Polishing a black car

[Zybane]

So prefix didn't exactly give me a swirl free car. This is the first time I've owned a black car since I was a teenager.

Been using cutting compound and then Zaino fine swirl remover with an orbiter, many applications and I can still see some light swirls/scratches while shining a 1000 lumen LED flashlight on the panels up close in addition to a 20,000 lumen fluorescent light overhead. I know fluorescent lighting isn't kind to car finishes as it reveals a lot.

Question, is it really possible to get a completely swirl free black car under bright fluorescent lighting? Is that why Prefix delivers a swirled car to you?

[theviper]

So prefix didn't exactly give me a swirl free car. This is the first time I've owned a black car since I was a teenager.

Been using cutting compound and then Zaino fine swirl remover with an orbiter, many applications and I can still see some light swirls/scratches while shining a 1000 lumen LED flashlight on the panels up close in addition to a 20,000 lumen fluorescent light overhead. I know fluorescent lighting isn't kind to car finishes as it reveals a lot.

Question, is it really possible to get a completely swirl free black car under bright fluorescent lighting? Is that why Prefix delivers a swirled car to you?

How do you know Prefix didn't give you a swirl-free car. Don't you think it could have been the dealer and their $10/hour detailing "experts"?

It's hard to get swirl-free on the non-metallic black Vipers. I had a swirl-free black Viper for 6 years because I bought from Roanoke and never washed it (it never saw rain, etc). You're probably doing all the right stuff. The only way to get rid of the very fine swirls is clear bra the whole car and you won't see the swirls (and prevent future swirls).

[01sapphirebob]

. The condition of the paint isnt a prefix issue but a manufacturer issue. Have you seen how the cars can be manhandled?

[KB Viper]

the perfectly painted panels go to t Connor ave for assembly where they wipe them numerous times and i bet that along with the dealer wiping them down is where your swirls came from.

[DPViper]

I've got a black GTS and after spending 30 hours with an orbital polisher I've decided to live with a few swirls... Even if you do the 2 bucket wash and blow it dry....there will always be a few swirls.

[Rapidrezults]

I agree to some extent, however, the swirls I have seen on many of the brand new cars are the smaller size orbital swirls seen in the pictures and videos of them finishing the cars at prefix. I can't imagine a dealership running an orbital over a car after it has been received.

[Malu59RT]

Yes it is possible to get a swirl free panel, depends how far down you want to go on the factory clear coat. Most people I know are happy with 90-95% swirl-free finishes, knowing they will have improper wash technique that will introduce swirls in the future.

Also, it looks like you are going from compound to a polish? Pad choice and product are important if you are going for a great finish. I've tried the Zaino stuff, and I can't recommend anything better than the Menzerna product line. All of this done with a rotary buffer.

http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-of-germany.html

I have spent thousands of dollars on detailing products over the years, and I trashed everything else and use Menzerna exclusively now, from a color sanded panel, all the way to a defect free finish. Power Gloss, Super Intensive Polish, Super Finish (4000) are the 3 products you need. Then you work down with different pads.

http://www.detailedimage.com/product-downloads/lakecountry-pad-application-guide.pdf

If a wet sanded panel, I would start with a Wool pad, then step down to a foamed wool pad with compound.

Light Cutting and Polishing I would use Super Intensive and Super finish.

I would use super finish also with the finishing pads to remove any light holograms that may exist.

Afterwards, get some Opticoat to keep your paint protected. Hope this helps!

[Dman]

Yes it is possible to get a swirl free panel, depends how far down you want to go on the factory clear coat. Most people I know are happy with 90-95% swirl-free finishes, knowing they will have improper wash technique that will introduce swirls in the future.

Also, it looks like you are going from compound to a polish? Pad choice and product are important if you are going for a great finish. I've tried the Zaino stuff, and I can't recommend anything better than the Menzerna product line. All of this done with a rotary buffer.

http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-of-germany.html

I have spent thousands of dollars on detailing products over the years, and I trashed everything else and use Menzerna exclusively now, from a color sanded panel, all the way to a defect free finish. Power Gloss, Super Intensive Polish, Super Finish (4000) are the 3 products you need. Then you work down with different pads.

http://www.detailedimage.com/product-downloads/lakecountry-pad-application-guide.pdf

If a wet sanded panel, I would start with a Wool pad, then step down to a foamed wool pad with compound.

Light Cutting and Polishing I would use Super Intensive and Super finish.

I would use super finish also with the finishing pads to remove any light holograms that may exist.

Afterwards, get some Opticoat to keep your paint protected. Hope this helps!


Agree. I know some swear by Zaino, I used for a couple of years and moved on. This is a good approach IMO too. I'm using CQuarz on mine.

I posted a thread showing the swirls on my paint, which was crazy, I'm sure from manu & dealer, and the difference after polishing. I didn't wet sand or go to wool. I went course with 1500 polish and several, several passes, this got me to 90%+ which is great for me. Seal it up with CQ and then film the high strike areas, like bumper, rocker, hood lip, I'm contemplating the doors .. you can get xpel precut door film for about $270, install is a 2 out of 5 star difficulty, not much money to really protect them.

Bottomline, it's the price we pay for black. If you're really struggling, you can get a reputable shop to go over it with just a swirl removal and do the rest yourself to save money and still have the pride of doing most of the job yourself. I did that with a mustang years ago, it was trashed by the dealer and I didn't have 4 weekends to put into it, one day at a solid shop and few hundred bucks, it was mirrored and I took it from there.

[triblk6spd]

Spend a week researching here...
http://www.autopia.org/forums/forum.php
Then another week here...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/

Then I'd suggest practicing on your daily. Once you feel like you understand the concept behind the polishing and how the compound breaks down as you work it then move on to experimenting with different pad and polish combos.
http://i1383.photobucket.com/albums/ah287/justin51/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-04/20150417_150446_zpsguvsecqe.jpg (http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/justin51/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-04/20150417_150446_zpsguvsecqe.jpg.html)

[ViperPete]

I looked at a 2015 Black SRT about 6 months ago. Perfect reflection finish.

Like others have stated, the swirls probably happened at the dealership. Those boys at prefix are beyond detail oriented. They would never let a panel leave that shop that wasn't perfect- they have a saying there "Excellence is Expected" their work shows.

[daytonprowler]

'07 Shelby... my first and will be my last black car. Beautiful when clean... then drive it a mile down the road. Never again.

[Stealth]

My condolences with a black car!

My GTS Viper is Race Yellow with Black Stripes so I definitely have it easier. My daily driver is a black metallic BMW. This thread is one of the reasons I never allow a wheel buffer on my car unless necessary. I would definitely put more swirls in that I took out!

Sounds like you are on the right track with some good advice. And finally, nothing looks as great as a clean, waxed black car!

[Zybane]

Thanks for the tips guys. The only reason I say it came from the factory like this was the entire car had fine orbit polish swirl marks. The dealer said the only thing that was done to it was wiped down by the Viper tech on delivery to check for damage. I certainly don't think that would swirl a whole car.

I've got about 90% of it removed with a ton of work. It's really only noticeable if I shine a very bright LED flashlight on the finish. I was just curious if it's possible to have zero swirl marks while being viewed so harshly and up close by a very bright light.

Next is Opticoat Opti-Gloss.

[MBG2.0]

I also have some swirls, nothing crazy, but i would like to have it taken care of
Going into a friends high end detail shop to have polished out before summer hits

[ViperPete]

I had a 2008 Acura TL-S that was Black. Looked gorgeous when it was clean. Unfortunately I only ever got less than 18 hrs of a clean car.

Ownership was a complete and total waste of time and energy trying to keep it clean.

[Zybane]

That's why I'm trying opti-coat. Supposedly should make keeping a black car clean much easier.

[Garron]

How do you know Prefix didn't give you a swirl-free car. Don't you think it could have been the dealer and their $10/hour detailing "experts"?

It's hard to get swirl-free on the non-metallic black Vipers. I had a swirl-free black Viper for 6 years because I bought from Roanoke and never washed it (it never saw rain, etc). You're probably doing all the right stuff. The only way to get rid of the very fine swirls is clear bra the whole car and you won't see the swirls (and prevent future swirls).

Every gen 5 that comes off the truck is full of swirls. It is like whoever was doing it skipped the final stage. The 2013's were the worst for this.

[FLATOUT]

Having just had a swirl free black TA I can tell you that I have used many things suggested in this thread and even the zaino swirl remover on a Flex DA.

1. That Zaino polish will never finish correctly even on a black pad. Micro marring will always be present.

2. Menzerna will take a lot of time but will eventually do the trick.

3. Prefix clear is very soft and easy to mar and correct.

I found a great recipe for the black gen V's that is 1 step, easy, and corrects 95% off all your defects.

CarPro Reflect on a white or black pad will do wonders. This was my go to recipe on my black TA. Left my M105, Menzerna, and Zaino on the shelf. Seal everything up with CQuartz and you're done.

[FLATOUT]

Every gen 5 that comes off the truck is full of swirls. It is like whoever was doing it skipped the final stage. The 2013's were the worst for this.

And many of the darker colors have buffer trails (holograms) in them from the factory.

[Bruce H.]

I find tracking the car is a great way to shift focus away from swirls marks...hey, it really does work :)

[Coloviper]

Ha! Ha! Bruce, I thought the same thing. I rarely wash my cars, hey that is what a rain storm is for, right?


I find tracking the car is a great way to shift focus away from swirls marks...hey, it really does work :)

[MBG2.0]

I find tracking the car is a great way to shift focus away from swirls marks...hey, it really does work :)
Yes....I can see that happening

[ViperPete]

My 2013 came to my house with 4600 miles and 2 years old.

Didn't/doesn't have a single swirl.

It was Mr Woodhouse's car so maybe he had it polished? I don't know- the finish is stunning.

[Leslie]

I find tracking the car is a great way to shift focus away from swirls marks...hey, it really does work :)

Ohhhh yeh!
Black is a challenge but it looks amazing when it's clean, that's for sure.

[GBS]

When I brought my black C6 Z06 it had been sitting in a dealer showroom and was full of swirls. One of the first things I did to the car was polish it. I've tried a lot of different polishes and I come back to Menzerna Polishes. I love the way a polish like PO85RD jewels the paint in addition to removing the swirls. It's now been years since I polished it and it's still swirl free. I always use plenty of a good lubricating soap and dry it with a leaf blower to prevent swirling it up. Most dealers do a great job swirling up the paint. You would think if you got a the car directly from Prefix before a dealer got their hands on it that it would arrive swirl free. Sorry to hear it arrived with swirls.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=15058

[Dman]

Having just had a swirl free black TA I can tell you that I have used many things suggested in this thread and even the zaino swirl remover on a Flex DA.

1. That Zaino polish will never finish correctly even on a black pad. Micro marring will always be present.

2. Menzerna will take a lot of time but will eventually do the trick.

3. Prefix clear is very soft and easy to mar and correct.

I found a great recipe for the black gen V's that is 1 step, easy, and corrects 95% off all your defects.

CarPro Reflect on a white or black pad will do wonders. This was my go to recipe on my black TA. Left my M105, Menzerna, and Zaino on the shelf. Seal everything up with CQuartz and you're done.

To clarify what I did with my gen5, I too used CarPro. I've used the others with good results, since I was going to try CQ on this car I went with their products for prep, using Fixer and Reflector. Used a black course pad and PC polisher. Some areas were 2 passes, some were 4ish. I'm happy with the CarPro products all around. So Fixer, then Reflector, then CQ HD. I use my compressor to blow dry, water rolls right off.