Detailing My Black Daily Driver (pictorial...56K maybe)

[Lux]

Here's a little pictorial on my now 1 year old daily driver. As with all black cars, swirls will happen no matter how careful you are. The ultimate acid test is under flourescent lighting, direct noon sun, and the flash from a camera.

Here's a before pic. As you can see, under flourescent it isn't too bad. But the flash from the camera shows swirling.


Have no fear. We have the technology to fix things. After washing and claying to remove any surface contaminants, it's time to bust out the hardware.

Shown below is a Porter Cable random orbital polisher...a must have. Coupled to the Porter Cable are various grades of Edge 2000 polishing pads.


Polishes used are Poorboy's Super Swirl Remover 2.5 (with blue Edge 2K pad) and Super Swirl Remover 1 (with white Edge 2K pad). Meguires NXT Tech Wax (my fav wax for black) is hand applied and provides the final topping for protection. Microfiber towels are used to remove polishes and wax.



Here's the results:
1st pic is the "acid test" of flourescent lighting and camera flash.



Here's some pics in direct sunlight...smooth as silk :







If any of you want more info on detailing your car, I highly recommend checking out http://www.autopia.org Those guys live and breathe detailing and there's a lot of great info.

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[phrankandbeanz]

i love a clean black boxster on 18in carreras!

[Brucelee]

Very nice, thanks for sharing pics etc.

My neighbor has been able to avoid swirl marks altogether. On my advice, she used Klasse All in One and Sealant on the first day that she got her car. She has followed up since and upon last look, no swirls to date (after one year!). Hers is a black/grey metallic finish.

Alas, if you have an older car, the above technique is a must!

I would recommend Klasse Sealant as a follow on.

[Adam]

Looks very nice Lux. Just curious how often you wash your car being a daily driver and all? I try not to wash my car real often to minimize swirling and rust. I just live with the bug guts and dust for a month or so and then give it a good bath.

P.S. I think I will try out that Nxt stuff. Are the clay bars any good at places like auto zone? I should clay the car pretty soon too.

[Brucelee]

Mother's clay bar is fine albiet a bit small for the price you pay.

[phrankandbeanz]

i breath ZAINO