paint q

[mazdaspeed32007]

i washed/claybarred/polished/waxed my car a month or so ago and it repels rain like crazy. in between washes i use a quick detailer and make sure if i dry the car ever i use my microfiber cloth....clean / usually brand new. but ive been noticing lately theres a lot of swirl marks in the paint. i know i waxed correctly and so forth but over the period of about a few weeks the swirl marks showed up. now the wax is still great because it repels water like nobodies business, but the swirl marks are there no matter how clean the thing gets.

should i just re-claybar it and start all over? maybe i need to work the polish in better? or is this a common thing with mazda's paint? im doing it soon because its the winter coming up and this babies gunna get snowed on unfortunately.

 

[BoostedSpd6]

mines like that too lee same thing done to the speed 6, the paint is so thin on our cars it doesnt suprise me that its happening.. my solution is re-clearing the car with some HOK clear coat and alittle peral in it for the kick with balck mica... should be very poppy like in ur face type bam.. type of shine.

 

[Mocoso]

I would leave the polish out of it... just wash it with dish soap to strip the wax and re-wax it.... Ive never been a fan of polishing a car less than a few years old... (by leaving the polish out I mean the abrasive type... spot fixing problem areas is much better than polishing entire panels) - even the non abrasive polishes are only needed a few times a year....

 

[BluMicaR]

I've been using Meguiar's Liquid Gold, just waxed her for the third time this past weekend, and she's looking perfect. I'd avoid the whole clay bar deal until the paint is more broke in, and just do a nice hand washing/drying and waxing. Then just hand wash weekly or every two weeks as needed, and I really only wax every 3 mos - though in reality you can just as easily wax twice a year and be golden.

 

[SwampAss]

I've been using Meguiar's Liquid Gold, just waxed her for the third time this past weekend, and she's looking perfect. I'd avoid the whole clay bar deal until the paint is more broke in, and just do a nice hand washing/drying and waxing. Then just hand wash weekly or every two weeks as needed, and I really only wax every 3 mos - though in reality you can just as easily wax twice a year and be golden.

How does paint "break in"? It's always good to claybar a car as soon as you can. I pulled a fuckton of s*** out of my paint with the claybar. I've read that the biggest offender is railway metal that embeds itself in your paint when the car is being transported. My car was only a few months old when I did the saran wrap test. There was a fair amount of junk in the paint.

 

[boostdog]

How does paint "break in"? It's always good to claybar a car as soon as you can. I pulled a fuckton of s*** out of my paint with the claybar. I've read that the biggest offender is railway metal that embeds itself in your paint when the car is being transported. My car was only a few months old when I did the saran wrap test. There was a fair amount of junk in the paint.

Saran wrap test???? fill me in here that's a new one i have not used/heard of yet.

 

[BluMicaR]

How does paint "break in"? It's always good to claybar a car as soon as you can. I pulled a fuckton of s*** out of my paint with the claybar. I've read that the biggest offender is railway metal that embeds itself in your paint when the car is being transported. My car was only a few months old when I did the saran wrap test. There was a fair amount of junk in the paint.

Well, my paint is /really/ clean, I have a '94 TBird I have clay barred twice - both times I didn't get a huge result mostly because I wax my cars once a month or once every two months and am severely anal about cleanliness. I can't stand the slightest of spots for more than a day or two. I guess in my experience clay bar just wasn't that drop-dead necessary since I already take tireless care with my cars. I didn't mean anything specific by 'break in', as if it was an engine...

 

[SwampAss]

Even new cars that have been setting on a car dealerships lot for a few weeks can accumulate contamination that bonds to the paint surface; don’t assume a vehicle that looks good is contamination free. Do a ‘Bag Test’ place some saran wrap or a zip lock bag over your hand and rub across the finish lightly. Every snag you feel is a surface contaminant that the clay bar can remove but you may not be able to see, especially on white or light coloured vehicle surfaces.


http://www.detailuniversity.com/det...omotive-clay-article-by-jon-miller/index.html

 

[BlackCherry06]

Waxing only conceals the problem by filling in the swirl marks, and only temporarily. The only way to get rid of them is to use a high quality random orbital polisher like http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=10925 or a Porter Cable 7424 with quality machine polishes. This removes a microscopic layer of clearcoat, basically leveling the surface. Just don't make a habit of polishing your car every time you see a hairline scratch or you'll find yourself with no clearcoat left.

With the current situation of soft easily scratched clearcoats, you may find yourself polishing your car every time you wash it unless you're taking extraordinary steps during the process to keep scratches to a minimum. Believe it or not, there's actually a spot on my hood where I scratched it with a brand new, clean microfiber towel. It can be done if you push too hard. I was trying to remove a stubborn blob of wax and now when I look at the hood under florescent lighting, I can see the mark I left.

This is just a way of life with a dark-colored car. Every flaw shows like a sore thumb and you find yourself avoiding bad lighting like an aging actress.

If you have $200 sitting around, invest in a buffer with all the pads and product and see have a go at it. If you can't muster the nerve (and I don't blame you...it can be scary), call a professional. Just don't go at your car with a regular rotary buffer if you don't know exactly what you're doing....burnt paint is even less attractive.

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

i actually know a few people with great buffers who do bodywork and those types of things. i guess ill take it to one of them and see if its needed.

so what ill end up doing as far as the census goes is clay bar it, polish it with a buffer, then wax it. then keep up on the waxing every few months. then repeat the next year.

ive always been good at waxing and keeping my cars clean. i just never had any concern with swirl marks until recently. well, to some degree i guess. never enough concern to really look into it. but it sucks when you keep your car crazy clean and then find swirl marks up and down the f-in thing. i also live on a dirt driveway so that doesnt help. i park it away from the drive in the grass as much as i can but it isnt everyday. so when it does get dusty i hose it off really well before i take anything near it. im getting a car cover before winters start so ill make sure when i get home i just cover it before anything has a chance to land on it and ruin my nice work.

 

[BHOUST528]

also look out for what kind of wax you use i know there are more abbrasive waxs that will cut into the clear coat and leave swirl marks you might try using something more along the lines of a cleaner wax being they are not abbrassive of a wax...being your cars are so new you shouldnt need something abbrasive you just simply want to get a nice shine out of her....

 

[Mocoso]

also look out for what kind of wax you use i know there are more abbrasive waxs that will cut into the clear coat and leave swirl marks you might try using something more along the lines of a cleaner wax being they are not abbrassive of a wax...being your cars are so new you shouldnt need something abbrasive you just simply want to get a nice shine out of her....

I agree thats why IMHO polishing a new car is nutz... just no need for it...

 

[redspeed3tk]

so when ya paint a car and get a dirt nib and cut and buff it you shouldnt polish it out after? wow theres is a lot of miss info in this thread.....polishing a perfect finish is pointless but a finish with scratches it will take them out unlike wax...the thickness of the paint has nothin to do with how easly it scratches the factory baked on paint it the hardest paint there is. have fun wit your hok clear and you will prob be wet sanding and buffing the whole car after to make it look as good as it does now...if you have scratches use a foam pad with polish on a buffer at low speed if they remain buff them with compound then polish then wax....there is no need to clay bar for scratches... mazda speed do u have a black car? as you should know you will never have a scratch free daily driven black car if you have a life but good luck

 

[mazdaspeed32007]

the car is red. im just going to wash it with dawn to remove whats on it...liquid clay bar it to make sure its all 100% clean. polish it with a orbital buffer. then wax three coats. im sure it will be glamorous afterwards. ill let you know when i get to it. prob be sometime within the next month. like i said the wax on it is strong but i just hate looking into a perfectly clean car that looks shiny and smooth then catching the sun at the right angle and seeing the swirl marks. its annoying. but thats what im going to do. ill snap photos like i said when i get to it.