Megatron-UK

Hi, I'm after some reccomendations for polishing compounds and waxes for my 964T. It's metallic pearl black (with clearcoat I believe), which looks great when clean, but it suffers quite badly from swirl marks and also a few light scratches around the front end.... it's especially noticeable in strong sunlight.

I'm picking up one of those ubiquitous Porter Cables and a set of pads, but I've no experience in car detailing.

Can someone recommend...

1. A good polish that will get rid of the swirl marks
2. A fine polish to get a nice even finish
3. A good quality wax suitable for dark metallic colours

It seems as if I wash and polish it one weekend (using something like Autoglym super resin polish), and it's scarmy, swirly and filthy dirty by the next!

Finally, how do others try to clean up their stone gaurds on their arches (fenders) and the plastic 'sharks fin'? Mine is peppered with stone chips... is it worthwhile trying to machine polish that as well?

robmug

Hi - Zaino products are the best, in my view.

Z-PC in conjunction with your Porter Cable will provide a great result, then you can go straight to Z5 or Z2 (I personally use Z5 as it prevents swirl marks from reappearing).

I am biased though, so do a search and see what others think - you'll struggle to find anything oither than positive comments though.

Your comment about how long your fibnish currently lasts will always apply if you use Autoglym or Zymol (or any other carnauba wax) as wax just has no longevity - especially if your car is taken outdoors at all. (Plenty don't!)

For a car than never gets wet or driven much, then wax is fine I'm sure. But Zaino lasts months in comparison, and my car does up to 20,000 miles each year and lives on the street.

DaveK

So what is Zaino? A polish?

I'm sure it's been covered before but I'm also interested, and you can't expect us both to search.

Megatron-UK

Seriously though Rob, the car is always garaged, but it does get driven quite a lot; it's my commuter approx 1/3 of the time, so anything that helps in keeping it looking good without having to polish every single weekend would be good.

I'll check out the comments on Zaino...

SimonExtreme

I second the Zaino recommendation and I have tried many. The ultimate shine might be different than, for instance, Zymol, but it lasts a lot longer and is far easier to achieve good results. It also gives better UV protection, important to me with a Guards Red car in Australia.

Z-PC is what most people consider to be a polish. Z5 and Z2 are called polishes by Zaino, which confuses things because in detailing terms, they should be described as synthetic waxes

bjorne

Hi, if you are using the porter cable7424 use the med to soft foam pad with a good swirl remover, like meguiars or 3M, do the entire car, the wait 30min or so before removing so all the oils in the product can saturate the paint, the remove with clean microfiber towel, for your car being black I would use the meguiars NXT Tech wax its syntheic and works great easy on and easy off with no messy white residue you can apply by hand or DA, these products are easily had at most auto parts places,
Good luck
Jason

robmug

OK - let me try...

Zaino is a range of synthetic car polish, with a number of products (to suit clear-coat paints, flat paints etc).

The range is unusual in that there are no abrasives in the main range, and that each time you apply the polish, you effectively add another layer which both deepens the shine and protection.

All the products in the range are compatible with each other, so you can use them in any order.

So, the only abrasive products are the Clay Bar (all clay bars are very mildly abrasive) and the Z-PC which is designed to remove swirl marks AND also be the fine polish to finish.

All products in the range are easy to use (so easy it feels like cheating) - for example none leave any residue, so are safe on black trim, plastics, glass etc. Also, the entire car can be polished before buffing off. Even in sunshine.

There's a huge debate over whether to remove swirl marks or hide them (Z5 effectivel fills them in) and I've done both on my car. Even when abraded away, they still return over time, so Z5 for me saves me the hassle of abrading my car.

Finally, for dark cars, you don't get left with waxy paint finishes (bright sunshine is lovely for highlghting this) as there's no wax...

RicardoD

I started looking into this in preparation for the arrival of my 964. I starting looking around the Concours / Detailing forum. You can go this site autopia to see how they recommend using the Porter-Cable.

Ricardo
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waiting for intercity to pick up my 964

AB-Oz

I use Autoglym products...

robmug

Ab - Autoglym is fine...but has a couple of drawbacks for me.

1. It is mildly abrasive; useful if the paint needs attention each time, but it means at the very least you're removing any polish that's already on the car

2. If you get any on the black plastic trim, it is impossible to remove, or even hide

3. Dust! The dust and powder when buffing off gets everywhere

4. It dries, and if you don't buff it off quickly, it can be a right bugger to remove

mr pg

Have switched from Autoglym to Meguiars. Much better product, and a huge range too.

robmug

Ab - Autoglym is fine...but has a couple of drawbacks for me.

1. It is mildly abrasive; useful if the paint needs attention each time, but it means at the very least you're removing any polish that's already on the car

2. If you get any on the black plastic trim, it is impossible to remove, or even hide

3. Dust! The dust and powder when buffing off gets everywhere

4. It dries, and if you don't buff it off quickly, it can be a right bugger to remove

Bearclaw

I've used Zaino for years and love it. It's a different animal than normal wax or polish though - it's basically a spread-on polymer, which means your finish has to be as good as you can get it before you put it on. It's great stuff, though. P21S is another favorite of a lot of people, I think it's a wax rather than a polymer. I've always heard P21S gives a 'wet' look, whereas Zaino gives a 'candied' look. From what I've observed, that sums it up pretty well.

BMWDavid

Get some Fine Hand Polish from Griots Garage. It works great and does not scratch but will remove hazing and scratches.

Follow up with some Klasse All-in-one for a great shine and protection.

David

Bearclaw

Can we talk about "What Is The Best Oil To Use" now?