Grrrrr, swirl marks!

Hi All,

I recently noticed that there are faint swirl marks all over the bodywork. Nick at Ausitns told me that it may have been caused by a dirty mop during a valet. However, i'm a bit concerned that I may have caused these myself during a normal polish. Is this possible? The car was washed and dried, then I used Autoglym to polish her up. Wasn't mega impressed with the finish to be honest and was thinking about trying something else. I used fresh clean polishing material from Halfords. Could normal polishing in this way cause such swirl marks? Or is it more likely to be from a dirty mop as Nick said? How is this best sorted? Autoglym again or something else. Any other tips? :confused:

Cheers guys.

Rob

I use Autoglym and I'm always impressed with the result of the annual polishing.

I use their normal polish, then their one for modern paints, then the paint protectant. Normally takes me the best part of a day to do.

Looks good on trophy Blue, Starlight Silver or Goodwood Green. Cannot comment on Black though, and I have no experience using it on black cars.

Could some grit have landed on the car when you were polishing?

:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colintf

I use Autoglym and I'm always impressed with the result of the annual polishing.

I use their normal polish, then their one for modern paints, then the paint protectant. Normally takes me the best part of a day to do.

Looks good on trophy Blue, Starlight Silver or Goodwood Green. Cannot comment on Black though, and I have no experience using it on black cars.

Could some grit have landed on the car when you were polishing?

:cool:

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Yeah, maybe. Hope not. Gutted if it was me! Not having much luck recently. The wheels are at Rimstock at the moment thanks to Autoglym alloy wheel cleaner stipping off the paint in places! Perhaps I should leave it to the professionals! Nah, maybe not.

Oh, by the way. I believe I am down for a new handbrake cable. Could you make that two please.

Cheers

Rob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robert.jamieson

Oh, by the way. I believe I am down for a new handbrake cable. Could you make that two please.

Cheers

Rob

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Wrong Colin Rob, it's Ragman (another Colin) that runs the shop for us all - drop him a PM just in case he misses your post above :cool:

Probably best to get a very good detailer to take care of it, gonna cost you £200 + though for a pro detail and then only wash it yourself using their recommended procedure with new sponges cloths every time

half the problem when people wash there cars is that they use a sponge which causes these, should use a wash mitt

Another is that the car hasn't been clayed which can cause unseen grit etc on the paint to be pushed into it.

AG super resin polish is good as it covers some of the swirl marks up, black and dark colours are a right bitch to keep clean and swirl free.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pessling

black and dark colours are a right bitch to keep clean and swirl free.

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Tell me about it, had mine detailed last year and trying to keep it swirl free is a right pain. I use the B&Q grout sponge instead of the mitt though, just cant get on with the mitt:ash

I've been using pigmented polish on mine off and on - tried the Turtle Wax Black Box, which is OK but quite short lived, and have been using Poor Boys World Black Hole of late, which goes on and comes off quite easily. Both have fillers which help to hide the swirl marks. Looks good on an overcast day, but I can always see swirls on a day like Sunday at Brooklands.

I've decided there's only so much I can do with it being a daily driver used all year round, unless I want to spend more money having it detailed. Detailing seems expensive in Surrey but, then again, why should detailing be different from everything else :mad:

You need a cutting compund to get rid of the swirls long job

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Originally Posted by eurorover

You need a cutting compund to get rid of the swirls long job

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And dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I have a dual action machine polisher and some compounds that i have used on both my old V8 ZT and my cerbera and i have never had the bottle to do to much for not really knowing the paint thickness. but what i have done has improved it abit.

Best thing to do it to buy a silver car. less noticeable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pessling

half the problem when people wash there cars is that they use a sponge which causes these, should use a wash mitt.

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I've only ever used a sponge. Can you recommend a wash mitt in particular Peter? i'm not even sure what one is :ash

Many thanks

I agree with Pete as regards the mitt over a sponge. No matter your choice replace after a few months. I use the TBM (two bucket method) with the older of my two mitts for the lower parts of the car.

This reduces the speed of swirls/marks pick-up. Depending on the amount of paint damage it may require a detail. I have found that with the wash, clay, polish, seal and finally wax all but the worst can be hidden or at least reduced to an reasonable level. All hard work though.

Yes I was anoyed to note that after a polish and wax 2 weeks after a full front respray, that I had those as well. Then some retard threw a stone that bounced off the bonnet. nice big chip. I'll try a clay barring but I'm now paranoid that I'll make it worse. Decisions decisions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robert.jamieson

Yeah, maybe. Hope not. Gutted if it was me! Not having much luck recently. The wheels are at Rimstock at the moment thanks to Autoglym alloy wheel cleaner stipping off the paint in places! Perhaps I should leave it to the professionals! Nah, maybe not.

Oh, by the way. I believe I am down for a new handbrake cable. Could you make that two please.

Cheers

Rob

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That auto glym wheel cleaner is like a mild acid makes alloy froth up :(

I wash my wheels with the normal sponge shampoo method like the rest of the car and then polish them gently with AG super resin as this removes tar spots etc and if I have time use AG wheel seal to finish off.

If you clean the wheels once a week and do the above every now and again you wont need to use the acid products.

i use autoglym in both v8 and tt. No swirl marks. however i invested in an autoglym aolicator. £4.99 see autoglym website. it has finger moulds and because ur fingers slide in the moulds the sponge applicator surface glides over the car. it takes quarter of the time compared to polishing clothes. Great idea, great pressie for car nut.
steve

Sounds like I am not the only one battling with swirl marks. I don't get it really. Had a hole host of classics in the past and never had this problem before. Then I get the spanking nearly new ZT and manage to knacker the wheels and possibly swirl up the paint in a matter of a few washes! Gutted :(

I think I'll look into this clay bar business. Not ready to admit defeat yet! I always used to replace sponges regularly but will give the mit ago instead. Can you get these from Halfords?

She comes back from Austins soon, complete with new powerfold mirrors, new electric sun blind, new bonnet badge, new wheel centres, refurbed wheels, stainless bolts set fitted, front bumper aligned, MG7 mud flaps fitted, passenger seat forwards backwards adjuster repaired, Inspection C carried out, plus diff oil change, coolant change (which had been missed) and new plugs. :D To think it only went in for the wheel refurb and a couple of small jobs! Can't wait!

I've got a hankering for the Zero quads next! Maybe next year :(

Cheers

Rob

modern waterbased paints are so much softer than the paints used on older classics, or even cars from 10 years ago (my '98 Rover Cabriolet that is on long term loan to Dad just does not suffer from chips, its dark blue (Tahiti) so you would see them easily if the paint got chipped)

Ref the mods Rob, its a slippery slope - Powerfolds are good though :)

Ref the mods Rob, its a slippery slope - Powerfolds are good though :)[/quote]


Yeah, I know what you mean. I am trying to keep her original. The powerfolds and sunblind are gonna be fitted to near enough original spec. as if they were options selected at purchase. The bolts were rusty so a replacement seemed sensible. Wheels are being refurbed to original colour. I couldn't get original mudflaps so the MG7 ones seemed the next best thing. Badge is original. So, it's just the exhaust! Haven't made my mind up about this yet. Nor a sat nav upgrade. Other than these, that's as far as I'll be going with her.

Cheers

Rob

like you Rob, i've kept to MG options (XPowers, horn and Monogram dash)or what could of been a development of (like the widescreen and BM54 radio module) or what a friendly dealer could of done (colour coded the gear surround, and ashtray assy facia's)

most of all though, enjoy your V8!

:cool:

I need to get mine professionally detailed after some paint repairs to remove the swirls and minor scratches

In terms of mods i try to keep mine in line with how I think the car would have evolved over time, as well as adding some features it was missing or those removed in project drive

I've bought some colour match polish to try and reduce the swirl marks. But as you say collin i'm going to have the car profesionaly detailed for Z10, in and out, £100 not too bad for a full days work for the guy.:car

as well as adding some features it was missing or those removed in project drive[/quote]


Hi Colin,

What things were removed during this project then?

Cheers

Rob

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Originally Posted by wraith01mg

I've bought some colour match polish to try and reduce the swirl marks. But as you say collin i'm going to have the car profesionaly detailed for Z10, in and out, £100 not too bad for a full days work for the guy.:car

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careful if its car plan t-cut colour fast black

while it may make it look good in the short term it will have stripped a thin but significant layer of paint/laquer to remove the swirls,

far better to use SRP which uses the most delicate of abrasives and fillers, it will preserve the paint work long into the cars life.

several passes of SRP can be used (but takes time), it may still show some swirls but better to live with that and know there is still the original laquer/paint left on the car with swirls.

I followed an almost new Black Jaguar XK a few days ago and when the direct sunlight hit the rear from certain angles the paint work lit up with swirls marks. Made me feel much more relaxed:

black cars + direct sun + clean = swirl marks

The wax acts as a lens.

Has anyone with a black car tried autoglym UDS yet?

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Originally Posted by robert.jamieson

as well as adding some features it was missing or those removed in project drive

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Hi Colin,

What things were removed during this project then?

Cheers

Rob[/quote]


Hi Rob

Take a look here

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...ve+illustrated

Cheers

Colin

I've tried the AutoGlym Ultra Deep on mine - didn't look much different to their normal polish. Using Poorboys Black Hole and Harly Wax at the mo, which is much better... but I've still got swirl mark (obviously)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichaelG

careful if its car plan t-cut colour fast black

while it may make it look good in the short term it will have stripped a thin but significant layer of paint/laquer to remove the swirls,

far better to use SRP which uses the most delicate of abrasives and fillers, it will preserve the paint work long into the cars life.

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cheers micheal i'll give that a go next time.:thumb

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColinE

Hi Colin,

What things were removed during this project then?

Cheers

Rob

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Hi Rob

Take a look here

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...ve+illustrated

Cheers

Colin[/quote]

Many thanks Colin, I had not seen that before :thumb

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...ve+illustrated



Very interesting thread :kiss


.

Call me an old cynic, but it looks like all the redesigns lowered the quality of the car. They would have saved lots of money on, say using the same washer bottle across the range rather than getting rid of rather the nice touch of the head rest embossing. I mean realy omitting the plastic plugs around the seat belt nuts? Wires held on with tape? No acces to the tail lights? But as andy says. Very illuminating. Good link.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColinE

Hi Colin,

What things were removed during this project then?

Cheers

Rob

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Hi Rob

Take a look here

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...ve+illustrated

Cheers

Colin[/quote]



Thanks Colin, interesting read!

Cheers

Rob