrasive polish (the main defect correction it achieves is through the fillers it is packed with), it also lays down a thin layer of acryllic sealent. This will offer some protection to the finish, but durability of it is not great. Which Zymol wax is it that you have? If it is the one from Halfords (liquid in a bottle as opposed to a paste), then this is actually a cleaner wax which will act to remove some or all of the SRP sealent layer and possibly some of the fillers as well... If you can, top the SRP off with a "pure wax", ie a product which is simply a wax for protection rather than a dual cleaner and wax. Something like Meguiars #16 works very well, or Collinite 476S for the best in durability from a wax.

Meguiars Shampoo Plus for me. Super slick wash solution, you can get loads of suds from it too if you like suds (I dont personally - lubricity is the key to a safe and effective wash). Has optical brighteners like Megs Gold Class wash to leave a nice bright and clean finish, and rinses freely. Comes in gallon sizes which makes it excellent value. I have used loads of shampoos from Megs, Poorboys, Pinnacle etc but always come back to Shampoo Plus simply because it does what it says on the bottle very very well and is great value for money.

Is it by chance a Meguiars Water Magnet you have? If so, I have also found that these loose there effectiveness with use, become hard and smear the water around rather than absorbing. Also, at this stage, they can marr paint. By contrast, my Pakshak and Sonus waffleweaves are lasting very well and are showing signs of "going off" like my Megs ones have... I cannot explain why the Megs towels I have have done this - they are washed and used in exactly the same way as the others, but if its Megs Water Magnets you have, your aren't the only ones...

Bird lime can etch into the clearcoat, and is similar in many respects to scratchesm just over a wider area... If you can feel the etching with your finger nails then you will struggle to remove it, however, it ifs mild etching then you wull be fine... Actual staining of paint can be removed using a chemical cleanser. G3 is a pretty aggressive polish - its a standard compound, and when applied by machine is capablt of removing severe swirls... Ensure you thoroughly work this product and it will deliver good results.

I had a rattle coming from the rear of my Astra, and it turned out to be the little locking screw that keeps the spare wheel in place had come off and was rattling around the wheel well, so check this as well while your in the boot. When I got my first car, a seven year old Astra Mk3, it had a few interior rattles and I spent the day in the garage going round and tightening every screw I could find on the inside (eg under the door arm rests, inside glove box...) and that certainly quietened things down.

I dont personally as I find it easier using microfibres. You can do this though, with a microfibre bonnet wrapped over a cutting pad to remove product residues using the PC.

A product like Ultra Deep Shine achieves the vast majority of its defect correction by filling swilrs to mak them. Autoglym Super Resin Polish contains very mild abrasives, but its the fillers in the product that do most of the work, however by hand this is an effective way of dealing with swirls. Also, on cars where the paint is very thin and machine polishing with abrasives is just not possible, then filling swirls with these products is a good option. If you are keen to remove swirls rather than mask them, my first port of call would be Meguiars ScratchX.

[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Collinite Marque D'Elegance for me. [/ QUOTE ]Thats the same as the 915 is use correct? [/ QUOTE ] Yep, exactly the same.

In this thread I aim to present some general guidance tips for people who have recently bought a Porter Cable 7424 and describe the machine a little! <u>The Porter Cable 7424</u> Browsing this forum, you cannot help but notice that the PC7424 is extremely popular. It is a dual-action polisher that is safe to use and can remove paint defects to help you achieve that sought after swirl free finish. Its a popular tool owing to hte dual-action nature which makes it very safe to use, much safer than a rotary in the hands of a novice. Yet swirl removal is still possible with it, so you come close to getting the best of both worlds! The tool in all its glory: <u>What Is A "Dual-Action" Polisher</u> Dual-action describes the way that the pad moves with the polisher, and the dual-action nature is what makes the Porter Cable 7424 (and 7335) a speical tool. Shown in the diagram is the difference between a conventional rotary polisher and a dual-action polisher: The conventional rotary pad spins on a single axis, forming a circular orbit of constant radius. This nature makes the rotary quite an agressive tool with the ability to cut paint quickly - while this makes it more effective at swirl removal, it also makes paint damage a real possibility in the hands of a novice. The dual-action pad not only spins, but it oscillates as well developping random orbits, with varying elliptical orbits. This makes the cutting action much less aggressive and much safer for novices to use. The motion very closely mimicks hand polishing, only the 7424 can oscillate up to 6000 times a minute, which is completely impossible by hand!! This fast oscillation generates much more heat than by hand to more effectively break products down and cut into the paint. <u>So Many Polishes - Which to Choose??</u> Once you have you're PC, you are confronted with a daunting array of polishes from a wide variety of manufacturers. At the end of the day, all of these products can be summed up into groups that carry out certain tasks: <u>Compounds</u> These are the most aggressive cutting polishes and are generally applied by rotary polisher to deal with severe swirl marks and scratches. You can use a compound on a PC but it requires a 4" pad to generate enough heat to effectively break the product down. Examples of compound: Menzerna Power Gloss Compound, Poorboys SSR3. Only choose a compound if your paint has very severe swirl marks and the cutting polish is proving unsuccessful in dealing with them. <u>Cutting Polishes</u> These are medium abbrassive polishes that are designed for the removal of medium swirl marks in paint. They can be applied on a 6" pad, or for extra cutting ability, a 4" pad. Only choose a cutting polish if the swirls in your paint are too severe to be removed by a light cutting polish. Examples of cutting polishes are: Menzerna Intensive Polish, Poorboys SSR2.5, Meguiars #83. <u>Light Cutting Polish / Finishing Polish</u> These are light abbrassive polishes that are designed for finishing - ie use after a more aggressive polish or compound to remove any marring that may have been left by the more aggressive product and to restore surface gloss. The can be applied on a 6" pad. Examples of light cutting polishes are: Poorboys SSR1, Meguiars #80. <u>Glazes</u> These are essentially moisturisers for paint! They add paint oils to replace depleted oil and to wetten the shine and deepen the colour and are a highly recommended part of the detailing process. Examples of glazes are: Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze, Meguiars #7. For further information on which polishes to choose for swirl removal, see also this thread: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4536 <u>What Pads to Choose??</u> There are four main classes of pads available from manufacturers and these are colour coded so you know which pad is which. Alas, different manufacturers use different colour codes! The texture of the foam effects what the pad does - ie how much it cuts etc. Summarised in the table below is a breif guide to the uses of the classes of pad: If you are using Lake Country pads, the colour coding is as follows: Yellow = Cutting; Orange = Light Cutting; White = Polishing; Black = Finishing. If you are using Sonus DAS pads, the colour coding is as follows: Orange = Cutting; Green = Light Cutting; Blue = Polishing/Finishing If you are using Sonus SFX pads, the colour coding is as follows: Yellow = Cutting; White = Light Cutting; Blue = Polishing/Finishing If you are using Meguiars pads the colour coding is as follows: Burgandy = Cutting; Yellow = Light Cutting/Polishing; Beige = Finishing For further information of which pads to choose for a specific task, have a look at this thread: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4536 Note that the above table is intended as a starters guidance only, and over time you will find out which pad and product combinations that you like best! <u>Setting Up The PC7424 For Use</u> Getting ready to use the Porter Cable... If you turn the Porter Cable upside down, you will see the following: Make sure that if you are planning to use 4" pads that you have the counter-weight for 5" pads fitted. Some pCs are now being supplied with a 6" counter-weight which will make the machine very hard to control with a 4" pad fitted. 5" counter-weights are available from http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk if required. First off, choose the correct backing plate for the pad you intend to use - 3.5" backing plate for a 4" pad, 5" or 6" backing plate for a 6" pad: First off, fit the backing plate to the Porter Cable. Using the flat spanner supplied with the machine, hold the centre nut as shown: Now, screw the plate into the thread in the middle of this centre nut while holding the nut still with the spanner to prevent it from spinning with the pad, and tighten the backing plate continuing to hold the centre nut with the spanner: The pads fit to the backing plate using a velcro (sometimes called "hook & loop") system so just stick the pad securely to the backing plate, trying to keep the plate in the centre of the pad area. Once the pad is fitted, you just need to plug the PC in and you're ready - make sure you use a transformer however!! Plug the transformer into the mains (230V) and plug the Porter Cable into the 110V output of the transformer: Never plug the PC straight into the mains, this will damage it irreperably! <u>Polishing with the PC7424</u> The key to successful polishing with the PC is to work on small areas, and take your time. What follows is a generic guide to polishing with the PC, as you work with the machine you will develop the technique that you feel most comfortable with, this is aimed at being a starting guide. To hold the PC, I like the place my right hand over the head of the PC and have my left hand at the back of the PC: This allows me to put pressure over the polishing pad while the PC is in use, and pressure is required to get decent swirl removal (but not too much, see later!) First off, apply the polish to the pad on the PC, in either an X (which stops three quarters of the way out from the centre) or a circle round the edge of the pad, about quarter of the way in from the edge. Next, with the machine switched off, smear this across a small area of about 2' x 2'. Make sure you can comfortably reach the hole area and that you are not stretching too far - the more comfortably you can reach areas the happier you'll be operating the tool. A small ladder is useful for doing the roof, especially if you're short! After spreading the polish, turn the machine on at about speed 3. Do a single fast pass with light pressure over the pad to further spread the polish out. Then turn the machine up to speed 5, and make a single slow pass with pressure applied over the pad. Move the PC at around 2cm per second in either a fore and aft motion or a figure of eight motion, what ever you are most comfortable with providing you achieve even coverage. (I prefer a fore and aft motion). Next turn the machine up to full speed - speed 6 and make several slow passes with pressure applied over the pad until the polish begins to dust. At this point, switch off the machine and buff the residue away with a microfibre towel. If the residue resists easy buffing, a little spray of Quick Detailer spray on the mf towel should help remove the residue more easily. How much pressure?? - apply about 10 - 15lbs of pressure. To get an idea of what this feels like, you can get out the bathroom scales and puch down till it reads 10 - 15lbs plus the weight of the PC. Or, I much prefer the following: push down on the PC until you get a noticebale change in pitch from the machine and the pad stops visibly spinning, it is just oscillating. Then reduce the pressure ever so slightly so that the pad begins to spin again, and this amount of pressure is good. <u>Glazing with the PC7424</u> The PC can be used for other tasks than polishing. Glazing really benefits from using the PC as the extra speed of the PC over hand application works the oils in glazes nicely into the paint. I find the following process works well for applying glazes: Apply product to pad (as above for polishing, X or circle) and smear over a small area. Turn machine on at speed 3 and make one fast pass to spread the product more and then one slower pass to begin working the glaze into the paint. Then turn the machine up to speed 5 for two or three more slow passes. All with light pressure over the pad. Then buff off residue with an mf towel. <u>Applying Liquid Waxes & Sealents by PC7424</u> The PC can cut down the time taken and effort required in applying liquid waxes and sealents! Again, apply the product to the pad as the glazing or polishing stage above. Turn then machine onto speed 2 or 3 and move the PC slowly across the paintwork to spread the product evenly. Fast speeds are not required for this process. Always observe the manufacturers recommendarions for the time left for the product to cure before buffing off residue. <u>Applying Paste Waxes by PC7424</u> Even some paste waxes can be applied by the PC, though, many people prefer to apply these by hand. If you wish to apply by PC, follow the process for liquid waxes and sealents above. Most pastes waxes can be popped out of their containers, just rub the wax round the PC pad to charge the pads up, a but like buttering a piece of toast! Again observe the manufacturers guidelines for the length of time the product should be left to cure. And there we have it! If you've just bought a PC, I hope you find this guide helpful in getting started. You will develop your own methods with experience (for example the speeds you like, the pad and polish combos you like) which may differ from those here, what ever works for you, go for it! I hope you enjoy the tool that I consider to be one of the best detailing purchases I ever made!

In this thread I hope to give a quick guide to the basics of removing or masking the dreaded swirl marks in paint - both by hand or machine, this guide covers both. <u>Clear Coat Paint</u> I will focus on modern clearcoat paint, as the majority of cars are now coming supplied with this type of paint, though what is here is applicable to single stage finishes too. If you look at a cross section of clearcoat paint, you will three three basic layers of paint on the bodywork of the car - the base coat, the colour coat and the clear coat: If for example you get a deep scratch in your paint, you may see a different colour of paint revealed - this means you scratched down through the colour coat and into the base coat at which stage machine polishing cannot remove the scratch, yu'd need to fill and wet sand and then polish but thats a story for another guide! <u>What Are Swirl Marks?</u> If you look at your car under a bright light, for example sunlight, sometimes you may see very thing scratches in the paint. There can be lots of these, like someone's draped multiple spider's web across the paint. Here's a couple of pictures of what quite severe swirl marks look like: These tiny scratches are catching the light such that it masks the colour underneath and you don't see it. This robs the paintwork of its true deep colour. Shown below is a single swirl/scratch mark in the clearcoat of paint (not to scale): The sharp edges of the swirl mark are catching the sunlight and directing it up to your eye so you see sunlight along the swirl mark, not the paint colour. This is why these bleminshes are particularly prevelant in bright lights - sunlight, halogen lights in petrol stations are kinds of light that really show up the marks! <u>Where Do Swirls Come From?</u> Swirl marks can be inflicted to paintwork by a variety of means, and ultimately the bad news is that its nearly impossible to avoid inflicting swirl marks altogether to paintwork. However, severe swirl marks can be avoided and amoungst other things, these are caused by: Poor Wash Technique - washing using a sponge traps grit between the surface of the sponge and the paint, dragging sharp grit across the paint and scratching it. Automated car washes do this on a grand scale by essentially battering grit into the paintwork and should be avoided at all costs. Using the Wrong Buffing Towels - using the cheapest cotton stockinette you can find in Halfords will inflict swirls to the paint as the material is hard and unforgiving, itself inflicting scratches without even the need for grit particles! However, all is not lost when swirl marks appear, it is possible to either mask them (by hand) or remove them completey by machine polishing... <u>Filling Swirl Marks - Recommended for working by hand</u> One method of getting rid of swirl marks is to basically fill up the mark with a filler (a bit like anti-wrinkle cream!!) so that there's no longer a hole and sharp edges to catch the light. This method I prefer for working by hand as it does not require massive effort to break a product down (see machine polishing later), and by hand this method achieves better results. Below is a diagram showing a swirl mark that has been filled with filler: This can be achieved by using products such as paint cleansers, some glazes and even some sealents contain fillers. When applying a paintwork cleanser, work the product well into the paint to fill the swirl and be prepared for a prepeat application if more filler is required. Some products which contain fillers, there are many others: Meguiars NXT Tech Wax Meguiars #21 Sealent Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze P21S Gloss Enhancing Paintwork Cleanser Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion If maskig swirls by hand using this filling technique, a generic recommendation I would go for would be: 1. Paintwork Chemical Cleanser - work this well into the paint with medium pressure and remove from surface immediately - working on small areas at a time (2' by 2' roughly). Repeat application if necessary. Example products to use here are: Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner; P21S Gloss Enhancing Paintwork Cleanser; Pinnacle Painwork Cleansing Lotion. These cleaners also help remove oxidisation from the paintwork too. 2. Glaze and Seal - can be done in one step or too, glazes will deepen and wetten the shine and most will further fill and hide the swirl marks. Sealents protect the shine and seal in the fillers, as they can be washed away very easily. For light colours I find Clearkote Vanilla Moose Wax Hand Glaze works very well, followed by Poorboys EX-P sealent. Apply the Clearcoat in circular motions first with medium pressure then finish in a fore and aft motion. Work on small areas at a time and remove residue straight away. For the Poorboys EX-P apply to paint and leave for an hour to cure and then remove. For dark colours I prefer the single step of Meguiars NXT Tech Wax which is a glaze/sealent combined - apply to whole car, leave for an hour to cure and then remove. Repeat this step 24hrs later for additional coverage which helps to ensure even coverage. 3. Optionally, top this off with a pure wax to give the icing on the cake, and you choices of wax are endless but a good starting point for light colours would be Poorboys Nattys, and for darks Poorboys Nattys Blue - apply to one panel and remove immediately as if left too long to dry, it can be a bit of a pest to remove. While filling the swirls works in the short term, there is the disadvantage of what happens when the fillers fade and leave the original swirl marks as shown: The swirl mark starts to come back which will then require filling again in order to hide it and this process goes on and on. By hand, this is the most effective way to hide swirls, but you can do better by machine.... <u>Removing Swirls - recommended for working by machine</u> This is a more long term solution for dealing with swirl marks and involves removing a thin layer of the clearcoat where the swirl exists down to a flat layer where there are no swirls. This requires a cutting polish and a lot of heat to be generated to achieve this and is therefore best suited to a machine polisher, although results can be achieved to a more limited extent by hand with plenty of patience and the strength and stamina of Arnie!! I will concentrate on working by machine however. In order to abrade the clearcoat away as shown in the diagram: we require a cutting polish. A cutting polish is a liquid substance which has suspended in it tiny little sharp particles that when worked into the paint, scratch the surface away. The liquid acts as a lubricant to prevent scouring and they polishes are made such that the paint receives an even amount of these little sharp paricles, known as abbrassives, so that the paint layer remains flay and you don't just inflict many more little swirls. Many modern polishes such as Meguiars, Poorboys and Menzerna, have diminishing abbrassive which means that the sharp particles atart large and get smaller as they are worked so the cut less and less. Thus they start by removing larger quantities of clearcoat aggressively and finish by removing a fine amount to smooth the surface and leave it flat with the swirl removed as shown: This happens automatically with quality polishes as you work the machine, so you don't need to do anything other than keep working the product until it begins to cure and dry (dusts a little). For deeper swirl marks, highly abbrassive polishes (sometimes called compounds) are required and somtimes the sharp paricles in these leave some light swirls of their own as they abrade the clear coat. Going over the area again with a Finishing Polish will use much smaller abbrassives to flatten the surface, removing the fine swirls left behind to give the sirface a nice flat mirror appearance. For this reason, many detailers will use a high abbrassive polish and finish with a finishing polish - however, read the general rules of thumb for machine polishing for which products to start with! Polishes are graded by how aggressive they are, and listed below are some cutting polishes in order of how abbrassive they are (generally): Menzerna Power Gloss Compound Menzerna Intensive Polish; Poorboys SSR2.5; Meguiars #83 Menzerna Final Polish II; Poorboys SSR2 Meguiars #80; Pinnacle Swirl Remover Poorboys SSR1; Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish There are, of course, many other polishes! These are combined with cutting and light cutting and polishing pads on a machine polisher (for example the Porter Cable 7424). More aggressive polishes work best on cutting pads, the less aggessive ones I would use on light cutting pads and finishing polishes I would use on a polishing pad. (Yellow, Orange and White respecitvely in colour if using the Lake Country pads). Also, you can get both 6" and 4" pads - the 4" pads can generate more heat bhen used on a PC7424 and therefore have more cutting power so are good for more severe swirl marks. To machine polish, the generic method I use is as follows. Spread the polish with the machine off over a small area of the paint (2' by 2'). Turn on the machine at a low speed (speed 3 on PC) and go for one quick pass to spread the polish even more, then turn machine up in speed (speed 5 on PC) and go for a single slow pass with increased pressure on the PC head, then turn machine up in speed again (speed 6 on PC) and go for multiple slow passes with medium pressure over the head of the PC and keep going until the polish starts to dust. Remove the residue with a microfibre towel. <u>General Rules of Thumb for Machine Polishing</u> 1. Always work out what the least aggressive pad and polish combination required for the task in hand. To do this, start with a light aggressive polish on a light cutting pad - eg Meguiars #80 on a light cutting pad. Apply this and examine result. If marks not removed, step up to Meguiars #80 on a cutting pad and repeat. Again examine, and if required step up again to #83 on a light cutting pad and so on. Once you've got to the least aggessive combination required, proceed to polish the car and if you've gone for an aggressive combination be sure to follow this up with a finishing polish to restore surface gloss. 2. Spot repairs - on some cars, there are specific areas of severe swirls while the rest of the paintwork has only light swirls. Only use your aggressive combination on the light swirls and use a 4" pad for spot repairs and then do the rest of the vehicle with your less agressive combination. I find it best to finish by doing the whole car with a finishing polish to ensure an even looking appearance. 3. Always follow up the polishing stage with a glaze to add wettness to the shine by moisturising the paint. 4. Always follow up the polishing and glazing stage with a selant and/or wax to protect the finish. 5. As you can see from the (not to scale) diagrams, you're effectively removing paint using this technique so machine polishing is something that should only be carried out when required - say every six months to a year, otherwise you'll end up with clearcoat failure and require a re-spray if you machine polish every other day for example! 6. Swirls you can remove by machine - run your finger across any scratch, if it catches your nail its too deep to be removed by machine and will require filled and wet sanded then polished, which is a story for another thread. 7. The Porter Cable 7424 is one of the most popular machine polishers for beginners because its dual action nature makes it safe. 8. Striving for perfection - some swirls will be very deep and to fulle remove every single one may require the removal of a lot of clearcoat! Its sometimes best to leave behind the odd deep swirl in favour of keeping most of your clearcoat - the paint will still look immesne, and you wont be risking clearcoat failure. Polishes I find work well are the ones I listed in the list above and you can mix and match brands to you satisfaction (so long as you don't actually mix the products together, chemistry set style!). Combos I use with success are: Poorboys SSR2.5 - Meguiars #80 - Meguiars #7 - Poorboys EX-P - P21S Wax Menzerna IP - Menzerna FPII - Menzerna FTG - Menzerna FMJ Sealent Poorboys SSR2.5 - Poorboys SSR1 - Poorboys EX-P - Poorboys Nattys and many others too, thes best thing is to start with a set of products and gain experience, find producs that you like and stick with them. The Menzerna list above sorted the swirls in the photos at the top leaving this finish:

Get the prep stages right before the application of the wax, and you'll be onto a winner pretty much regardless of the wax you choose. Take some time out to clay the car if you have never clayed it before, and polish it with a product such as Autoglym Super Resin Polish to bring a good shine out in the paint. Then top with the wax of your choice... value for money waxes such as Poorboys Nattys Blue give excellent results, Collinite #476S is the best for durability. If you want to spend much more money, product from Swissol and Zymol produce excellent results, but if you are investing that much make sure you have the paint well prepped to get the best from it.

This is a fantastic thread Nathan, you work on cars is amazing and a credit to your detailing skills! I remember seeing most of these cars over on DW of course, but was nice to see them again! Top stuff, mate - look forward to more!

[ QUOTE ] Thanks a lot guys, I do have a can of regular wax, so I may invest in some AG SRP soon. Also, would normal "cheapo" cotton cloths do for application? I don't have the budget for microfibre as of yet, but the SRP seems just the thing for taking the marks off, as the paint itself is still very solid [/ QUOTE ] Cheapo cloths can inflict marring onto your paintwork.. To apply the SRP, I would personally get a couple of foam applicators (small round yellow meguiars ones are cheap in Halfords). As far as buffing cloths go, microfibres are ideal, though you can use the cheaper cotton cloths if you like. If you have access to a Costco, you can get good quality microfibres for £11 for a pack of 20, which is excellent value and the cloths are great quality.

Another vote for the Autoglym here - the SRP is a brilliant products and very underrated by many, I'm not sure why. Make sure you thoroughly work this product into the paint, working on small areas at a time and work the product in with medium pressure for a few pases and then remove the residue. Follow up with a couple of coats of Extra Gloss Protection for added durability and a little bit of a deeper gloss. As mentioned above, you can go the whole hog with polishes, glazes, seal and wax and on white you can get excellent results... I did a solid white Lotus Excel with Menzerna Power Gloss to remove the paint defects, then used Meguiars #80 followed by #16 wax and this worked a treat: These two products can also be applied by hand. Though my first port of call would be the SRP followed by EGP, this combo will deliver nice results!

Will a Physics PhD do for answerin this... Yes, red light is longer wavelength, but that means its lower energy (as its lower frequency - frequency actually defines the colour of the light as opposed to wavelength, as in water the wavelength changes but the colour doesn't...) Anyways, you see the paint as red because the paintwork reflected red light, rather than absrobing it... It absorbs the other colours (eg blue, violet...) These other colours are higher energy, and also there's UV light as well which red absrobs more of, so the paintwork absorbs more damaging energy and so fades faster than a purple car for example. The chemical make up of the pigments will also have an effect on the fading too.

The Klasse AIO is reasonably priced (IIRC ~£18 fo 16oz), but there are other cheaper products that will also work well. The Klasse is a paritcularly good chemcal cleanser however. I also used Poorboys SSR2.5 on the above car, applied by PC. Meguiars do a product called Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (stage 1 of the 3 stage deep crystal system) which is also a chemical cleanser and pretty good at removing oxidised paint, though the Klasse I found faster personally. One often overlooked product in detailing that is also good for restoring faded finishes is good old Autoglym Super Resin Polish - you gotta work this product into the paint with medium to firm pressure but it will restore faded finishes... I personally think its a shame that SRP is so often overlooked actually, as its a mighty fine product IMHO.

Paint fading is something which usually afflicts cars which are not protected with a clearcoat, and UV light damages the paint and causes it to fade. The reason red paints are one of the worst for this is that red paints will absorb more of the higher engery lights (blues, violets and UV). The reason you see a colour as red is that the paint absorbs all the all colours and reflected the red light into your eye, so yu see it as red... Red cars therefore absorb all the blues and violets and the ultra-violet which do most of the damage, where as a purple car will be absorbing the red. The clearcoat that is applied to nearly all new cars (very few exceptions, Vauxhall Flame Red being one on the new VXRs but I believe this is being changed, thankfully, as a pink VXR would look mighty embarassing!!) protects the underlying colour coat from these harmful rays and helps prevent fading. For this reason, very few newer cars should really fade. In order to protect thosewithout a clearcoat from fading, it is vital that the paintwork is very regularly protected with a wax or sealent protection, ideally something with good UV blocking ability. This protection needs to be very regularly updated. Polishing wont help, this is what you would do to remove the fading. The fading is a dead layer of paint on the surface, and to get the colour back yu have to remove this dead layer of paint to get back to the original colour... Here's an example on a Toyota Starlett from ages I go I did for good friend from Germany, she's doing a PhD next to me... The roof was faded pink: Using abrasive polishes (as in this case) like Menzerna Final Finish or Intensive Polish, or chemical cleansers like Klasse AIO will shift this dead layer of paint to get you back to the original colour: This then needs to be thoroughly and regularly prtected to prevent the fading from returning.

As above, its getting a lot of well justified good feedback! Such a pity about the weather this time of year, as I for one would love to see pics of the Divine in daylight (having just bought Onyx, Best of Show and Mystery! lol). It looks damn good in the garage lighting in the thread!

Yes, its all working fine for me...