rmira

I have the following Griot stuff: orbital polisher, clay bar, polish #2-3-4, polish application foam pad (orange), and I have 3M Perfert Swirl Mark Remover for dark cars.

Thanks again for your time, and I hope your Mom gets better.

tvandegarde

I recently got rid of all of my Griot's Polishes because I don't think they work. I have a black 5 series that none of the Griot's polishes even touched. The swirls on the car weren't even that bad. I changed to the Zaino PC and it was night and day different. The black paint looks great and I put in half the effort I did with the Griot's products. There are other polishes that may work even better than the ZPC out there but I am happy with it. The rest of the zaino line is also much easier and better than the Griot's Best of Show wax. Good luck.

997Vancity

my dteailer used zaino to polish and still theres quite a bir of scratches.

Anthony Orosco

Thanks for the well wishes, appreciate that.

There are two polishes I am going to recommend to you.

One is Optimum Polish and Menzerna Final Polish II.

Also I would suggest you get a few other pads to be used with your orbital.

You'll want to get two Lake Country foam pads, both in 6 inch size.

One is going to be their white polishing pad and the other a black finishing pad, the flat pads work nice as do their CCS pads.

Now I don't use the PC type orbitals but from what others have stated I believe they run them around 4 or 5 for polish work. So after you wash and dry the paint you're going to perform a few panel tests using various products and pads so you'll know which ones to go with.

For example, on the driver fender use the Lake Country (LC) white polishing pad and the Optimum Polish. The Optimum Polish (OCP) has an incredible working time and many people say its too long when used with an orbital and that may be true but it does work nicely if you have the patience

So place a quarter size amount of polish on the pad to start, thereafter only a nickel size should be just fine. Work that area well and then remove the residue, if the OCP is difficult to remove that usually means you didn't break it down enough so go at it again for several minutes. Remove the residue and look at it under sunny conditions if possible, don't rely on halogen lamps.

If it looks oily, you still have residue on it so just take your microfiber towel and buff the area again. If it looks nice, say about 50% better then you know you're on the right track.

Next remove the white pad, put the black finishing pad on and apply just a tad more than a quarter size of the Menzerna FPII. Work that in very well, until almost invisible and then remove the residue, pull it back out in the sun and check your work. If it looks nice and clear then you can continue on with this combo for the rest of the car. If it still has some marring then go back, wash the white pad, apply the FPII to the white pad and polish again, remove it and check your work in the sun. If it looks like you want it then move onto the black pad and FPII.

That *should* leave you with some really nice looking paint and there may be a few deeper scratches left which may be too deep for the orbital you have to take care of. So you may have to live with those.

Now if this gives you a satisfactory finish then all that's left is wax/sealing the paint.

If you like we can chat over the phone, PM me for my number.

Fire away any other questions,
Anthony

Anthony Orosco

To give you some confidence here is a Porsche hood that had a lot of halo scratches in it and I'm not sure your paint is this bad.....








Now while I didn't do this work with an orbital but rather a high speed, my point is to show that they can be dealt with and a glass like finish restored. So I'm pretty sure we can get your paint looking 100% better.






Anthony

rmira

Thanks again for your help. I'll try it and let you know. It'll be several weeks because I'll be in and out of town.

rmira

Oh....and WOW on the before and after pix of the black Porsche.

whyb2nd

This guy seems to know what he's talking about, great results.
I would never let my paint get that bad, but if you buy used and are faced with this it sounds like one of many options to restore the paint.When I had a black car(vette) and discovered swirls in sun light I used 3M liquid polish, I hand rubbed but can machine as well. I use AutoGlym products and love the mirror finish from my p-car to my dd, blue STI.

997Vancity

Im going crazy over this issue as well. All the detailers around me say I have to wet sand it.

Anthony Orosco

That's nuts!

Sanding the clear is not something that "should" be done although it "can" be done. Your clear has in it UV absorbers and those live or reside in the upper mils of the paint film, not far from the top. As your paint cures these absorbers are driven to the upper portions of the paint film where they have a half life of about 5 years. So if one is not careful.....or rather an expert in wet sanding and polishing and doing so with the right equipment, such a paint film gauge, you're playing Russian roulette with your paint.

If the detailer sands one area too thin and goes through the clear then this decreases the cars value because now it needs a repaint. So be very cautious of any detailer that says it needs to be wet sanded. I have only come across a handful of cars that truly needed a wet sanding as most have responded to proper buffing techniques.

I have a 95 guards red Carrera coming up that *might* need to be sanded in some areas but I will first make sure first all other attempts have failed.

Post up some pictures like rmira has done and perhaps I can help you out as well.

Anthony

black986S

I had mine Matrix coated, and my car doesn't seem to scratch at all, and it's black. I had mine done at Metropolitan Detail in Lynnwood. I'm sure there is an installer in the North Carolina area somwhere that could install it for you. It actually hardens the varnish dramatically, as they use infrared lights to fully cure.

whyb2nd

cars like the pic can be polished out as long as the clear coat is still present, I do by hand, more control over pressure/results.It's hard to pull the trigger with out knowing the results..good luck.

MGS996

Here's a few pics using a Porter Cable and Menzerna polishes. I have since moved to using a Makita BO6040 with better & faster results (note the BO6040 is forced rotation).