Depends on the damage caused, a picture would help. If the clear coat etched because of it, then chances are you'd have to resort to polishing it to remove it. If polishing doesn't help improve it, then you would have to resort to a more aggressive option or look into the recoated / powder coated / refinished, etc.

I'm sure you know now from your experience, but your best bet on any aftermarket wheel is to properly protect them with something like Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant and only use soap and water to maintain them regularly. If you need to use a wheel cleaner, use a pH balanced one, such as P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner.

Best of luck.

 

Im probably going to get flamed for this because I didnt search, but.

How do i get rid of swirls? Ive heard Claybarring helps im just making sure.

 

A clay bar, will not do anything for swirls, in fact it usually adds some which need to be removed by polishing. When you clay bar you are gliding a piece of clay across the surface and picking up contamination. Some of the contamination sticks onto the clay and as you continue to rub, you are creating marring in the finish.

To remove swirls properly you should invest in a quality buffer, such as the Porter Cable 7424XP. I'd recommend reading through our polishing guide for more info on how to properly remove swirls and imperfections.

I'd recommend this PC 7424XP polishing kit w/ Meg's polishes and 5.5" pads as a great starting point. This is a great article explaining the use of the M105 and the PC.

Hope this helps.

George

 

Wonderful thread, thank you for the questions and contributions from everyone.
I've read through a good deal of this thread, just not all 97 pages, yet. The information on product selection has been of immense value.

I have purchased a 6" Random Orbital polisher, with accompanying pads, polishes, and waxes. I will likely expand my pad inventory with Lake Country Foam CCS pads, based on my reading so far. My plan is to learn and practice on a old hood from a junker before I touch my paint. My question is focused more on technique and approach to features of the car and body panels, slanted towards the G35 Coupe.

First a general polisher question ... Is there a good resource with explanation of the "hook-n-loop" attachment method, since it appears those pads are Velcro backed this confuses me when reading pad / polisher descriptions. I also suspect I'll need to expand my product inventory with a few things to support hand polishing and will consider on the recommended hand application kits.

Thinking over the body features on the G, I'm interested to know the routine experienced detailers would follow ...
1.) How far will the 6" polisher get me? (areas on the body to avoid using the large pad size because of angle, risk of rubbing the pad's edge rather than surface)
2.) When do I need to consider moving to a smaller pad, or 3" polisher option?
3.) and then When must I tackle the area by hand?
4.) How should I tackle the mirrors, door handles and the inset? Any good accessory tools / size of, that help in that tight area.
5.) I will mask off many of the areas; emblems, grill, headlights ... What's a solid approach the tight areas on the rear face of the trunk lid, between the lettering etc.

And probably my biggest question ... The safe way to approach panel edges, angles, and points - like the front fenders, the ridge behind the headlamps and transition to the hood.

Also of value to me; point me to a good video of someone working on something with shape, not just a flat hood of a land yacht and I'd be happy to see how they handle the polisher!

Everything I typed is available for critique and suggestion
Thanks in advance!

 

Hook and loop is the generic word for Velcro, Velcro is a brand of hook and loop, they work interchangeably.

6" pads are decent, you could polish most of a car using it. There are certainly some areas where you'll wish you had a smaller pad option. No matter what size pad you have on the buffer though, there are some areas that need to be treated by hand, for example, behind door handles...

I usually have a set of 4" pads with a 4" backing plate ready to go on all my buffers and either 5.5" or 6.5" for the larger areas depending on the buffer and the area I'm working on. The nice thing about most random orbitals and rotary buffers is that there are various backing plate options out there.

The best rule of thumb of when to tackle by hand is when you cannot effectively polish it using a buffer. You'll never achieve the same results by hand as you would with a buffer, so might as well do as much as you can with the buffer. Mirrors I polish what I can using the buffer then the rest by hand, usually a foam applicator and some M105 or M205 is what I use for hand polishing.

For the lettering emblems, you can either take your time and do them one by one or cover the entire lettering and go back and hand polish between them. The safest way to approach those areas you mentioned, is to tape off the edges / other side. If you don't want to take the time to do that, then you just have to be careful with your speed and pressure used as you approach those areas and let up.

On curved areas, you want to keep the pad as flat as possible and move with the curves. The best way to polish is to always have the pad this way, so for those curved areas, you just move with the curves. I know you're probably saying "duh" to that but it's really pretty simple, you just have to realize the paint is thinner in those areas and at a higher risk to damage. I don't have any suggested videos showcasing that.

Hope that helps, best of luck on your polishing.

 

Hey George,

What is the best method to get rid of some hazing on headlights?

What products would you use/recommend? I have a Porter Cable 7424 as well as a white and orange pad. I believe I also have Menzerna PO106FF and Super Intensive Polish (PO83?).

 

You can certainly use what you already have. What you want to do is tape off the surrounding areas before polishing so you don't accidentally hit the paint. It's easier to polish headlights with 4" pads but I've done it with larger pads and using caution.

I'd recommend following this headlight restoration guide, for the deeper stuff you may need to wet sand but this will give you a good idea of how to perform the fix.

Hope this helps.

George

 

Hello George. I started off by reading a couple of pages....Wow, this thread is addicting.You have really put it out there for me. I also have the 7424 with all the colors of pads. I just got some Pinnacle Fine Swirl remover #2. Recommend a color pad for light swirls please. How would you say this product stacks up as far as quality? My paint is Brilliant silver and is in very good to great shape. I really dont want start with the orange if I'm only need a white. Thanks again. I'll pick up my reading on pg 37 when my eyes stop bleeding! Thanks,Mike

 

Hey Mike,

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner.

I'm not too familiar with the Pinnacle polishes, but typically for light swirls, you'll want to use a white polishing pad. If that isn't aggressive enough, then try a green or orange pad for more bite, another option is the Cyan HydroTech pad. You always want to start with the least aggressive approach and move up in aggressiveness only as needed.

For more eye bleeding, read over our auto detailing guide and Ask-A-Pro section on our website.

Keep us posted what you think of the Pinnacle polish.

 

I've read a number of times how to apply liquid LSPs with a buffer ( 2-3 pea sized globs ) but for use of a paste wax like Natty's ... what is the best approach for applying the product, which I assume is on the car then spread either by hand ... or by the buffer at that point? Approximately how much product?

 

Just an update on the swirl remover from Pinnacle.I used it on a Brilliant Silver G35 and it did what it was supposed to while using it with a white pad. I also tried it on my wifes green Expedition with an orange pad ( few more scatches and swirls )and it worked good on it also. All in all not to bad experience. Broke down nice and both vehicles came out clean. I did just get some new products in from DI and am going to be trying them out soon!

 

I never apply a paste wax with a buffer, you typically end up using way more product than is needed and making the removal process harder. Stick to hand application and removal for paste waxes for best results. Thinner the better when it comes to paste waxes.

Thanks for the update, keep us posted on the new products you picked up. Glad to hear you were able to remove some imperfections.

 

Hey George, I'm a n00b to modding and deep detailing. I recently borrowed a friend's heat gun and was successful in debadging the trunk. After which I washed with Zaino wash, and then used a clay bar to reduce the high gloss areas revealed after the badges were removed. Under the letters is no longer distinguishable from the rest of the trunk, but the Infiniti logo left a sort of outline and I've tried to claybar that area to no avail. What would you recommend I do to the trunk in order to make it all blend together, get rid of the cloudiness and the outline and clean as possible? I'm hoping that there's a color restorer wax or cleaner that will aide me in this task, and that I don't have to repaint the trunk. Any suggestions?

 

great thread, answers are always so detailed and precise

 

Hi George,

How long do Menzerna polishes last? I've had a polish stored for a while and just want to make sure it is still good before I use.

Thanks,

Jesse