Mighty Shilling

Clay and wax alone won't get rid of swirls... it will reduce them, but it won't get rid of them. to best lose the swirls is a polish... The buffer, so long as your careful, and with any sort of abrasive, be it compound or pad, apply no pressure except to keep it on the paint, and keep it moving, you'll be fine. just don't use say, Griot's machine polish 1 with the before mentioned yellow pad... it'll be like sanding your paint...

I'd say buy the buffer, and practice on the girlfriend/wife's car. you'll score bonus points towards doin the nasty, as well as get practice so you won't f*ck up your Porsche. I'll post a pic in a second with my first shot at a buffer, and how I "burned" my paint... this was done from not keeping it moving, and too much pressure... takes 1 time of doing that, and you'll never do it again...

Mighty Shilling

if you see within the circled area, where the paint is slightly darker than the rest, that's burned paint from my first time with the buffer... too much pressure, didn't keep it moving...

Daniel Dudley

Great thread and links. Just wanted to add that a wet dry shop vac is great for pulling water out of carpets and really speeds drying time.

Mighty Shilling

Absolutely! I will definately second that... I usually let them air dry, but if I'm in a hurry, or doing a customer's car, I'll shop-vac em.

Airflite40

hey Geoff, did you switch your tach and speedometer? looks like your tach is in the middle. Mine is on the right.

Great thread too. Your 924S looks great when it's nice and shiny!

Darryl92Cab

True, washing, claying, waxing can't get rid of swirls...you also won't be able to get rid of heavy swirls and scrathes with any retail product...you must "go professional". Meguire's, Zymol, Menerza and others have pro grade products for this and yes, get the buffer. There are various grades of polish from low abrasive to high abrasive and you should start with the least abrasive so you don't damage the paint and or clear coat. Here is a before and after taped shot of my 944 WITHOUT a buffer. These results were done with Meguire's 3 step process which IS available retail. Swirls were reduced, but not eliminated, but the finish came back and now I'm ready to proceed to the next step of getting this car back into shape.

ButtSled

Just for information purposes-303 Aerospace Protectant is available at ACE HARDWARE. Everybody has an Ace nearby right?


Deano

Mighty Shilling

Good to know! Thanks Deano!

jsabatini

Another FYI - 303 Protectant is also available at West Marine boat supply stores, or online at WestMarine.com, in case you don't have an Ace nearby.

Wipeout

Interesting...and very nice!

How do you guys deal with the clouding of your windshield on the INSIDE? As much as I try to rub it so it's totally clean, it doesn't seem to work that well. And it's starting to drive me crazy!

Chris_924s

Geoff said "lubricant".

he ehhheeeh ehhehheeheehee. that was cool.

alordofchaos

Wipeout, there's a product - magic glass, or something like that - that supposedly works very well for glass clouding. The only thing I remember is that it's made by a company called "Stoner's" seriously

the other standby that people swear by is old newspaper and vinegar (white vinegar? I dunno, I don't do windows)

silverBean

Diiizzzaaaammmmmm!!!

Wipeout

I've got vinegar, maybe I'll try the vinegar and newspaper trick, with a clean terry cloth towel nearby. It drives me nuts when the sun's out (not a huge concern in Oregon right now!).

Mighty Shilling

I use a 50/50 rubbing alcohol/water solution for my glass cleaner. it's amazing. streak free, smells wierd... Paper towel is the wiper of choice