Swirls, swirls and more swirls!

[Thickplank]

I have looked a few posts and people have ben on about the subject of swirl marks on the paintwork. I have a NHB EX and i also have this problem. Looks like the first owner was a bit lazy when it came to washing the car and put it through an evil mechanical one!
What is the best way, if any of getting them out?
I have given the car the once over with Scratch X and this has helped(and made the car look nice and shiny)

[NEEMSTAR]

if its really bad you could get it professionally done and start with a "blank canvas"

[Thickplank]

I would give that a go. Do you have any recommendations? I am in the Manchester area.
I don't mind some swirls but i would like to reduce the way they look. It's only bad in direct sunlight and under street lights

[sallytraffic]

Originally Posted by Thickplank

I would give that a go. Do you have any recommendations? I am in the Manchester area.
I don't mind some swirls but i would like to reduce the way they look. It's only bad in direct sunlight and under street lights

I also have a NHB and am in Manchester. Thanks goodness they look fine in the rain Not found the sunlight to be a great problem yet

But I know what you mean, the effort to keep it looking good, however, is well worth it in my opinion. Keep reading stuff here and work on it gently a panel at a time.

As far as the 'blank canvas' suggestion. This is a good one, but not one I would want to use too often or it would be every couple of months. I'd prefer to try and keep on top of it for as long as possible and go for the 'blank canvas' after it gets impossible to keep up with the small stone chips and swirls.

I 'filled' a couple of small chips with the touch-up stick yesterday and by today the paint had contracted below the level of the chip so I just removed the small excess around the chip with a slight abrasive on a cloth wrapped round the end of a lolly stick, went over the area around it with ScratchX and it has started to rain again, of course. I'll put another dab of paint on with a cocktail stick when it is dry and do the same again, then polish and wax. I think they will disguise pretty well that way.

You do have to understand that this is life and do the best you can to keep it looking smart. It is always worse for you because you know exactly where to look ! To others it will look a lot, lot better

[NEEMSTAR]

yeah i did not mean he does it every few months that would cost quite a bit
what i meant to get across is if the previous owner has let it get to a really bad state then if he got this done once, he would be able to maintain it as it was from new, instead of trying to fight against what the previous owner has left him. i guess it comes down to how much you want to spend on having your car look perfect ?
no recommendations though mate, have a look online
Paintwork Restoration - Buffing Swirl Marks

[uncler]

This may be of interest - I have made a right mess of the paint on my NHB CTR - I addmittedly didn't know what I was doing when it came to cleaning. The thing is covered in swirl marks and scratches, so tonight the car is off to the detailers to get machine polished and returned to its 'blank canvas' state - I'll keep you informed of the progress and results.

The chap has also agreed to give me a quick lesson in proper car care technique so hopefully shouldn't happen to any great extent again. In the meanwhile, watch this space...

[kingjez]

uncler, I'd be interested to know how you get on, as I'm SW London, and may be looking for a similar service at some point! Roughly how much will it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?

[Thickplank]

Some really good advice guys thanks!
My car is in good shape but like everybody else i want it to be perfect!
I also have a few chips on the car that could do with a touch up. It's a real shame about the paint/finish it could have been so much better.
I use to own a grey Mini Cooper S that had 55k on the clock and the paint was like new on it. Why Honda can't do this on a car that is so forward thinking is beyond me.
Won't put me off getting a CTR in a couple of years but i may think twice about NHB also it does look very, very cool.

[uncler]

Originally Posted by kingjez

uncler, I'd be interested to know how you get on, as I'm SW London, and may be looking for a similar service at some point! Roughly how much will it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?

Well, not 100% sure at the moment - the chap said he won't know exactly how much work is needed until he actually gets stuck in. He reckons about £350 - I know it sounds a lot, but this does include a full detail as well (interior, under body, engine detail, etc).

As soon as its done, I'll post results and final price up on here...

[illegalhunter]

try A world for detailers... for person to porta cable the nasty swirls away

[MightyOne]

I used this machine polisher to remove my swirls:

Meguiars G220 - Complete Sonus Kit

took me a while to do in between all the crap weather at the time, but it was definitely worth it to achieve a nice swirl free finish

[Thickplank]

That is one good looking civic!
Thanks for the info, this may be the answer.
Might get a full time job fixing car paintwork if it works!

[MightyOne]

Originally Posted by Thickplank

That is one good looking civic!
Thanks for the info, this may be the answer.
Might get a full time job fixing car paintwork if it works!

Thanks for your comment.
It is fairly easy to do, and as the G220 is a random orbital polisher theres little chance of you damaging the paintwork, just make sure you read up a bit on machine polishing and watch some videos on youtube to see how its done.

Make sure that you clean your paintwork beforehand, by claying the paintwork, and using a paintwork cleanser. And also make sure that your wash technique is spot on beforehand as you dont want to reintrouce swirls onto your paintwork once you've machined polished it.

[PJS]

Not trying to be awkward for awkward sake, but telling people that using a random orbital is safe, without any further info is quite useless.
Compared to a rotary, you are somewhat right, but even a rotary user would need to be a complete idiot to leave the pad and compound running at full tilt in one place.
The qualifier, if you will, is that it's safe for a novice to use provided they use a little thought before blarging on ahead.
In other words, starting off with the least aggressive pad and polish combo, and working the polish fully, before moving to a firmer pad or a polish with more cut, will help prevent adding new problems to the current ones, and produce the glossy glassy finish you're trying to achieve.

[Thickplank]

thanks pjs. All advice is welcome.

[Jack The Lad.]

It costs about £65 for a pro' to do it for you, in my neck of the woods.

[MightyOne]

Originally Posted by PJS

Not trying to be awkward for awkward sake, but telling people that using a random orbital is safe, without any further info is quite useless.
Compared to a rotary, you are somewhat right, but even a rotary user would need to be a complete idiot to leave the pad and compound running at full tilt in one place.
The qualifier, if you will, is that it's safe for a novice to use provided they use a little thought before blarging on ahead.
In other words, starting off with the least aggressive pad and polish combo, and working the polish fully, before moving to a firmer pad or a polish with more cut, will help prevent adding new problems to the current ones, and produce the glossy glassy finish you're trying to achieve.

yep very true, just trying to point him in the right direction. I would recommend lots of reading on machine polishing before starting on your own car.

[Thickplank]

Would be happy to get a pro to do it. In the long run it can work out better value after you factor in time and cost polish etc.

[gm1980]

I've used Formula 1 wax which is also a poliosher. It really improved the way my car looked like after the dealer washed it and it was full of swirls.

[Topcat]

If you put a machine to the paintwork an it is already too thin surely you will be losing vital microns.