My black mustang is killing me you can see so many swirl marks and it really bothers me. I have used ice liquid clay bar and it sort of seems to have helped but a few washes later it looks the same if not worse. What can I do to save my sanity and recover my paint job?

 

It's just part of having a black car. You can remove the swirls but they'll be back.

 

Clay bar will not remove swirl marks. It is for "above surface" stuff.

Do a little snooping on the meguiar's (or similar) forum. If the swirls are relatively light, you can greatly diminish or remove them, but it is a lot of work on a black car.

The thing with swirls is that they are symptoms of something not being done correctly...not only do you need to remove them, but something needs to change to prevent them. Usually it is a sign that the car is being washed improperly or perhaps with poor quality towels.

You CAN prevent them if it's important to you. Check out the forums.

FYI, the Shelby GTH I rented last year only had about 7000 miles - it looked like it was washed with steel wool!

 

I use Meguiars Deep Crystal cleaner, then Deep Crystal polish followed, with 2 coats of NXT. I have used their 3 step process on various dark colors with good results. I use only good quality microfiber as well.

 

 

Forums are great for learning from others. I go to this forum often and I have learned alot.


http://www.autopia.org/

 

Here is a good site for detailing and caring for Black cars and I imagine the techniques and stuff would work on most dark colors.......

Hope it helps

Gib

http://www.bmcforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

 

My wife brought me a obital polisher and special polishes and waxes. My paint was in excellant condition before and now it looks double excellant. Wife brought it from Griot's Garage on line.

 

I just responed to your other thread before finding this one. But I'll add to this one as well. For imperfections such swirl marks you need a mechanical means to cut the paint and remove the scratches. You can't go wrong with the Meguiar's proffesional line. To make the job easier get yourself a quality random orbital buffer. You'll achieve results impossible to attain by hand. Back in the day you would clean and polish your paint before waxing. Today there's a swing towards these wipe on/wipe off products such as Liquid Ice and NXT that are polymer based and don't contain any polishing media. They might temporarily fill the imperfections in the paint, but they don't remove them.

 

Pretty sure that's a random orbital you have there A RO won't hurt the paint (unless you either drop it on the hood, or use Comet on the pad), but a true orbital will burn through to the primer or metal in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. My Porter Cable RO is one of the reasons my 8 year old 96 black GT looked as close to new as possible when I sold it.

 

I have to agree with Rob K. I just went to a Meguiars Road Show seminar and it taught me loads about getting out swirl marks. Look for a random orbital buffer like a Porter Cable 7424 (Meguiars also carries the same machine rebadged with a lifetime warrenty). Check out thier forums...it has LOOOOADS of information and if your anything like me itl add yet another sub-hobby to your Mustang obssession. I just dropped waayyy more money than Id like to admit on a detailing setup..x.x. MUST keep her black and shiny!

 

I own the stangs, a truck and a motorcycle - all black!

As mentioned above once you get your car looking its best do what you can to keep from swirling it up again:

Wash your car by hand in the shade w/ a quality car shampoo. I use a quality car wash mitt and the two bucket method (one bucket w/clear water to rinse the mitt then the second w/ shampoo.) Start by washing the top of the car then hood, trunk and the top 2/3 of the sides leaving the bottom 1/3 and bumpers for last as this is where the grit is. When washing use a straight back an forth motion following where the wind flows on your car, a circular motion will reintroduce swirls. No need to put any more pressure against the paint as necessary to "float" the dirt away. rinse using a gentle stream of water as you go, never allowing soap to dry on the car. Once clean I like to dry mine with 120 mph air (no not on the street but with the leaf blower.) If you decide to do this oberve a few rules or darwinism will apply: use a GFI, rubber soled shoes and inspect your cord every time you use it. Alternately I've used a California Blade w/ good results.

Finish drying w/ a quality microfiber or 100 % cotton towel following the same straight lines.

To remove/fill in swirls use a three step process: swirl mark remover, polish and finally wax or polymer to preserve all your hard work. This can be done by hand but would be a 6 or 8 hour endeavor. Follow others advice concerning a good random orbital buffer and the right pads. I use a Porter Cable and is well worth the small expense. I won't start a debate on any products but believe in the polymers as topping as they last longer than the non-synthetics.

Stand back and have a refreshment (or three) and admire your work!

 

What? after.... During

Wouldn't know how to wash a car with out one

 

Also, stay away from automatic car washes....... they kill your paint.

 

[quote=MTAS;973036]Pretty sure that's a random orbital you have there A RO won't hurt the paint (unless you either drop it on the hood, or use Comet on the pad), but a true orbital will burn through to the primer or metal in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. My Porter Cable RO is one of the reasons my 8 year old 96 black GT looked as close to new as possible when I sold it.[/quote

Yep its a random. Here's the link to what I got from my wife for my Birthday.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog....1004&SKU=11119

 

check out http://properautocare.com

they have a huge supply of product and their recommendations are top notch

 

You forgot a key component...

http://crspotless.com/


I LOVE mine. I dry it anyway, but at least any residual that runs out here or there won't leave any marks or spots. I rinse after driving in the rain as well if I don't have time to do a complete wash (or if I know I'll be out in the rain again later).

 

Black is very difficult to maintain (I once traded my black '89 GT back to the dealership for another Dark Red GT...it only had 300 miles on it and I couldn't keep it clean enough...and I definitely took a beating $$$ tradining it in). I did find that Meguiar's #2 Polish really helps in keeping the swirl marks to minimum (cover it then with Meguiar's #3 Carnuba wax). I always used a soft cloth pad to apply the polish/wax and then a 100% cotton baby diaper to remove the polish/wax.
Other option: trade it in for a dark blue Stang...much easier to maintain and looks just as good as black.

 

Yeah that would be cool if you have hard water. I'm fortunate we don't around here. I do however use DI water in my reef tank .

 

would taking it in to get done professionally be a good idea or would it be better to do it myself. I was considering that because my moms friends brother owns a detailing shop and he would gimme a good price