dmw16

I have a PC and an orange/green and white/blue Edge Pad. I bought Optimum Compound and Optimum Polish. I also have Menzerna FPII and JEFFS Werkstat Prime.

I tried my best to get a shot of my swirl marks (these are typical of the ones all over the car). What products w/ what pads should I use?

Here was my plan:

Wash
Clay
Wash
Optimum Compound w/ Green Pad
Optimum Polish w/ Blue Pad
JW PRIME w/ White Pad
JW Jett w/ MF Towels

Here is my attempt to photograph the swirls...

diabolus2k

Your process sounds fine... you shouldn't need much more to remove those swirls. Our paint is very soft so you should be able to get some great results with those products. Just inspect your work after each panel and make sure that OC and OP are doing their job

wanabe

the swirls appear to be light... cant really tell what the spots are- water spots??

if only light swirls, you dont need to go very aggressive, but if you have water spots not a bad idea to go a bit more aggressive first and then step down

dmw16

I always assumed those little spots were from sand and other road crap hitting the car over the years. That picture is of the front fender.

So I will go with the less aggressive pad and the Optimum Compound first and see how that does and then go from there.

90crvtec

I would go with Optimum POLISH and the less aggressive pad. If that doesn't cut it stick with the polish and move up to a more aggressive pad. Finally, if that's still not working, use the compound.

Try this process in a spot on a couple of test panels (hood, trunk, front fenders) to get an idea of how much cut you need. Different surfaces on the car will have different amounts of swirling, the trunk and hood are generally subject to the most swirls with the deepest cut. Vertical panels usually don't have as many swirls and you can use a lighter polish to achieve the same results while taking off less clear coat.

I think you're off to a great start.

dmw16

Thanks. Assuming the weather is good I will be doing it next weekend. I am a little nervous, but I am excited to start learning.