Polishing Black

[srb 33]

I have been trying to get my black R33 to look real schmick. I gave it a polish last week and It looks sh!t in the sun. Does anybody have some suggestions on keeping Dark cars in mint condition. I'm scared of hitting it with a buffer and having worse marks.

[Driver]

with my old r33 i was quoted 250 buks to take it to a detailer and getting them to remove it

[Abo Bob]

I can't remember what brand but a more expensive brand of polish that you can find fairly easily at auto one or repco kind of places first. Did the whole car then a week later did it with that turtle wax stuff which leaves a big pile of silicone on it then a week later did that again. Looked schmick. I'm sure there are more expensive products out there that people swear by but this has worked for me.

[SKY031]

You're probably talking about Meguiars

[Terminal]

yeah meguiars works awesomely for me, i have a gun grey skyline and i get great results with it.

[knore]

Make sure you use a good cutting agent to get all the old wax and impurities off the paint before waxing, it really brings the colour back to life if done properly

[EnricoPalazzo]

what do people think of 3m cutting compound and waxes?

[Cubes]

Don't cut and polish the paint your self.

I had a sherbrook dark green commodore with bad buff/swirl marks from a respray.

I was unable to get them out myself, and the places I did try for some reason it made the paint dullish.

Send it to a detailer, they will get it looking nice.

Then just wash, polish then wax it and it will be kept nice.

[CroatianDlite]

Does anyone know of any and recommend really good detailers? im very fussy with my car, and after a respray the swirl marks are coming up badly... need someone with good history on Black cars...

[SKY031]

what do people think of 3m cutting compound and waxes?

I don't think very highly of any DIY cutting compound.

(Including Meguiars)

It doesn't take a lot of cutting to break through the clearcoat.

Once you have penetrated the clearcoat, there is no going back.

It looks bloody awful, and you're up for a full respray.

You may think.. "once or twice a year can't hurt"...... but it does.

Over the period of 5 years thats 10 cuts, and bye bye paintwork. :Oops:

[maccattack]

I've had a couple of black cars (including my GTR) and have found that in full sunlight, you never seem to completely get rid of the swirling left from polishing / waxing. Turtle wax is bloody hard to apply and remove, but I still believe it is one of the hardest waxes around - lasts forever. I generally will use Turtle once or twice a year, then use a good canauba the rest of the time. I have been using Mothers California Gold cake wax and have found it as good as any. Best way to get rid of the swirls is to wax and buff (by hand) then buff again using a clean polish cloth. If the car is not overly dirty, simply chamois then buff - keeps the waxes lasting longer.

Unless your paintwork is relatively new (ie: with a deep clear coat), then you will be fighting an uphill battle to get it looking perfect (in full sunlight).

Live with the fact that it looks awsome in half light and just bloody good in full sunlight.

[skylineakt]

I just recenlty had my car resprayed in black and was wondering if I was to wax it, will it leave the swirl marks you guys are talking about?

How can I rub a protective coating of wax on without hurting the new paint job?

[maccattack]

So long as your paint has fully cured, you shouldn't have any problems in waxing it.

The wax won't damage the paint at all, and if it has been clear coated, you shouldn't have much swirling. It is preferable to do it by hand as opposed to a machine buff, as this tends to leave more regular marks which are easily seen. As mentioned previously, buff, buff, buff. Use a canauba as this is a much softer wax and easy to polish out. Also it doesn't leave that white residue around badges and trims like some of the other waxes.