What should i do, its going back in the garage now and it will stay there for the rest of its life when im not driving it. I had some storage issues with it for the last 6 months moving around and such. What should i do to restore it, there are soo many swirls and hardcore watermarks all over. Ive done everything to cars but im clueless when it comes to detailing with polish and wax etc.

Scott

 

Get some polishing compound at Walmart (usually found in the auto section, by the sandpaper, etc - Walmart only stocks 3M over here, which is fine) or local auto store, and apply using an orbital buffer. Polishing compund is essentially an ultrafine, liquid sandpaper that removes a microscopic layer of clearcoat to even out the scratches, etc, as well as remove deposits like hard water.

Before doing so, make sure the car is clean. Any dirt/etc will be grinded into your paint if it gets caught under the pad. Do not lean into the buffer - let the compound and pad do the work. Afterwards, follow with your favorite wax system.

If you have light scratches and swirls that will not come out after polishing, you can try one of two things. The safe route is to get colored wax, such as Turtlewax Color Cure (aka Color Magic). Get the black color, and buff it into the problem areas. I've had pretty good success hiding pretty bad scratches in black paint (incidently, black is the hardest color to keep shiny and new looking if you haven't figure it out already). You can then finish the car with the same system, but I didn't have any problems going over it with Meguires.

The other method is stepping down to a rubbing compound. Rubbing compound is more aggressive then polishing compund though, so depending on how much clearcoat you have (you probably won't know unless you painted the car yourself), this is probably better left to a detailer or body shop. It removes more of the clear coat then polishing compound will, to level deeper scratches. FWIW though, I've never burned through a clear coat with just rubbing compound.

 

cool, thanks a lot i will try it out tonight and show some before and after pics !!!

 

buya porter-cable. it's a random orbital buffing heavy duty .. buffer. you can get different pads for it .. they're a bit pricey though, but for a black car - it's worth it.

i use that, and i use either meguiars #9 (swirl remover) or #83 (DACP).. then top with a polish and wax and you're good to go... for most applications.

 

isn't the 3rd gen a single stage paint finish with no clear coat?

 

**** walmart brands, take it to a detail shop, we know what were doing and can hook you up for 100 bucks, dont be cheap..

 

i heard its a 3 stage but then people said no..i hope someone can verify...

btw dclin, thanks ALOT for that info..im trying my hardest in maintaining my original paint and the damn swirl marks from washing the car always pop up

 

black is not 3 stage, CYM is a 3 stage- base, mid, clear

and the guy saying **** walmart brands- the poster said they only sell 3M, who produce products far superior to anyone else when it comes to compounds and glazes. But I would agree to just get it done by a pro, then you can easily maintain it yourself

 

cool, what about VR?

 

vr is base/clear, sometimes single stage though

take some wax on a rag, if when you rub it on you see the color on the rag- you have single stage paint

 

Scott you dumbass...why didn't you ask me? Bring her down when you come down here, and leave her w/ me for a day or two. I'll have every swirl mark gone, no sweat. We'll take another car down while she's being finished. I got you man...hit me up on AIM if you need more info.

~Ramy

 

I think you're right. I think some of the very early VRs were single stage. I should have mentioned to test to see if the paint does have a clear coat. Are there any cars manufactured with single stage anymore?

 

Absolutely, positively NOONE will ever care about my car more then me. I have yet to find a detailer, no matter how much I've paid them, that pays as much attention to detail then myself when working on my car. It's just not their baby. If someone really doesn't know what they are doing or isn't sure of the process, then I do suggest they take it to a 'pro'. I don't think being cheap includes spending 4 hours going from bottom to top of your baby.

For the OP and others, if you still want a go of it or take pride in your car, practice on a beater (or your girlfriend's) car first.

 

dont be cheap ??? dude are you kidding, im not taking my rx7 to a detailer, sure the outside of the car will be clean but they'll be out in that thing in no time, or flapping there mouth off to all their dumb little friends... at least around here thats how the detail shops are, rows of little crx's and tiburons with some dumb *** club name like xtreme projex, or on point racing

 

wait, isnt that a bad thing?? LOL

i just tried it

i put mothers carnuba wax on a rag and did my rear spoiler, i didnt see the color of my car, all i saw was the wax color which is white (cloth is yellow btw)..

 

i say wax because most people dont have glaze or compound handy to try, wax isnt a bad thing, why do you say that?

try something other then the spoiler if you think the spoiler didnt come with the car originally, even if a car was painted in single stage and a shop had to paint a spoiler chances are they will paint it BC/CC because they can mix the base themselves using thier mixing system, most shops arent equipped to mix single stage anymore.

 

nah i didnt say wax was a bad thing..

you said if you wax the car, you will see the color of the car on the rag? or did i read your post incorrectly?

i thought you said if you wax your car and you look at the rag and its the same color of the car, then its a single stage..then i thought, wait thats bad haha

 

I just meant if you rub the car and the color comes off its single stage