Best wax for the car ???

[particlewave]

So, I bought a nice orbital polisher for nothing?!
Sheesh...no wonder my swirls didn't go away.

I doubt I'll be doing the straight line thing. I'd like to see the swirls gone, but that sounds like some seriously painful and tedious work. My arm hurts just thinking about it.

You should design and patent a "belt polisher", like a belt sander...maybe something like that already exists?
If not, I may have to do some modding.

[Spinnaker]

Originally Posted by particlewave

So, I bought a nice orbital polisher for nothing?!
Sheesh...no wonder my swirls didn't go away.

I doubt I'll be doing the straight line thing. I'd like to see the swirls gone, but that sounds like some seriously painful and tedious work. My arm hurts just thinking about it.

You should design and patent a "belt polisher", like a belt sander...maybe something like that already exists?
If not, I may have to do some modding.

What gives, aren't you OCD enough to put up with a little pain?
Seriously though, it's not that bad if you pace yourself. Just do a small section at a time over the course of a couple of weeks. Eventually it gets done and you will be amazed how good the car looks without swirls looking back at you. I use a fairly aggressive buffing compound to start out on a car with bad swirls. Saves the arm. Then I progress to a fine polishing compound to bring out the shine. Don't try to do too much all at once, just do one panel like a fender or a door each time you feel like working on it. If you try to do too much all at once, thats when the pain factor takes over. If you are careful about how you wash the car (straight line only), you will only have to do the hard part once. I did my Box 4½ years ago when I got it and haven't had to do it again since then. A lot of people still think the car is new. (They wouldn't know a 987 if they saw one.) It is totally an illusion. From a short distance it looks great, but up close it has a ga-jillion rock chips and more than its share of road rash from 110K miles. I think one of the previous owners liked to follow gravel trucks. Had to replace the windshield because of all the rock hits. If I could afford it, the car would be a good candidate for a front end repaint, but it is shiny enough to fool most of the people that see it.

[Mrmaddbrad]

I've always had the mentality of not doing to much all at once. Do what you can, or want to. Lay a coat of wax on what you've completed and be done. Go for a drive. Enjoy your work. Next time it needs washed, wash it and do another section.

I do completely agree with Spinnaker. Straight lines do not create swirls of course. And the line equivilant of swirls are nearly unnoticeable on a well waxed car even in the blazing sun.

If you don't know where to start, just do the convertible top cover section. It's small and easy. Clay, rubbing compound, polish, glaze, and wax all in about 20-30 minutes. It'll look amazing and probably entice you to do the entire trunk.

HOWEVER! I don't agree on the bit about how it doesn't matter what products you use, its how you use them. Yes, its true. But thats like saying, it doesn't matter what car you drive, its how you drive it. No matter how well I drive my boxter at a track day, it will never keep up with the 500+ hp Ferraris....

So what products? I like turtle wax for all my polishes. They're great and have been around forever. But polishes don't make as big a difference as the wax does. Since wax is on top, its what everyone sees. It makes a huge difference. Best bang for the buck? Ziemol. Spend the extra money. Drop $60-100 on a can of color correcting wax. Bavarian Auto carries Ziemol if you dont know where else to look. There stuff is impressive and if you've never used an expensive wax, you'll be blown away.

Happy Boxstering.
~Brad

EDIT: Joel, the Black Box, is by far the best, cheap wax out there if you have a black car. It hides all those little rock chips in the hood, smells good, and is a rather decent wax. But it does require you to lay a full two coats of wax on your car. I would also recommend claying it before hand. But it does work great!!

[Bruce Wayne]

My bigger issue is how to get swirls out first, swirls on black paint bothers me so much. Haven't found a solution, been able to eliminate a bit after a few rounds, but I want them gone.

you could try this

Best Car Wax & Best Car Polish | Cleanser Polish, Clean Vehicle Paintwork

[Ghostrider 310]

I had one of those buffers too, if you really want to remove marks you are going to need a porter cable or equivalent.

[Jaak]

To get swirls out you need a good polish with a random orbital buffer and the correct pads. Here is one of the best out there for getting rid of swirls: Menzerna Super Intensive Polish SI1500 PO83Q (32 oz) Menzerna Super Finish Nano Polish PO106FA (16oz) Heres a good machine: Porter Cable 7424XP Car Buffer / Polisher

Look at autogeek website for good detailing information as well as the best products to use. There are many on-line retailers who can provide you with the equipment needed to get that shine and keep it. I have a Porter Cable with 4 different pads I use to get it right. After that it's just a matter of maintaining the shine. On my Beepster I took it to a pro shop to get it right and now I maintain it. I do a few cars at my friends Indy shop to get them looking better and it takes time with the right equipment.