brianZortiz Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hey, I've owned my car for 1 year and has the original 1973 paint. It's in great condition. I used meguairs paint restoration kit to clay bar, ultimate compound, and wax. Once I finished I discovered scratches and swirls. I was wondering what way do you guys polish and wax with and what method on original paint. My cars paint is 904 white. The reason I used the kit was to remove bird droppings and tree tar which worked really well. I think the ultimate compound exposed the swirls and/or created them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Usually the swirls show up from a not-so-great compounding job. You might be able to wax it a couple of times and cover them up, or you may have to go back and redo the clay bar & compounding job. My 73 is 904, it looks nice on a Z IMO. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Have you used ultimate compound? or what compund have you used in your 904? Hand or machine? Yes, 904 is a great color in a Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 I doubt just compound will take almost 40 years worth of scratches out of most paints... White is fairly good at hiding that kind of thing until you really clean it up and look closely. (BTW, compound is also "scratching" the paint - but if you do the whole process right, it's supposed to be fine enough that you don't really notice...) Meguairs Ultimate Polish on a random orbit polisher might help take out some of the swirls. Then a good coat of their Carnuba or Tech Wax... You can also try buffing it again, but I'll bet you're going to have to wet sand with a good 2000 grit (if you want it really smooth), then buff again with compound (and maybe polish) - I just don't know that there's enough paint left on the car to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 I was thinking about the wetsand and buff but it seems like a hard job to tackle. I think I might just buy the random orbital buffer. They are around $30. If it doesn't work I might use the swirl x then carnuba wax. I think by hand I wasn't really working it like it supposed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Brian, I've never used the Ultimate compound, just garden variety stuff. One time I bought the Zaino setup, and it worked really well. Pick out an area where the swirls are worst, strip the wax, and try compound again using light pressure and making longitudinal strokes rather than circular. Then polish longways and wax it again, and see how that looks. I had a black vette once that would show the circular marks no matter what, but it looked nice if you went longways, following the body lines. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 Thank you. Will give it a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Just To update. I bought a 6" random orbital buffer from Pepboys and washed my car and waited till it cooled down. I applied the ultimate compound and started to work it really well and did several passes with the buffer and WOW!!!!! The car shines like new and removed scratches and swirls. It is smooth and looks wet. The paint looks really fresh. At first I doubted the ultimate compund but I do truly believe it is probably one of the best compounds in the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Glad it worked well. No Pics?????? C'mon, man, kick out!!!!! jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks! I'll get those pictures up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianZortiz Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have pictures!! Ultimate compound on $30 buffer. 1st picture is before ultimate compund. Look at those scratches!! The rest is after. I hope you guys enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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